Prepositional case facts
- Only case that NEVER occurs without a preposition.
- Historically, this was what was known as locative case, as it primarily describes location (on/at).
- All the other cases are governed by verbs and prepositions, but this is ONLY governed by prepositions.
Usage
- Following в (in/at) and на (on/at), при (rarely). so when they describe location, answering the question Где?
- Following о/об (about) (note: о becomes об if next word starts with vowel)
- Talking about time (in a certain month)
- With certain verbs (talk about, worry about, etc.)
Verbs that Take the Prepositional Case
- Думать о (to think about)
- Говорить о (to talk about)
- Мечтать о (to dream about)
- Беспокоится о (to worry about)
- Готовиться (к) - to prepare (for)
- Находиться на/в (to be located on/in)
How to Decline
Singular
Singular nouns: -е , -и , -мени (10 neuter nouns), -у (few exceptions, mostly one syllable nouns)-
е : most everything
-
и : fem nouns ending in -ь (replace ь with и ); any nouns ending in -ий , -ия , -ие (replace with ии )
-
мени : neuter nouns ending in -мя ( семя /seed → се мени , время /time → вре мени )
-
у : few, usually 1-syllable nouns, only following на or в . У will always be stressed. Сад → В сад у
-
Masculine nouns ending in a consonant: add
е
-
Берег → берег е
-
-
Nouns ending
а, я
(regardless of gender),
о, й
(unless it’s
ий
), and masc nouns ending in
ь
: replace with
е
-
Папа → О Пап е
-
Ваня → О Ван е
-
Музей → в музе е
-
-
Fem nouns ending in
ь
: replace
ь
with
и
-
дверь → в двер и
-
-
Nouns ending in
ий
,
ия
,
ие
: replace with
ии
(note:
-ий
are mostly male names)
-
Руссия → в Русс ии
-
Юурий → О Юур ии
-
-
Some nouns, usually short, take
у
in the prepositional. only after
на
and
В
-
Сад → на сад у
-
Лес → В лес у
-
Дон (don river) → На Дон у
-
-
The 10 neuter nouns ending in
мя (время, имя, пламя, семя, стрёмя, темя, вымя, знамя, бремя, племя),
replace
мя
with
мени
-
время → о вре мени
-