Prepositional Case (Предложный падеж)
In Russian, words often change their endings depending on grammar. This can happen because of:
- Tense (past / present / future)
- Number (singular / plural)
- Gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
- Person (I / you / we / they)
- Case (the noun’s job in the sentence)
- …and a few other categories
Good news: you don’t need to know every rule right away. If you recognize the base word, you can often guess the meaning from context.
One reason nouns (people/things) change endings is cases. Russian has 6 cases. The “default” case is the Nominative (Именительный).
Nominative = “default form”
- Dictionary form of a noun
- Often the subject of the sentence
Subject = who/what performs the action or “what the sentence is about.”
Example: Ма́ма is the subject in Ма́ма здесь.
Important note
In Russian, there is not always an explicit subject.
- Хо́лодно. = It’s cold. (no subject)
- Мне ну́жно рабо́тать. = I need to work. (no “I” as a subject)
Today we look at the Prepositional case (Предложный падеж).
A preposition is a short word like: в (in), на (on/at), о / об (about). Prepositions often “invite” the next word to change its ending.
1) Location (Where?)
- Я в шко́ле. (I’m at school.)
- Кот на столе. (The cat is on the table.)
- Мы в па́рке. (We’re in the park.)
2) Topic (About what?)
- Мы говори́м о ма́ме. (We talk about mom.)
- Я ду́маю о до́ме. (I think about the house.)
- О чём? = About what?
You’ll often hear Prepositional with в / на (location) and о / об (topic). The key is the ending change.
Let’s play detective 🕵️♀️.
Compare the Nominative (dictionary form) with the Prepositional (after a preposition). Try to deduce what changes.
| Nominative (И.п.) | Preposition + Prepositional (П.п.) | Simple meaning |
|---|---|---|
| шко́ла | в шко́ле | in/at school |
| ма́ма | о ма́ме | about mom |
| дом | в до́ме | in the house |
| музе́й | в музе́е | in the museum |
| окно́ | в окне́ | in the window (area) |
| мо́ре | на мо́ре | at the sea |
| ночь | о но́чи | about the night |
| Росси́я | в Росси́и | in Russia |
| метро́ | в метро́ | in the metro (no change) |
Question: do you mostly see -е or -и? When does it stay the same?
Prepositional case: the main pattern (singular)
Most common ending: -е
- Feminine -а/-я → usually -е
школа → в школе - Masculine consonant/-й → usually -е
дом → в доме, музей → в музее - Neuter -о/-е → usually -е
окно → в окне, море → на море
Common ending: -и
- Feminine -ь → often -и
ночь → о ночи - Nouns in -ия / -ие → often -и
Россия → в России
здание → в здании (example) - Some words don’t change (indeclinable)
метро → в метро
Exception:
A small set of masculine nouns sometimes uses -у/-ю for location: в лесу, в саду, на мосту.
Interactive exercise
Type the correct form for the target case, then press Check.
Tip: copy the exact spelling (including ё if shown).
Meaning-check questions (optional):
- What does в школе mean?
- What does о маме mean?
- What’s the difference between дом and в доме?