When telling the location of or destination to a particular object you may encounter some difficulties with what preposition to use or how to change the noun according to it.
In this article I will show you the most popular prepositions and their common usage.
Here are some main points of telling the location and destination:
-
depending on the preposition and the question put to the sentence there can be 4 different cases involved in: Genitive, Accusative, Instrumental, Locative;
-
Locative case is never involved in telling the destination, it can only point on the location of an object.
In the following examples I will use such abbreviations:
location — loc.
destination — dest.
Genitive — Gen.
Accusative — Acc.
Instrumental — Inst.
Locative — Loc.
на (on): Locative, Accusative
стіл [stʲil] — a table (masculine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт на столі. — The cat is on the table.: loc., Loc.
Кіт сидить на столі. — The cat is sitting on the table.: loc., Loc.
Куди застрибнув кіт? — Where has the cat jumped?: dest.
Кіт застрибнув на стіл. — The cat has jumped on the table.: dest., Acc.
Куди ти кладеш кота? — Where are you putting a cat?: dest.
Я кладу кота на стіл. — I am putting a cat on the table.: dest., Acc.
Random examples:
На картині зображені міфічні істоти. — There are mythical creatures depicted in the picture. (On the picture are depicted mythical creatures.): loc., Loc.
Минулого літа він був на морі. — Last summer he was at the seaside. (Last summer he was on the sea.): loc., Loc.
На вулиці спекотно. — It is hot outside. (It is hot on the street.): loc., Loc.
На автобусній зупинці нікого немає. — There is nobody at the bus stop. (On the bus stop there is nobody.): loc., Loc.
Він вішає картину на стіну. — He hangs a painting on the wall.: dest., Acc.
Я ходжу на роботу щодня. — I go to work everyday. (I go on work everyday.): dest., Acc.
у, в (in): Locative, Accusative
коробка [kɔ'rɔbka] — a box (feminine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт у коробці. — The cat is in the box.: loc., Loc.
Кіт сидить у коробці. — The cat is sitting in the box.: loc., Loc.
Куди заліз кіт? — Where has the cat climbed?: dest.
Кіт заліз у коробку. — The cat has climbed in the box.: dest., Acc.
Куди він кладе кота? — Where is he putting a cat?: dest.
Він кладе кота у коробку. — He is putting a cat in the box.: dest., Acc.
Random examples:
Діти вивчили багато нового у школі. — The children learned a lot of new things at school. (The children learned a lot of new in school.): loc., Loc.
Він вчиться в університеті. — He studies at the university. (He studies in the university.): loc., Loc.
Наша фірма вклала багато грошей у цю будівлю. — Our company has invested a lot of money in this building.: dest., Acc.
Його донька сидить вдома, бо захворіла. — His daughter is sitting at home because she is ill. (His daughter is sitting in home because she is ill.): loc., Loc.
У цьому домі ніхто не живе. — Nobody lives in this house.: loc., Loc.
Він кидає камінці у річку. — He is throwing little stones in the river.: dest., Acc.
Notes
-
Preposition у is used when the next word begins (or previous ends) with a consonant, while в is used before (or after) a vowel.
-
“вдома” means being or staying at somebody's own house and “у домі” means being or staying in some random house.
з, зі, із (from, out): Genitive
Cat-examples:
Звідки вистрибнув кіт? — Where has the cat jumped out (from)?: dest.
Кіт вистрибнув з коробки. — The cat has jumped out (from) the box.: dest., Gen.
Ти дістаєш кота з коробки. — You are pulling a cat out of (from) the box.: dest., Gen.
Random examples:
Звідки ти? — Where are you from?: dest.
Я з Аргентини. — I am from Argentina.: dest., Gen.
Він приїхав з Німеччини. — He came from Germany.: dest., Gen.
Notes
-
Prepositions з, зі, із have the same meaning. Preposition зі is often used when the next word begins (or previous ends) with two or more consonants, while з is used when the next word begins (or previous ends) with a consonant or a vowel. із is often used between two consonants, but is still less popular unlike з, which is used the most.
за (behind): Instrumental, Accusative
стіл [stʲil] — a table (masculine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт за столом. — The cat is behind (at) the table.: loc., Inst.
Кіт сидить за столом. — The cat is sitting behind (at) the table.: loc., Inst.
