Prepositional case in Russian language

Prepositional case is the sixth and final case of Russian language and has only 3 very simple rules. We will be discussing it in following article.

Before we start, we want you to keep in mind this important fact: “The Prepositional case is always used with a preposition in the sentence”.

1) The Prepositional Case is Used to Indicate the Location of the Action. It is Used with Prepositions “в – in/into” and “на – on/onto”.

Here are some examples:

• Мама едет в машине. – Mother goes in the car.

This sentence has the Prepositional case form of the word “машине” (car) and indicates the location of the action “едет” (goes) after the preposition “в” (in/into). The Nominative case form of the word “car” is “машина”.

• Ребёнок сидит на лавочке. – The child sits on a bench.

And again, the word лавочке (bench) is the Prepositional case form and indicates the location of the action “сидит” (sits) after the preposition “на” (on/onto). The Nominative case form of the word “bench” is “лавочка”.

2) The Prepositional Case is Used with Russian Preposition “о”, meaning in English “about/of“.

For example:

• Я мечтаю о путешествии. – I dream about traveling.

In Russian language, the word “traveling” in Nominative case is “путешествие”. But we have to use the Prepositional case form of the word “путешествии” because it stays after the preposition “о” (about/of) in this sentence.

Or another example:

• Папа думает о своей маме. – Father thinks about his mother.

It’s the same situation like we mentioned above, except in this sentence, the Nominative case word “мама” (mother) we used in the Prepositional case form “маме” because it stays after the preposition “о” (about/of).

3) Prepositional Case is Used to Indicate the Time of an Action with Such Words: год (year), месяц (month), неделя (week):

For example:

На этой неделе мы встречаемся со старыми друзьями. – We meet old friends this week.

Or another one:

Мы поедем в Москву в следующем году*. – We will go to Moscow next year. (*irregular exception)

One more example:

Нам нужно заплатить за интернет в этом месяце. – We need to pay for the internet this month.

Formation of Prepositional Singular Case Nouns:

Formation of Prepositional Plural Case Nouns: