Prepositions
Every preposition demands a case, and some demand two.
| case | prepositions |
|---|---|
| genitive | у, от, до, из, без, для, о́коло, по́сле |
| dative | к, по |
| accusative | че́рез, про, and в / на for direction |
| instrumental | с, над, под, пе́ред, ме́жду |
| prepositional | о, при, and в / на for location |
The prepositional case exists only after prepositions — nothing else in the language uses it, which is how it got the name.
в and на: location or direction
The preposition stays; the case changes.
| в шко́ле (prep) | at school |
| в шко́лу (acc) | to school |
| на сто́ле (prep) | on the table |
| на сто́л** (acc) | onto the table |
в or на
Both mean in and on, and which noun takes which is arbitrary and must be learnt. В шко́ле but на рабо́те. В Росси́и but на Украи́не — a choice that became politically loaded, and в Украи́не is now standard.
у + genitive = to have
Russian has no verb for having.
У меня́ есть кни́га. — "At me there is a book."
Negate it and the thing goes genitive: У меня́ нет кни́ги.
с has two jobs
- instrumental — with, together: с дру́гом
- genitive — off, down from: со стола́
The instrumental on its own
No preposition needed for "by means of": Я пишу́ ручкой — I write with a pen. It also marks what you become or work as: Он был учи́телем — he was a teacher.
по
The most slippery one. Along, according to, by, on the subject of, each: по у́лице, по ра́дио, по-мо́ему, по понеде́льникам. It takes the dative and it turns up everywhere.
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