How can anyone figure out which preposition is correct?
Even many native speakers use this part of speech incorrectly. So imagine how confusing it is for those who are just learning the language!
The difficulty with prepositions is that they require the following word to be in a specific case. And even if you choose the correct preposition, it’s easy to make a mistake with the next word.
Let’s take a closer look at Russian prepositions in this article.
Rules of Russian prepositions
Do you know when to use the preposition “O” and when “Ob”? They seem to mean the same thing, but using the wrong one is considered an error. Let’s start from the beginning.
Prepositions are used to connect words in a sentence and clarify meaning. There is a difference between:
“I will wait for you in the store” and “I will wait for you near the store.”
Misunderstanding a preposition can cause confusion. Russian prepositions are divided into different groups: simple and compound, derived and non-derived, and so on.
For example, simple prepositions consist of one word: o, v, na. Compound prepositions include phrases like iz-pod, iz-za, and others.
Derived prepositions come from other parts of speech. Examples include blagodarya, vvidu, naschet, and so on.
Prepositions are also classified by meaning and other parameters.
There are a huge number of prepositions in Russian, and each has its own usage nuances. That’s why this part of speech is so difficult, especially for foreigners.
Common mistakes in prepositions
Some Russian prepositions are tricky because their form changes depending on the word they refer to. For example, there are the prepositions “v” and “vo,” “o” and “ob,” “s” and “so.”
Choosing the correct form depends on the first sound of the following word. We have compiled these prepositions into a convenient table:
| preposition | The letter with which the following word begins | Example |
| V | Consonant or vowel, except in “vo mnogom,” “vo mnogikh,” “vo ves’,” “vo imya,” “vo sne” | v magazine; v otnosheniyakh; v imeni; v yestestvennoy srede |
| Vo | Two consonants, the first being V or F | vo Frantsii; vo flakone; vo vtornik; vo vcherashnem; vo vzglyade |
| S | Consonant or vowel | s toboy; s lyubov’yu; s opytom |
| So | Two consonants | so mnoy; so vsemi; so slovami |
| О | Consonant or vowel | o rabote; o yede; o Yuge |
| Ob | Vowels A, I, O, U, E | ob etom; ob interesakh |
Mistakes often happen with derived prepositions as well. These prepositions come from other parts of speech and are always written separately.
It’s important not to confuse derived prepositions with compound ones. Compound prepositions are not derived from other words and are written with a hyphen, such as iz-pod, iz-za.
How to use Russian prepositions
Let’s try a test on the correct use of Russian prepositions. This test is useful not only for foreigners learning Russian but also for native speakers.
Fill in the missing prepositions:
- Мы договорились встретиться ___ пять часов вечера.
- Она взяла книгу ___ полки и положила её ___ стол.
- Автобус остановился ___ остановке напротив театра.
- Он поступил в университет ___ примеру старшего брата.
- Мальчик спрятался ___ диваном, чтобы его не нашли.
- Письмо пришло ___ имени директора школы.
- Всё произошло ___ неосторожности: стакан упал ___ стола.
- Поездка отложена ___ непогоды.
- Ответ нужно отправить ___ электронной почте до завтрашнего утра.
- Мы сели ___ стол и начали обсуждать детали проекта.
Did you find this test easy? Test the children. Can they do it easily? At the end of this article you will find the correct answers to the test.
Prepositions give meaning to speech. Without them, it would not be clear what you mean at all.
It seems that it is difficult to understand them. But if you delve a little deeper into this topic, you will realize that speaking and writing literately is not so difficult at all.
Test Answers:
- в
- с, на
- на
- по
- за
- от
- из-за, со
- из-за
- по
- за
