How to talk about locations using the prepositional case in Russian?

One of the main uses of the prepositional case in Russian is to answer the question Где? (transcribed gdye, meaning “Where?”) and to talk about the place where something exists or happens. So, to say something like, “I live in a big house” or “There are three apples on the counter” in Russian, you need the prepositional case. This is such an important use of the prepositional case that it used to be called the “locative” case.

In this post, we’ll briefly review the forms of this case, then go through the most common circumstances where you’ll want to use it to discuss locations. Follow me!

The prepositional case in Russian is used only after prepositions (as its name suggests), such as в (transcribed v, meaning “in”), на (transcribed na, meaning “on”), о/об (transcribed a/ab, meaning “about”), при (transcribed pri, meaning “next to / during”). It is most famously used to talk about locations, but is also used for discussing time, the objects of thought and speech, and for some other purposes.

This is quite a simple case to form in Russian. Here is a summary of the endings:

If you need more information about its forms and uses, our overview of the prepositional case in Russian would be a good place to start!

In general, the prepositional case of place (i.e. the prepositional case as used to describe a location) is used similarly to English phrases that describe where something happened, for example:

Just like in English, such phrases can appear in various contexts that can generally be divided into two types:

1. sentences describing a place and its contents
   (e.g. “There’s a hat on the shelf.” / “In the box was a cat.”)

2. sentences describing the location of a particular thing
   (e.g. “The hat was on the shelf.”)

Let’s look at how the two different sentence structures work!

In Russian, the most basic way to describe a place and its contents is to use a sentence structure like this: “In the bathroom were two mirrors.” It may sound a little old-fashioned or poetic in English, but in Russian it is very normal:

When we translate sentences like this into English they most often start with “there is” or “there was.” Here are some more examples:

• В их новом доме будут большие окна.

  Transcription: v ykh NOvam DOmye BOOdoot balSHYie OKna.

  Translation: There will be big windows in their new house.
• На полке стояли часы.

  Transcription: na POLkye staYAli chiSY.

  Translation: There was a clock on the shelf.

  Literally: lit. On the shelf stood a clock.
• На диване лежали два кота.

  Transcription: na diVAnye liZHAli dva kaTA.

  Translation: There were two cats on the couch.

  Literally: lit. On the couch lay two cats.
• В этой машине кожаный салон.

  Transcription: v Etay maSHYnye KOzhynyi saLON.

  Translation: There is a leather interior in this car. / This car has a leather interior.

  Literally: lit. In this car is a leather interior.

You can also put the location after the verb, like in the English sentence, “The mirror is in the bathroom.” They are used as an answer to the question “Where is…?” or to tell the location of a specific noun.

In Russian, to describe the location of something, use this sentence structure:

Let’s look at a few more examples:

• Пока я был в магазине, кошелёк был у меня в кармане.

  Transcription: paKA ya byl v magaZEEnye kashyLYOK byl oo miNYA f karMAnye.

  Translation: While I was in the store, the wallet was in my pocket.
• Я на остановке, а ты где?

  Transcription: ya na astaNOFkye a TY gdye?

  Translation: I am at the bus stop, and where are you?
• Обед на столе, ужин в холодильнике, всё, я убежала.

  Transcription: aBYET na staLYE OOzhyn f khalaDEELnikye fsyo ya oobiZHALa.

  Translation: Lunch is on the table, dinner is in the fridge, ok, I have to go now (lit: I have run away).
• Олень лежал на траве и даже не думал убегать.

  Transcription: aLYEN liZHAL na travYE i DAzhe ni DOOmal oobiGAT.

  Translation: The deer was lying on the grass and wasn’t even trying to run away.

As you can see, although Russian word order is usually quite flexible, it is not really the case with the prepositional case describing places.

In Russian, we use the endings -у / -ю (rather than the regular -е / -и) for the prepositional case of some specific singular nouns only when they refer to a location. The list of such nouns, unfortunately, has to be memorized. Here are the most common ones:

Body parts:

• в глазу (transcribed v glaZOO, meaning “in the eye”)

• на лбу (transcribed na lboo, meaning “on the forehead”)

• на носу (transcribed na naSOO, meaning “on the nose”)

• во рту (transcribed va rtoo, meaning “in the mouth”)

• на боку (transcribed na baKOO, meaning “on the side”)

Military:

• в плену (transcribed f pliNOO, meaning “in captivity”)

• в бою (transcribed v baYU, meaning “in combat”)

Nature:

• на ветру (transcribed na vitROO, meaning “in the wind”)

• в снегу (transcribed f sniGOO, meaning “in the snow / snow-covered”)

• в жару (transcribed v zhaROO, meaning “in the heat(wave)”)

Place:

The prepositional case must be used after the prepositions в (transcribed v, meaning “in/at”) and на (transcribed na, meaning “on/at”) to describe places. The standard endings for nouns are -е / -и (singular) and -ах / -ях (plural) and for adjectives they are -ом / -ем / -ой / -ей (singular) and -ых / -их (plural). If a sentence describes a new place, it usually starts with в/на + the prepositional case in Russian, while a sentence answering the question “where?” usually has в/на + the prepositional case at the end.

Time to try out your skills of forming and using the prepositional case by downloading the exercises below!