Basic Prepositions in Russian

In Brief

Russian prepositions normally require the word after them to take a particular case (a form showing the word's role). Use в/на + accusative for a destination, but в/на + prepositional for a location. The other core patterns are из/от/у + genitive, к + dative, о + prepositional, and с + genitive for movement from a surface but с + instrumental for “with.”

Overview

Prepositions are short words such as “in,” “from,” and “about.” English usually leaves the following noun unchanged: “in the school,” “from the school.” Russian combines a preposition with a case, meaning that the ending of the following noun, adjective, or pronoun may change. Compare школа “school,” в школе “at school,” and из школы “from school.” Learning the preposition and its case as one unit is therefore more useful than memorizing a translation alone.

At A1, the central contrast is between where something is and where something is going. Russian asks где? “where?” for location and куда? “where to?” for destination. It also distinguishes several kinds of “from” and “to” that English often expresses with the same word. These choices appear constantly in introductions, travel, daily routines, and conversations about people and places.

The beginner rules below cover the most dependable patterns. Choice of в versus на is partly based on meaning and partly fixed by convention, so it is best to learn common places as complete phrases: в школе, на работе, на концерте.

How It Works

The core case map

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Its ending can change after a Russian preposition. Here is the essential map:

Preposition	Basic meaning	Required case	Typical question	Example
в	in, at; into, to	prepositional for location; accusative for destination	где? / куда?	в городе / в город
на	on, at; onto, to	prepositional for location; accusative for destination	где? / куда?	на столе / на стол
из	out of, from inside; from a country/city	genitive	откуда? “from where?”	из магазина
с	off, from; with	genitive for “from”; instrumental for “with”	откуда? / с кем? с чем?	со стола / с другом
о	about	prepositional	о ком? о чём?	о фильме
у	at/by; at someone's place; in someone's possession	genitive	у кого?	у Анны
к	toward, up to; to a person	dative	к кому? к чему?	к врачу
от	away from; from a person or source	genitive	от кого? от чего?	от друга

The accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and prepositional are simply different case forms. You do not need every ending before using these phrases: first memorize high-frequency chunks, then connect them to the wider case system.

В and на: location versus destination

With в and на, the situation determines the case.

• Location, no change of place: use the prepositional. Я в школе. “I am at school.” Телефон на столе. “The phone is on the table.”
• Destination or placement: use the accusative. Я иду в школу. “I am going to school.” Я кладу телефон на стол. “I am putting the phone on the table.”

This is not merely a contrast between static and moving verbs. Я гуляю в парке “I am walking in the park” describes movement, but the park is the location of the activity, not its destination. Ask yourself whether the phrase answers где? or куда?

For many masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative looks like the dictionary form, which can hide the case contrast: в музей “to the museum” but в музее “in the museum.” Feminine nouns often show it clearly: в школу versus в школе.

Choosing в or на

Use в most often for being inside an enclosed place and with cities and countries:

• в комнате — in the room
• в Москве — in Moscow
• в России — in Russia

Use на for a surface and for many events, activities, workplaces, and conventional public places:

• на столе — on the table
• на концерте — at a concert
• на работе — at work
• на почте — at the post office

The English word “at” does not predict the Russian choice. Russian says в школе but на работе. Learn the location and destination together: в школе → в школу, на работе → на работу.

Из and с: movement back from a place

Из and с normally reverse the destination patterns:

• в → из: в школу / из школы, в Россию / из России
• на → с: на работу / с работы, на стол / со стола

Both из and “from” с require the genitive. This pairing is more reliable than trying to decide from English whether something is literally “inside” or “on” a surface.

С: “from” versus “with”

The preposition с has two very common meanings, and the case tells them apart:

• с + genitive = from or off: с работы “from work,” со стола “off the table”
• с + instrumental = with: с другом “with a friend,” с чаем “with tea”

In speech, the different noun endings make the intended meaning clear. Compare с братом “with my brother” and с работы “from work.”

О: the topic of speech or thought

Use о + prepositional for “about” after verbs such as говорить “talk,” думать “think,” читать “read,” and писать “write”:

• говорить о работе — to talk about work
• думать о семье — to think about the family

Before a vowel sound, об is normally used: об Анне, об истории. This is the same preposition, not a different rule.

У, к, and от with people

These three prepositions form a useful set:

• у + genitive locates something at or near a person: Я у врача. “I am at the doctor's.” It also appears in the standard possession pattern У меня есть..., literally “At me there is...”
• к + dative expresses movement toward a person or thing: Я иду к врачу. “I am going to the doctor.”
• от + genitive expresses movement away or something received from a source: Я иду от врача. “I am coming from the doctor's.” письмо от друга means “a letter from a friend.”

English “to” often maps to к before a person, but not in every context. К emphasizes approach or a visit, whereas a destination understood as an institution may use в: идти к врачу “go to see the doctor,” but идти в больницу “go to the hospital.”

