УРО́К 5
PDF: Download or view at Google Docs.
IntroductionIn this lesson you are going to learn about Russian's
Prepositional Case. This is the shortest lesson I have came up with so far! So please read along and learn about the prepositional case and how to form the prepositional forms of nouns and adjectives :).
The Prepositional CaseThe Prepositional case is called so because it is used only after prepositions. There are four prepositions that are used with the prepositional case:
в "in";
на "on";
о "about";
при "attached to; in presence of; during." The latter is somewhat rare.
The prepositional case was once known as the
locative case, and is still sometimes referred to by its old name. It is important to note that some nouns have two prepositional forms (more below).
The Four PrepositionsHere's a breakdown of each of the four prepositions that are governed by the prepositional case:
в "in; at" - with enclosed places or buildings; most countries and cities.*
Я в Москве́. = "I'm in Moscow."
в шко́ле = "at school"
на "on; at" - with open spaces or events.*
на у́лице = "in the street"
о (also
об/обо) "about" - use "об" if noun begins in vowel.**
Он говори́л о нём. = "He spoke about him."
при "attached to; in presence of; during"
*
в and
на are used with the accusative case when they refer to motion. Therefore:
Я в Москве́ "I'm in Moscow" (Prepositional) BUT
Я е́ду в Москву́ "I'm traveling to Moscow" (Accusative).
**
о is also used in the accusative case, where it takes the meaning "against" or "upon" something.
Forming the Prepositional singular of nounsThe prepositional singular of nouns is relatively easy to form.
Masculine nounsMasculine nouns ending in a consonant add
-е, and nouns ending in
-й or
-ь replace that letter with
-е. Nouns ending in
-ий become
-ии.
сад > о са́де "about the garden"
музей > в музе́е "in the museum"
царь > о царе́ "about the tsar"
Ю́рий > о Ю́рии "about Yuri"
Feminine nounsFeminine nouns ending in
-а or
-я replace that letter with
-е. Nouns ending in
-ь replace that letter with
-и, and nouns ending in
-ия become
-ии.
кни́га > о кни́ге "about the book"
Сиби́рь > в Сиби́ри "in Siberia"
Росси́я > в Росси́и "in Russia"
Neuter nounsNeuter nouns ending in
-о change that letter to
-е. Neuter nouns ending in
-е are unchanged, unless they end in
-ие, in which they become
-ии.
письмо́ > о письме́ "about the letter"
мо́ре > в мо́ре "in the sea"
движе́ние > в движе́нии "in movement"
*Some nouns have
-у́ or
-ю́ after the prepositions
в and
на. These are remnants of the old locative case. Examples:
в саду́ "in the garden";
в лесу́ "in the forest."
Forming the Prepositional plural of nounsLike the prepositional singular forms of nouns, the prepositional plural forms are fairly easy to get the hang of. There are two basic endings:
ах and
ях.
Use "ах" if:-the noun ends in a consonant;
-the noun ends in
-о or
-а.
сад > о сада́х "about the gardens"
письмо́ > о пи́сьмах "about the letters"
кни́га > о кни́гах "about the books"
Use "ях" if:-the noun ends in
-ь,
-й,
-е, or
-я;
-the noun has an irregular nominative plural ending in
-я.
царь > о царя́х "about the tsars"
музе́й > о музе́ях "about the museums"
мо́ре > о моря́х "about the seas"
свинья́ > о сви́ньях "about the pigs"
друзья́ > о мои́х друзья́х "about my friends"
*Feminine nouns ending in
-мя take the ending
-енах.
Prepositional Personal pronounsBelow are the prepositional forms of the personal pronouns.
о "about" is added to give you an example, and to show you the irregular form it has with "about me."
я > обо
мне "about me"
ты > о
тебе́ "about you"
он > о
нём "about him"
она > о
ней "about her"
оно > о
нём "about it"
мы > о
нас "about us"
вы > о
вас "about you"
они > о
них "about them"
Prepositional adjectivesMasculine and neuter nouns-ем for soft-stemmed adjectives and where spelling rules make it so;
-ом for all other adjectives.
после́дний > после́днем "last"
хоро́ший > хоро́шем "good"
но́вый > в но́вом музе́е "in the new museum"
ру́сский > в ру́сском го́роде "in a Russian town"
большо́й > в большо́м го́роде "in a large town"
Feminine nouns-ей for soft-stemmed adjectives and where spelling rules make it so;
-ой for all other adjectives.
после́дний > после́дней "last"
хоро́ший > хоро́шей "good"
но́вый > в но́вой кни́ге "in a new book"
ру́сский > в ру́сской кни́ге "in a Russian book"
большо́й > в большо́й шапке "in a large hat"
Plural nouns-их for soft-stemmed adjectives and where spelling rules make it so;
-ых for all other adjectives.
после́дний > после́дних "last"
хоро́ший > хоро́ших "good"
но́вый > в но́вых музе́ях "in the new museums"
ру́сский > в ру́сских города́х "in Russian towns"
большо́й > в больши́х города́х "in large towns"
ConclusionI hope you are enjoying the fact that this is a lot smaller than the previous lessons ;). I haven't posted a new lesson in a year, but I plan on adding at least two more in the next two-three weeks. I have recently updated the first lesson and am in the process of updating lessons 2-4. I am also going to make .pdf files of lessons 2-4 (lesson 1 is already done!).