To describe where something is in Russian, you reach for two toolkits. One is the prepositional case with в and на, for being inside or on something (в шко́ле "at school," на столе́ "on the table"). The other — the subject of this page — is a big family of genitive prepositions that locate things relative to a landmark and mark where something comes from. Once you see them as a set, describing a scene becomes natural: the cat is у окна́ (by the window), the bank is напро́тив шко́лы (opposite the school), and you've just walked из до́ма (out of the house). Every one of these takes the genitive, so practising them drills the genitive form and the spatial vocabulary at the same time. For the genitive endings themselves, see the genitive forms.
The "where, relative to X" prepositions
These prepositions pin a thing to a landmark. The landmark goes in the genitive:
| Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| у | right by / next to / at | у окна́ — by the window |
| о́коло | near, close to | о́коло шко́лы — near the school |
| во́зле | near, beside (≈ о́коло) | во́зле до́ма — next to the house |
| напро́тив | opposite, across from | напро́тив ба́нка — opposite the bank |
| вокру́г | around (surrounding) | вокру́г стола́ — around the table |
| посреди́ | in the middle of | посреди́ ко́мнаты — in the middle of the room |
| впереди́ / сза́ди | in front of / behind | впереди́ авто́буса — in front of the bus |
| недалеко́ от | not far from | недалеко́ от метро́ — not far from the metro |
Кот сиди́т у окна́ и смо́трит на пти́ц.
The cat is sitting by the window watching the birds. — у окна́: окно́ → окна́, the genitive after у 'right by'.
Магази́н нахо́дится напро́тив апте́ки.
The shop is opposite the pharmacy. — напро́тив апте́ки: апте́ка → апте́ки.
Мы живём недалеко́ от це́нтра, о́коло па́рка.
We live not far from the centre, near the park. — недалеко́ от це́нтра and о́коло па́рка, both genitive.
The "from / source" prepositions: из, с, от
The genitive also marks the source — where motion or a thing comes from. There are three "from" prepositions, and choosing between them is not random: each one is the mirror image of a "to/at" preposition you already know.
| "From" (genitive) | Mirrors | Use when the origin is… | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| из | в (into) | an enclosed space you were inside | из до́ма — out of the house |
| с | на (onto / at) | a surface, or a place that takes на (events, open areas) | с рабо́ты — from work; со стола́ — off the table |
| от | к (towards) | a person, or moving away from a point | от врача́ — from the doctor |
This directional symmetry is the key insight. Whatever preposition takes you to a place is the one whose partner brings you from it:
- You go в Москву́ (to Moscow, accusative), so you come из Москвы́ (from Moscow, genitive).
- You go на рабо́ту (to work, accusative), so you come с рабо́ты (from work, genitive).
- You go к врачу́ (to the doctor, dative), so you come от врача́ (from the doctor, genitive).
Lock the pairs together — в/из, на/с, к/от — and you'll never agonize over which "from" to use. The place's "to" word tells you its "from" word.
Я то́лько что верну́лся из Москвы́.
I've just got back from Moscow. — you go в Москву́, so you return из Москвы́ (в/из pair).
Она́ пришла́ с рабо́ты уста́лая.
She came home from work tired. — на рабо́ту → с рабо́ты (на/с pair).
Я иду́ от врача́, всё в поря́дке.
I'm coming from the doctor's, everything's fine. — к врачу́ → от врача́ (к/от pair); от is used for people.
Возьми́ ча́шку со стола́.
Take the cup off the table. — со стола́: с + genitive стола́ for 'off a surface' (со before the cluster ст-).
Putting it together: describing a scene
The real power of learning these as a family is that you can paint a whole picture in one case. Read this little description and notice how every place phrase rides on the genitive:
Наш дом стои́т недалеко́ от метро́. Напро́тив до́ма — небольшо́й парк, а о́коло вхо́да всегда́ стоя́т велосипе́ды. Посреди́ па́рка есть фонта́н, и вокру́г фонта́на лю́ди гуля́ют по вечера́м.
Our building is not far from the metro. Opposite the building there's a small park, and there are always bikes standing near the entrance. In the middle of the park there's a fountain, and people stroll around the fountain in the evenings. — недалеко́ от метро́, напро́тив до́ма, о́коло вхо́да, посреди́ па́рка, вокру́г фонта́на: every landmark in the genitive.
That paragraph would be impossible without the spatial genitive — and once the family clicks, it flows out naturally.
How this differs from English
English uses a pile of different little words — by, near, opposite, around, from, out of, off — and the noun after them never changes shape (near the school, from the school — school stays school). Russian splits the job: it has its own preposition for each spatial relationship, but it also marks the noun with the genitive ending, so the case is doing part of the work too. Two traps follow for English speakers. First, English "from" maps onto three Russian words (из, с, от) chosen by the type of origin, not by feel — so you can't translate "from" word-for-word. Second, learners forget the ending and say о́коло шко́ла instead of о́коло шко́лы; the preposition alone isn't enough — the landmark must wear its genitive ending.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я прие́хал с Москвы́.
Incorrect — Moscow is a place you go INTO (в Москву́), so 'from' is из, not с.
✅ Я прие́хал из Москвы́.
I came from Moscow. — в Москву́ → из Москвы́ (the в/из pair).
❌ Она́ верну́лась из рабо́ты.
Incorrect — work takes на (на рабо́ту), so its 'from' is с, not из.
✅ Она́ верну́лась с рабо́ты.
She came back from work. — на рабо́ту → с рабо́ты (the на/с pair).
❌ Магази́н напро́тив шко́ла.
Incorrect — the landmark after напро́тив must be in the genitive, not the dictionary form.
✅ Магази́н напро́тив шко́лы.
The shop is opposite the school. — шко́ла → шко́лы.
❌ Я взял кни́гу от стола́.
Incorrect — от is for people / moving away from a point; taking something OFF a surface uses с.
✅ Я взял кни́гу со стола́.
I took the book off the table. — с(о) + genitive стола́.
Key Takeaways
- A family of place prepositions takes the genitive: у (right by / at someone's), о́коло / во́зле (near), напро́тив (opposite), вокру́г (around), посреди́ (in the middle of), недалеко́ от (not far from).
- The source prepositions из, с, от ("from") also take the genitive — and they mirror the "to" words: в/из, на/с, к/от. The place's "to" preposition tells you its "from" preposition.
- Use из for enclosed spaces (из до́ма), с for surfaces and на-places (со стола́, с рабо́ты), от for people and "away from" (от врача́).
- English "from" splits into three Russian words chosen by the kind of origin — you can't translate it word-for-word.
- The preposition alone isn't enough: the landmark must wear its genitive ending (напро́тив шко́лы, not напро́тив шко́ла).
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