Russian prepositions are more difficult than their English counterparts.
Why?
Because you need to remember the correct case for each preposition...
List of Russian prepositions + examples
Each Russian preposition requires that the following noun is in a specific case.
That’s why you need to learn the required case while learning a new preposition.
Some prepositions can use multiple cases, depending on the meaning of the preposition.
The best way to learn them is to focus on learning the cases. So when you’re learning the accusative case, also focus your efforts on the prepositions that require it.
This will help you compartmentalize similar knowledge. And that helps you learn everything faster and use it in your spoken Russian too.
All the below prepositions are divided:
- firstly on which case they require
- then on commonly-used prepositions / not commonly-spoken prepositions
- you find examples for each preposition to improve the learning process below
| Case | Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | в | ‘in’ in idiomatic expressions meaning “become a member of group” | Владимир пошёл в политики – Vladimir has become a politician. |
| за | ‘for’ in questions “Что (это) за …?” and exclamations “Что за … !” | Что Маша за студент? – What kind of student is Masha? | |
| Genitive | без | ‘without’ | Я не могу жить без пиццы – I can’t live without pizza |
| ввиду | ‘in view of’ . ‘owing to’ | ввиду закрытия дорог наш магазин недоступен – our store is unavailable due to road closures. | |
| вдоль | ‘along’ | Я иду вдоль реки – I’m walking along the river | |
| вместо | ‘instead of’ | Мы можем пойти в ресторан вместо бара? – Can we go to a restaurant, in stead of a bar? | |
| вне | ‘outside’ | Вечеринка вне дома – The party is outside of the house | |
| внутри | ‘inside’ to indicate the position | Мы все внутри ресторана – We’re all inside the restaurant | |
| внутрь | ‘inside’ to indicate movement | давайте переместимся внутрь дома, потому что идет дождь – let’s move inside the house, because it’s raining. | |
| возле | ‘near’ | Вы видите дерево возле дома? – Do you see the tree near the house? | |
| впереди | ‘in front of’ | впереди нас большое поле мин – In front of us lies a big field of mines | |
| вследствие | ‘because of’ | вследствие кризиса мой папа потерял работу – Because of the crisis, my dad lost his job | |
| вокруг | ‘around’ | Вокруг моего дома большой сад – Around my house is a large garden | |
| для | ‘for’ | Покупаем бассейн для своего сада – We’re buying a pool for our garden | |
| до | ‘up to, until, before’ | У вас есть до понедельника – You have till Monday | |
| из | ‘out of’ | Он ездил из Лондона в Москву – He traveled from London to Moscow. | |
| из-за | ‘out from behind, because of’ | Из-за погоды мы не можем выйти на улицу – Because of the weather, we can’t go out. | |
| из-под | ‘out from under’ | Он вышел из-под воды – He came out from under the water | |
| кроме | ‘besides, except’ | Кроме итальянского ресторана все закрыто – Except for the Italian restaurant, everything is closed | |
| между | ‘between’ used with the genitive only in a few phrases. | читать между строк – read between strokes между двух огней – between 2 fires | |
| мимо | ‘past’ | Он прошел мимо банка – He walked past the bank | |
| напротив | ‘opposite’ | Магазин находится напротив дома – The store is located opposite of the house | |
| насчет | ‘about, as regards’ | Итак, насчет вашего кредита … – So, about your loan… | |
| около | ‘at the side of, near, around’ | Выпили около трёх литров самогона – We drank around 3 liters of samogon | |
| от (ото) | ‘from, away from’ | От этой остановки примерно 5 км езды – It’s about 5 kilometer drive from this stop. | |
| относительно | ‘concerning’ | Несколько историй сохранялись относительно происхождения его фамилии – Several stories persisted regarding the origin of his surname. | |
| помимо | ‘besides, apart from’ | о чем можно говорить, помимо работы? | |
| после | ‘after’ | Не приходи после заката – Don’t come after sunset | |
| посреди | ‘in the middle of’ | Он вошел посреди фильма | |
| посредством | ‘by means of’ | Нам удалось посредством тяжелой работы – We succeeded by means of hard work | |
| подле | ‘alongside of’ | А теперь, иди и сядь подле меня – beside | |