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
Я иду в школу.	I'm going to school.	в + accusative, destination
Моя сестра учится в школе.	My sister studies at school.	в + prepositional, location
Книга лежит на столе.	The book is lying on the table.	на + prepositional, location
Положи книгу на стол.	Put the book on the table.	на + accusative, destination
Летом мы едем в Россию.	We are going to Russia in summer.	Country as a destination
Я приехал из России.	I came from Russia.	из + genitive, reverse of в
Она возвращается с работы.	She is coming back from work.	с + genitive, reverse of на
Возьми чашку со стола.	Take the cup off the table.	со is a pronunciation variant of с
Я пью кофе с молоком.	I drink coffee with milk.	с + instrumental, accompaniment
Мы говорим о работе.	We are talking about work.	о + prepositional, topic
Он часто думает об Анне.	He often thinks about Anna.	об before a vowel sound
Сегодня я у бабушки.	Today I am at my grandmother's.	у + genitive, at someone's place
У меня есть вопрос.	I have a question.	Russian possession pattern
Завтра я иду к врачу.	Tomorrow I am going to the doctor.	к + dative, toward a person
Это подарок от коллеги.	This is a gift from a colleague.	от + genitive, source

Common Mistakes

Using the location case for a destination

• Wrong: Я иду в школе.
• Right: Я иду в школу.
• Why: The school is the destination, so в takes the accusative. В школе answers “where?” rather than “where to?”

Translating every English “at” with one preposition

• Wrong: Я в работе. (intended: “I am at work.”)
• Right: Я на работе.
• Why: Russian convention, not the English word, determines в or на. Memorize на работе as a whole phrase.

Breaking the в–из and на–с pairings

• Wrong: Она вернулась из работы.
• Right: Она вернулась с работы.
• Why: The fixed destination is на работу, so the corresponding origin is с работы.

Using the wrong case after с “with”

• Wrong: Я иду с друга.
• Right: Я иду с другом.
• Why: С meaning “with” takes the instrumental. The genitive after с expresses movement from or off something.

Using в for a visit to a person

• Wrong: Мы идём в Анну.
• Right: Мы идём к Анне.
• Why: Movement toward or a visit to a person normally uses к + dative. To say you are at Anna's place, use у Анны.

Keeping a noun in its dictionary form

• Wrong: Я говорю о работа.
• Right: Я говорю о работе.
• Why: О requires the prepositional case. The dictionary form работа changes to работе.

Usage Notes

Russian prepositions are not one-to-one equivalents of English ones. English “from” can be из, с, or от: из магазина “from the shop,” с концерта “from the concert,” от друга “from a friend.” Likewise, English “to” can be в, на, or к. Think in paired situations rather than isolated translations.

With personal pronouns, several third-person forms gain н after a preposition: у него “at his place/he has,” к ней “toward her,” от них “from them,” с ним “with him.” These forms belong to the wider pronoun case system and are worth learning as chunks.

Russian also uses expanded forms to make difficult consonant clusters easier to pronounce: во, со, ко, and occasionally ото. Common examples include во Франции, со мной, ко мне, and ото всех. The meaning and required case do not change.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these details at A1, but you will meet them later.

A small group of masculine nouns has a special locative ending in certain fixed location phrases, usually stressed -у/-ю: в лесу “in the forest,” на мосту “on the bridge,” в аэропорту “at the airport.” The destination still uses the ordinary accusative: в лес, на мост, в аэропорт. Other meanings may use the regular prepositional form, as in о лесе “about the forest.”

For “about,” Russian has the forms о, об, and обо. Об generally appears before a vowel sound; обо survives in a few common combinations such as обо мне “about me” and обо всём “about everything.” Actual pronunciation and established usage matter more than spelling alone.

Some place names use conventional prepositions that cannot be predicted from physical geography. Modern standard Russian generally uses в Украине / из Украины, while usage can carry historical and political associations. Islands, regions, streets, transport, and media also have established patterns, such as на Кубе, на Урале, на улице, and в интернете. Check a reliable dictionary or corpus and learn both destination and origin together.

Finally, do not treat longer prepositions as simple combinations of the basic ones. из-за “from behind; because of” and из-под “from under” have their own meanings and both govern the genitive. They belong to a later stage of study.

Practice Tips

1. Build three-part place sets. Write one location, destination, and origin together: в магазине → в магазин → из магазина; на работе → на работу → с работы. Say the question где? куда? откуда? with each form.
2. Color-code the cases. Mark accusative destinations, prepositional locations, and genitive origins in different colors. Add к + dative and с + instrumental only after the first three patterns feel automatic.
3. Describe a real day. Make short sentences about where you are, where you are going, whom you are visiting, and where you came from: Я на работе. После работы я иду к другу. Потом я еду домой от друга. Correct complete phrases, not just noun endings.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Prepositional Case — explains the location and topic forms used after в, на, and о.
• Next step: Genitive Case — develops the forms required after из, origin с, у, and от.
• Next step: Dative Case — explains the endings used after к.
• Next step: Instrumental Case — covers с meaning “with” and other instrumental uses.