Prepositional: Forms | Russian Grammar

The prepositional case (предло́жный паде́ж, predlózhny padézh — "the prepositional case") is the only one of the six whose very name tells you its grammar: it never appears without a preposition standing in front of it. You will only ever meet it after в (in/at), на (on/at), о/об (about), при (in the presence of / attached to), or по (in a few set uses). Its endings are, mercifully, among the simplest in the language — the vast majority of nouns take a plain -е in the singular. The one thing you must drill is the exception group -ия / -ие / -ий and feminine -ь nouns, which take -и instead — and those happen to be exactly the words a beginner reaches for first: Росси́я (Russia), ле́кция (lecture), зда́ние (building). This page is about the forms; what the case does (location, topic) is on the location в/на and topic о/об pages.

Prepositional singular: the default is -е

For most nouns of every gender, the prepositional singular ending is simply -е, replacing whatever the nominative ended in. This is the workhorse form.

Gender / type	Nominative → Prepositional sg	Ending
Masc. hard	стол → в столе́	-е
Masc. soft (-й)	музе́й → в музе́е	-е
Neuter -о	окно́ → в окне́	-е
Neuter -е	мо́ре → в мо́ре	-е
Fem. -а	кни́га → в кни́ге	-е
Fem. -я	неде́ля → на неде́ле	-е

Ру́чка лежи́т на столе́.

The pen is lying on the table. — стол → на столе́, default -е.

Я прочита́л об э́том в кни́ге.

I read about this in a book. — кни́га → в кни́ге, feminine -а → -е.

Что у тебя́ в окне́? — Со́лнце.

What's in your window? — The sun. — окно́ → в окне́, neuter -о → -е.

Мы встре́тимся на сле́дующей неде́ле.

We'll meet next week. — неде́ля → на неде́ле, feminine -я → -е.

Notice мо́ре → в мо́ре: a neuter noun already ending in -е simply keeps it, so the form looks unchanged. The same is true of any noun whose nominative already ends in the prepositional ending. Don't let this fool you into thinking the case "did nothing" — the noun is in the prepositional, it just happens to look identical to its dictionary form, the way English "sheep" is both singular and plural.

The -и exception: -ия / -ие / -ий and feminine -ь

Here is the one rule that separates beginners from intermediate learners. Four sub-types take -и, not -е, in the prepositional singular:

Type	Nominative → Prepositional sg	Ending
Fem. -ия	Росси́я → в Росси́и	-ии
Fem. -ия	ле́кция → на ле́кции	-ии
Neuter -ие	зда́ние → в зда́нии	-ии
Masc. -ий	санато́рий → в санато́рии	-ии
Fem. -ь	ночь → о но́чи; дверь → в две́ри	-и

The logic is that the soft -и- already inside Росси́я, зда́ние, санато́рий blocks the ordinary -е and produces -ии; and feminine -ь nouns (a separate declension) take a bare -и. These -ия / -ие words — Росси́я, А́нглия, ле́кция, аудито́рия, зда́ние — are precisely the high-frequency nouns a beginner uses for "in Russia," "at the lecture," "in the building," which is why the *в Росси́е error is the most common prepositional mistake there is.

Я живу́ в Росси́и уже́ два го́да.

I've been living in Russia for two years now. — Росси́я → в Росси́и (-ия → -ии), NOT *в Россие.

Профе́ссор говори́л об э́том на ле́кции.

The professor talked about this in the lecture. — ле́кция → на ле́кции (-ия → -ии).

Наш о́фис в но́вом зда́нии на углу́.

Our office is in the new building on the corner. — зда́ние → в зда́нии (-ие → -ии).

Ко́шка спала́ всю ночь, а я ду́мал о но́чи в по́езде.

The cat slept all night, and I was thinking about the night on the train. — ночь → о но́чи, feminine -ь → -и.

💡

The four words to overlearn are Росси́я → в Росси́и, ле́кция → на ле́кции, зда́ние → в зда́нии, ночь → о но́чи. They cover the two biggest traps: -ия/-ие/-ий → -ии and feminine -ь → -и. If you can produce these four cold, you've mastered the whole exception. This same -ии rule shows up in the dative too, so learning it now pays double.

