The prepositional case

Talking about WHERE you are and WHAT you're talking about.

The prepositional is the only Russian case that's never used without a preposition. It marks location (with в, на) and the topic of conversation (with о).

Prepositional endings (singular)

Almost everything ends in -е: - Masculine: + -е. Стол → столе. Иван → Иване. - Feminine -а: → -е. Москва → Москве. Книга → книге. - Feminine -я: → -е. Семья → семье. - Feminine -ь: → -и. Ночь → ночи. - Neuter -о: → -е. Окно → окне. - Neuter -е: → -е (no change). A few words ending in -ия / -ие take -ии: Россия → России. Лекция → лекции.

Personal pronouns in prepositional

я → мне. ты → тебе. он / оно → нём. она → ней. мы → нас. вы → вас. они → них. Note: мне looks like the dative — context disambiguates.

в (in/at) and на (on/at) — location

Both take the prepositional when describing where someone is or something is happening: - Я в Москве = I'm in Moscow. - Книга на столе = The book is on the table. - Анна в школе = Anna is at school. When showing motion INTO a place, в and на take the accusative instead — covered later.

о (about) — topic

о + prepositional = about (the topic). Книга о Москве = a book about Moscow. Мы говорим о тебе = We're talking about you. Before vowels, о becomes об: об Анне (about Anna).

Examples

Я в Москве.

I'm in Moscow.

Москва → Москве.

Книга на столе.

The book is on the table.

Стол → столе.

Мы говорим об Анне.

We're talking about Anna.

о → об before vowels.

Я думаю о тебе.

I'm thinking about you.

Ты → тебе in prepositional.

Иван в школе.

Ivan is at school.

Школа → школе.

Это книга о России.

This is a book about Russia.

Россия → России.