(no subject)

[ptolemi.livejournal.com]

Hello Everyone!

I'm very new to Russian, but I'm picking it up alright. I understand just about all of it so far, but I've come across something that has confused me. I don't understand the difference between в and на in terms of location. I've been given a couple of examples:

Он в институте

Студенты на лекции

Could somebody please explain to me how they are different, and when to use which? The program I'm using doesn't go into detail very often. Спасибо! (:

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

Scroll back a few community entries, there was a discussion on в versus на a while ago.

In short, there's very little logic, and you'd be better off just memorizing which preposition goes with which noun. A very generic rule is that if you are talking about a building then it will very likely be в (в школе, в больнице, в институте), while if you are talking about an event, it will be на: на лекции (at a lecture), на спектакле (watching a play), на уроке (attending a class).

P.S. Note that the English class is a false friend and is not equivalent to Russian класс. In (a) class = на уроке. In the classroom = в классе.

[crimeanelf.livejournal.com]

+1

Few more things.

When talking to objects, "в" is likely to be "inside of" and "на" is likely to be "on top of" or "on the outer side of". If someone is in a car, that's "в машине"; if something is, say, attached to the roof or written on a car, that's "на машине". If you're sitting on a chair, that's "на стуле"; if you hid treasures in a chair, that's "в стуле".

By the same reasons, when you refer to some geographical locations, you should use "на": "в России", "во Флориде", but "на Гавайях", "на Камчатке". You'll have to memorize it, I'm sorry. :-/ "В" is generally more common, except for islands.

[ptolemi.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you both! Its much appreciated :)

[oryx_and_crake]

To complicate the matters further, it is equally possible to say "ехать на машине" and "ехать в машине", "ехать на поезде" and "ехать в поезде", "ехать на метро" and "ехать в метро". In the first case we are talking about a means of transportation (compare: лететь на самолете), while in the second there is a meaning of being inside something (a car). If someone says Я еду на машине, it does not mean that they are going to travel on a roof of their car.

[oksanaya.livejournal.com]

Ha! I always get confuse with English "in" and "on". :)

[crimeanelf.livejournal.com]

Yep! So many shades of meaning with such little changes. Practically no unviolatable rules. It would not make much sense to try to list all possible word transformations, because you and I can create new perfectly sensible ones on demand. I my language! :)

[xxblackxsatinxx.livejournal.com]

If you'd like, my textbook has a list of some of the nouns that automatically require "на". My prof also gave us some extras. She explained this as being one of those rules that had no backing reason behind it. It just is that way. I can copy them down when I get the chance.. that is if you'd like. :)

[alexzzzzz.livejournal.com]

and "at" :)

[ptolemi.livejournal.com]

Oh that would be extremely helpful! If you don't mind, that is (:

[3dimka.livejournal.com]

Prepositions only predictable with objects.

When it comes to subjects and term there are no good rules, so you need to memorize that. I think this applies to English as well or doesn't it?