In Russian, prepositions of direction are used before nouns to create phrases that describe the direction in which someone or something is moving. You might use these phrases to answer a question like:
In this post, we’ll take you through the major prepositions of direction, discuss the case you should use after each one, and more closely examine some tricky distinctions in how these prepositions are used in Russian. Let’s have a look!
What are the prepositions of movement in Russian?
The prepositions of movement in Russian are summarized in the table below.
| Preposition | Translation | Case |
|---|---|---|
в transcribed v | in, to, into | accusative |
на transcribed na | on, to, onto | accusative |
через transcribed CHEris | over, across, through | accusative |
сквозь transcribed skvos | through | accusative |
под transcribed pat | under | accusative |
из transcribed ees | from, out of | genitive |
c / со transcribed s | from | genitive |
от transcribed at | away, from | genitive |
до transcribed da | up to | genitive |
из-за transcribed EEZ-za | from behind | genitive |
из-под transcribed EES-pat | from under | genitive |
мимо transcribed MEEma | past | genitive |
к transcribed k | to, toward | dative |
Now, let’s go over some examples of how to use these prepositions in context, and compare them!
How to say “into” or “onto” and “under” in Russian?
In Russian, you can say “into” or “onto” using the words в transcribed vmeaning in, into and на transcribed nameaning on, onto before the accusative case.
в transcribed vmeaning in, into accusative | на transcribed nameaning on, onto accusative |
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The preposition под transcribed pat meaning “under” describes movement to the underside of something, and it is, therefore, the opposite of на transcribed nameaning on, onto. This preposition is also used before the accusative case.
под transcribed patmeaning under accusative |
 |
For example:
How to say “through” and “across” in Russian?
In Russian, the prepositions через transcribed CHEris and сквозь transcribed skvos can both mean “through,” but only через can describe movement “across” or “over” an object. Both prepositions are used before the accusative case.
через transcribed CHErismeaning across, through accusative | сквозь transcribed skvosmeaning through accusative |
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When describing motion through an obstacle, they have the same meaning, but сквозь implies more effort.
Через can be used for something that is completely crossing an obstacle over the top or through its center. For example:
How to say “out of” or “off of” in Russian?
In Russian, we say “out of” and “off of” using the prepositions из transcribed ees and c / со transcribed s before the genitive case.
из transcribed eesmeaning from, out of genitive | c / со transcribed smeaning from, off of genitive |
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For example:
The prepositions из and с are direct opposites of в and на, respectively (see above), so all the challenges associated with choice between в and на automatically apply to из and с as well!
How to say “away from” and “(up) to” in Russian?
In Russian, you can say that something is moving “away from” something else using the preposition от transcribed at, and that movement goes “up to” something else using the preposition до transcribed da. In this use, both prepositions are followed by the genitive case.
от transcribed atmeaning away from genitive | до transcribed dameaning up to genitive |
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For example:
от and до may be used before the names or titles of people, to discuss movement between people’s homes or businesses, for example:
How to say “from behind” or “from below” in Russian?
In Russian, we say “from behind” using the preposition из-за transcribed EEZ-za and “from below” using the preposition из-под transcribed EES-pat, both before the genitive case.
из-за transcribed EEZ-zameaning from behind genitive | из-под transcribed EES-patmeaning from below genitive |
 |  |
For example:
These prepositions have a couple other meanings:
Из-за can also be used to describe movement away from an object somebody was doing something at, for example:
genitive caseвстать из-за столаTranscription: fstat EEZ-za staLATranslation: to get up from a desk/tableИз-под, quite logically, can also be used in the meaning “to liberate, to free” in such phrases as:
genitive caseвыйти из-под контроляTranscription: VYIti EES-pat kantROlyaTranslation: to get out of controlосвободить из-под стражиTranscription: asvabaDEET EES-pat STRAzhiTranslation: to release from custody
How to describe movement “past” something in Russian?
In Russian, we describe movement “past” something using the preposition мимо transcribed meemameaning past before the genitive case.
мимо transcribed meemameaning past genitive |
 |
For example:
мимо is often used to say that something missed a target, as in:
How to say “to” or “toward” in Russian?
In Russian, the preposition к transcribed kcan be used to mean “to” or “toward” when it is followed by the dative case.
к transcribed kmeaning to, toward dative |
 |
For example:
К vs. до: Which one to use to mean “to”?
Both к and до can be translated using the word “to” in English. The difference is:
| до | к |
|---|---|
only describes movement to a final point | can describe either movement to a final point or movement in the general direction of some destination |
always used with the verbs of motion with the prefix до- | may be used with various prefixed and non-prefixed verbs of motion |
used before the genitive case | used before the dative case |
Мы дошли до дома. Transcription: my daSHLEE da DOma Translation: We reached / got to the house. Мы добежали до финиша. Transcription: my dabiZHAli da FEEnisha Translation: We ran up to / made it to / reached the finish line. | Мы подошли к дому. Transcription: my padaSHLEE k DOmoo Translation: We arrived at / walked up to / came up to the house. Мы бежали к финишу. Transcription: my biZHAli k FEEnishoo Translation: We were running toward the finish line. |
Conclusion
We have looked at a number of prepositions used to describe the direction of movement. It is important to remember which case should be used after each of them:
use accusative after в transcribed vmeaning into, на transcribed nameaning onto, под transcribed patmeaning under, через transcribed cherismeaning across, сквозь transcribed skvosmeaning through
use genitive after из transcribed eesmeaning from, c transcribed smeaning from, от transcribed atmeaning away from, до transcribed dameaning up to, из-за transcribed eez-zameaning from behind, из-под transcribed ees-patmeaning from beneath, мимо transcribed meemameaning past
use dative after к transcribed kmeaning to, toward
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