Saying 'From': из, с, от Confusion | Russian Grammar

English does the job of "from" with a single word. Russian uses three — из, с, от — and choosing the wrong one is one of the most persistent intermediate errors, because nothing in the English sentence tells you which to pick. The good news is that the choice is systematic, not random: each "from" preposition mirrors a "to" preposition. Whichever preposition you would use to go to a place is the one whose partner you use to come from it. Learn the pairs and the whole topic collapses into a single decision. All three govern the genitive (Москва́ → из Москвы́, рабо́та → с рабо́ты, друг → от дру́га).

The matched-pair system

The key insight: the "from" word is fixed by the "to" word. If you go в somewhere, you come из; if you go на somewhere, you come с; if you go к someone, you come от.

"To" (direction)	"From" (source)	Source is…	Example pair
в acc	из gen	an enclosed place you go into	в шко́лу → из шко́лы
на acc	с gen	a surface, or an activity/event	на рабо́ту → с рабо́ты
к dat	от gen	a person, or a point you move away from	к врачу́ → от врача́

This is why the choice never has to be guessed: you already know whether you say в шко́лу or на рабо́ту, and that decision automatically hands you из шко́лы or с рабо́ты. The full directional system is on the в / на location-direction page.

из — out of an enclosed place

из + genitive is "out of" — the source is a place with an inside that you were in: a city, a country, a building, a bag, a pocket. It is the mirror of в (into). Because you go в Москву́, you come из Москвы́ — not *от Москвы́.

Она́ то́лько что верну́лась из Ита́лии, вся загоре́лая.

She's just come back from Italy, all tanned.

Доста́нь телефо́н из карма́на, он звони́т.

Take your phone out of your pocket, it's ringing.

Я вы́шел из до́ма ро́вно в во́семь.

I left the house at eight sharp.

с — off a surface, or back from an activity

с + genitive is "off / down from" a surface, and — crucially — "back from" the places and activities that take на: work (на рабо́ту), a concert (на конце́рт), the kitchen as a function-space, the south, the station. Because you go на рабо́ту, you come с рабо́ты, never *из рабо́ты.

Я то́лько что пришёл с рабо́ты и ужа́сно хочу́ есть.

I've just got back from work and I'm starving.

Возьми́ кни́гу с по́лки, она́ на ве́рхней.

Take the book off the shelf, it's on the top one.

Они́ верну́лись с ю́га в сентябре́.

They came back from the south in September. (на юг → с ю́га)

от — from a person, or away from a point

от + genitive is "from" when the source is a person, and "away from" a fixed point. Its partner is к (toward a person / up to a point). A letter, a gift, a message from a person always takes от — never из. And "move away from the wall / window / table" is от, because you are distancing yourself from a point.

Я получи́л письмо́ от ста́рого дру́га, кото́рого не ви́дел де́сять лет.

I got a letter from an old friend I hadn't seen in ten years.

Э́то пода́рок от ма́мы на день рожде́ния.

This is a birthday present from my mum.

Отойди́ от края́ платфо́рмы, по́езд подхо́дит.

Step back from the edge of the platform, the train is coming.

💡

The fastest fix when you're unsure which "from" to use: ask yourself how you'd say 'to' it. Going to work? на рабо́ту → so с рабо́ты. Going to the doctor? к врачу́ → so от врача́. Going into the shop? в магази́н → so из магази́на. The "to" preposition is usually the one you've already learned, so let it choose the "from" for you.

Letters and gifts: things from people are always от

A special note, because it catches everyone: anything coming from a person — a letter, a parcel, a present, a message, an inheritance — takes от, regardless of how it was delivered. The thing came out of an envelope, but it came from a person, and Russian tracks the person.

Сего́дня пришла́ откры́тка от ба́бушки из дере́вни.

A postcard from grandma arrived from the village today. (от + person; из + place)

Что э́то за духи́? — Пода́рок от му́жа.

What's that perfume? — A present from my husband.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я верну́лся из рабо́ты по́здно.

Incorrect — you go на рабо́ту, so you come с рабо́ты; work is an activity, taking с.

✅ Я верну́лся с рабо́ты по́здно.

I got back from work late.

❌ Она́ прие́хала от Москвы́ на по́езде.

Incorrect — a city is an enclosed place you go в, so 'from' is из, not от.

✅ Она́ прие́хала из Москвы́ на по́езде.

She came from Moscow by train.

❌ Я получи́л письмо́ из дру́га.

Incorrect — a letter from a person takes от; из is only for places.

✅ Я получи́л письмо́ от дру́га.

I got a letter from a friend.

❌ Возьми́ ча́шку из стола́, она́ сто́ит све́рху.

Incorrect — taking something off a surface uses с (the cup is on the table, на столе́).

✅ Возьми́ ча́шку со стола́, она́ сто́ит све́рху.

Take the cup off the table, it's on top. (с → со before стол)

❌ Мы то́лько что с конце́рта... нет, из конце́рта.

Incorrect — you go на конце́рт, so you come с конце́рта; an event takes с.

✅ Мы то́лько что с конце́рта, бы́ло великоле́пно.

We've just come from the concert, it was magnificent.

❌ Отойди́ из окна́, там сквозня́к.

Incorrect — moving away from a point uses от, not из.

✅ Отойди́ от окна́, там сквозня́к.

Move away from the window, there's a draught.

Key Takeaways

English's single "from" splits three ways in Russian, all governing the genitive: из, с, от.
The choice is fixed by the matching "to" preposition: в → из, на → с, к → от. Decide how you'd say "to it" and the "from" follows.
из = out of an enclosed place (из Москвы́, из карма́на); с = off a surface / back from an activity (с рабо́ты, с по́лки, с конце́рта); от = from a person / away from a point (от дру́га, от окна́).
Anything from a person — letters, gifts, messages — is always от (пода́рок от ма́мы), even though it physically came out of something.
Watch the spelling variant со before awkward consonant clusters: со стола́, со сце́ны, со мной.

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