Prepositional plural: -ах / -ях for everyone

The plural is wonderfully uniform — there is no gender split at all. Hard stems take -ах, soft stems take -ях, across all three genders, exactly mirroring the dative plural pattern.

Type	Nominative → Prepositional pl	Ending
Masc. hard	столы́ → на стола́х	-ах
Fem. hard	кни́ги → в кни́гах	-ах
Neuter	моря́ → в моря́х	-ях
Fem. -ь	но́чи → о ноча́х	-ах

В э́тих города́х живёт мно́го студе́нтов.

A lot of students live in these cities. — города́ → в города́х, plural -ах.

Мы говори́ли о на́ших пла́нах на ле́то.

We talked about our plans for the summer. — пла́ны → о пла́нах.

Personal pronouns in the prepositional

The pronouns have their own prepositional forms, and they all gain an initial н- because the prepositional, by definition, always follows a preposition. (There is no "bare" prepositional pronoun — *о его is impossible; it must be о нём.)

Nominative	Prepositional (always after a preposition)
я	обо мне
ты	о тебе́
он / оно́	о нём
она́	о ней
мы	о нас
вы	о вас
они́	о них

Не беспоко́йся обо мне.

Don't worry about me. — я → обо мне (the special обо form before мне).

Расскажи́ мне о нём — кто он?

Tell me about him — who is he? — он → о нём, with the н-.

Они́ ча́сто говоря́т о нас за спино́й.

They often talk about us behind our backs. — мы → о нас.

How this differs from English

English has nothing like the prepositional. We use the same noun form everywhere — "the table," "on the table," "about the table" — and let the preposition do all the work. Russian instead changes the noun ending after these particular prepositions, and the preposition alone is not enough: you need в/на/о to license the case in the first place. This gives a handy reverse test — if you see a noun in -е or -и with no preposition in front, it is not prepositional; it is almost certainly a dative (the dative shares the -е / -ии endings but appears without a preposition: даю́ кни́гу сестре́, "I give the book to my sister"). The full cross-case picture is on the case endings master table.

One more note: a small set of masculine nouns has a special stressed -у́ ending after в/на (в лесу́, на берегу́, в саду́) — the "second locative." It only appears with в/на in a locational sense and is covered on its own second locative page.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я живу́ в Россие.

Incorrect — Росси́я is an -ия noun, so the prepositional is -ии: в Росси́и.

✅ Я живу́ в Росси́и.

I live in Russia. — Росси́я → в Росси́и (-ии).

❌ Мы бы́ли на ле́кцие.

Incorrect — ле́кция is an -ия noun: на ле́кции, not -ие.

✅ Мы бы́ли на ле́кции.

We were at the lecture. — ле́кция → на ле́кции (-ии).

❌ Я ду́мал о но́че.

Incorrect — ночь is a feminine -ь noun, so its prepositional is -и: о но́чи, not -е.

✅ Я ду́мал о но́чи.

I was thinking about the night. — ночь → о но́чи (-и).

❌ Расскажи́ о его.

Incorrect — after a preposition the pronoun takes н-: о нём.

✅ Расскажи́ о нём.

Tell me about him. — о нём.

❌ Я живу́ Москве́.

Incorrect — the prepositional cannot stand without a preposition; you need в: в Москве́. (A bare -е form would read as a dative.)

✅ Я живу́ в Москве́.

I live in Moscow. — в Москве́, the preposition is obligatory.

Key Takeaways

The prepositional never appears without a preposition — в, на, о/об, при, по. No preposition, no prepositional.
Singular default is -е: в столе́, в кни́ге, в окне́, на неде́ле, в музе́е.
The -и exception: -ия / -ие / -ий → -ии (в Росси́и, на ле́кции, в зда́нии, в санато́рии); feminine -ь → -и (о но́чи, в две́ри). These are the words beginners need most — drill them.
Plural is uniform: -ах (hard) / -ях (soft) for all genders — на стола́х, в кни́гах, в моря́х, о ноча́х.
Pronouns take н- after the preposition: обо мне, о тебе́, о нём, о ней, о нас, о вас, о них.
The special stressed -у́ (в лесу́, на берегу́) is the separate "second locative."

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