| позади | ‘behind’ | Всё потраченное время жизни осталось позади тебя– All of life’s wasted time is behind you now | |
| против | ‘against’ | Я против испытаний на животных – I’m against animal testing | |
| путём | ‘by means of’ | Мы выиграли путём лжи – We won by means of a lie | |
| ради | ‘for the sake of’ | Не будем прыгать с моста ради скуки – Let’s not jump of the bridge for the sake of boredom. | |
| с (со) | ‘from, off, since’ | Он прыгает с моста – he is jumping from the bridge | |
| сверх | ‘on top of, over and above’ | Птица летит сверх моря – The bird flies over and above the sea | |
| свыше | ‘over, more than’ | Высота этой башни составляет свыше ста метров – The height of the tower is above 100 meters. | |
| среди | ‘among’ | Среди студентов большой проблемой является выгорание – Among students, burn out is a big problem. | |
| у | ‘near, at, at the house of (possession)’ | Дом у реки мой – The house near the river is mine | |
| Dative | благодаря | ‘thanks to’ | Благодаря Владу мы выиграли игру – Thanks to Vlad, we won the game |
| вопреки | ‘despite’ | Собственность не разрешается использовать вопреки интересам общества – The property must not be used contrary to the interests of the society. | |
| к (ко) | ‘towards, up to’ | Он подошел к симпатичной девушке – He walked up to the cute girl | |
| по | ‘along, round, by means (communication), on (days)’ | Гуляли по городу – We walked around the city | |
| Accusative | в (во) | ‘into, to, in’ when movement is involved | Поехали в москву – Let’s go to Moscow |
| за | ‘behind or beyond’ when movement into a position is involved | Мышь спряталась за книгу – The mouse hid behind the book | |
| на | ‘on to, on’ when movement is involved | Я должен идти на работу сейчас – I must go to work now | |
| о | ‘against’ in the sense of in contact with | Не бей головой о стену – Don’t hit your head against the wall | |
| по | ‘up to’ a certain point in space or time | Я по шею в работе – I’m up to my neck in work | |
| под | ‘under’ when movement into a position is involved | Он упал под воду – He fell under the water | |
| про | ‘about, concerning’ | Давайте поговорим про эту книгу | |
| c | ‘approximately, about’ with nouns denoting measurement | У меня есть с яблоко – I have about one apple | |
| сквозь | ‘through’ | Мяч прошел сквозь окно – The ball went through the window | |
| через | ‘across, through, over’ | Он перепрыгнул через реку – He jumped across the river | |
| Instrumental | между | ‘between’ | это должно оставаться между нами – this needs to stay between us |
| над (надо) | ‘over, above’ | Над облаками светит солнце – Above the clouds shines the sun | |
| перед (передо) | ‘in front of, before’ | Почему ты стоишь передо мной? – Why are you standing in front of me? | |
| под (подо) | ‘under, below’ | Рыбы плавают под водой – Fish swim under the water | |
| с (со) | ‘with’ | Я ем с ложкой – I eat with a spoon | |
| Prepositional | в (во) | ‘in, at’ to define location where sth is situated or hapenning, in expressions of time | Я в москве – I’m in Moscow |
| на | ‘on, in, at’ to define location | я на работе – I’m at work | |
| о (об) | ‘about, concerning’ | Почему ты всегда говоришь о работе? – Why are you always talking about work? | |
| при | ‘at the time of, in the presence of, while’ | Всем было страшно при присутствии президента – Everyone was scared in the presence of the president |
First 3 columns are a courtesy of http://www.study-languages-online.com/grammar/tables/prepositions-by-case. The examples are from me with the help of https://context.reverso.net/ sometimes for uncommon prepositions.
What should you do next?
Learning Russian does NOT need to be difficult. All you need is a solid plan that helps you improve the following things daily:
- vocabulary
- grammar
- listening skills
- speaking skills
That's ALL you need. If you can do this for a couple of weeks, you’ll already be making great progress in your Russian skills.
And the best part? If you improve a little bit every day, soon these practices will become daily habits.
And then you will start making progress on autopilot.
This means that learning Russian is now a part of your daily routine. So you won’t even need discipline anymore to get yourself to practice.
If you like the idea of this, but don’t know where to start, go here for more information.