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):

Russian	English
год	this year
год	literally: in this year
месяц	this month
месяц	literally: in this month
неделя	week
неделя	literally: on this 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:

Gender	Nominative Singular	Remove	Add	Prepositional Singular	English
masculine	доктор чай словарь	— й ь	е е е	докторe чаe словарe	doctor tea dictionary
neuter	озеро здание	о е	е и	озере здании	lake building
feminine	дверь машина фамилия	ь а я	и е и	двери машине фамилии	door car surname

Formation of Prepositional Plural Case Nouns:

Gender	Nominative Singular	Remove	Add	Prepositional Plural	English
masculine	доктор брат чай словарь	— — й ь	ах ьях ях ях	докторах братьях чаях словарях	doctor brother tea dictionary
neuter	озеро здание	о е	ах ях	озерах зданиях	lake building
feminine	дверь машина фамилия	ь — —	ях х х	дверях машинaх фамилиях	door car surname