Куди стрибнув кіт? — Where has the cat jumped?: dest.
Кіт стрибнув за стіл. — The cat jumped over the table.: dest., Acc.
Вона кладе кота за стіл. — She is putting a cat behind (at) the table.: dest., Acc.
Random examples:
Бабуся сидить за столом. — The granny is sitting at the table.: loc., Inst.
Вони стоять за будинком. — They are standing behind the building.: loc., Inst.
За дверима нікого немає. — There is nobody at the door.: loc., Inst.
Гаманець впав за шафу. — The wallet fell over the wardrobe.: dest., Acc.
перед (before, in front of): Instrumental
коробка [kɔ'rɔbka] — a box (feminine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт перед коробкою. — The cat is in front of the box.: loc., Inst.
Кіт сидить перед коробкою. — The cat is sitting in front of the box.: loc., Inst.
Random examples:
Перед будинком зібрався натовп. — A crowd had gathered in front of the building.: loc., Inst.
над (above): Instrumental
стіл [stʲil] — a table (masculine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт над столом. — The cat is above the table.: loc., Inst.
Кіт сидить над столом. — The cat is sitting above the table.: loc., Inst.
Random examples:
Над нашими головами пролетів літак. — The plane flew above our heads.: loc., Inst.
під (under): Instrumental, Accusative
стіл [stʲil] — a table (masculine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт під столом. — The cat is under the table.: loc., Inst.
Кіт сидить під столом. — The cat is sitting under the table.: loc., Inst.
Куди заліз кіт? — Where has the cat crawled?: dest.
Кіт заліз під стіл. — The cat has crawled under the table.: dest., Acc.
Random examples:
Він спить під теплою ковдрою. — He is sleeping (sleeps) under the warm blanket.: loc., Inst.
Вона сховала свій щоденник під ліжком. — She has hidden (hid) her diary under the bed.: loc., Inst.
Її сестра кладе коробку під стіл. — Her sister puts the box under the table.: dest., Acc.
між (between): Instrumental, Accusative
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт між столами. — The cat is between the tables.: loc., Inst.
Кіт сидить між столами. — The cat is sitting between the tables.: loc., Inst.
Куди заліз кіт? — Where has the cat crawled?: dest.
Кіт заліз між столи. — The cat has crawled between the tables.: dest., Acc.
Random examples:
Між нами немає таємниць. — There are no secrets between us.: loc., Inst.
Вони побігли між дерева. — They have run between the trees.: loc., Acc.
біля (near, at): Genitive
стіл [stʲil] — a table (masculine)
Cat-examples:
Де кіт? — Where is the cat?: loc.
Кіт біля стола. — The cat is near the table.: loc., Gen.
Кіт сидить біля стола. — The cat is sitting near the table.: loc., Gen.
Random examples:
Біля будинку зібрався натовп. — The crowd gathered at the building. (At the building gathered the crowd.): loc., Gen.
до (to): Genitive
Cat-examples:
Куди біжить кіт? — Where is the cat running?: dest.
Кіт біжить до миски. — The cat is running (runs) to the bowl.: dest., Gen.
Random examples:
Я йду додому. — I am going home. (I am going to home.): dest., Gen.
Він їде до магазину за продуктами. — He is going (by vehicle) to the store for groceries.: dest., Gen.
Note
-
“додому” means literally "to home" (when talking about going home), is a set phrase and written together, if you write it separately — “до дому” — it will mean going to a random home, building rather than returning to your own home.
від (from): Genitive
Cat-examples:
Звідки біжить кіт? — Where is the cat running from?: dest.
Кіт біжить від миски. — The cat is running (runs) from the bowl.: dest., Gen.
Random examples:
Від себе не втечеш. — You cannot run from yourself.: dest., Gen.
Ці листи від моєї подруги. — These letters are from my friend.: dest., Gen.
Ми прочитали текст від початку і до кінця. — We have read the text from the beginning (and) to the end.: dest., Gen.
Note
-
“від і до” (lit. ‘from and to'), is a short version of a set phrase “від початку і до кінця” and is often used instead of its longer counterpart, especially in everyday speech.
Він пояснив нам як вирішити тест від і до. — He explained us how to solve the test from the begining to the end.