На даче мы ели арбуз, а потом жарили сосиски на огне.

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Breakdown of На даче мы ели арбуз, а потом жарили сосиски на огне.

• на: at
• мы: we
• а: and

Questions & Answers about На даче мы ели арбуз, а потом жарили сосиски на огне.

Why does На даче mean at the dacha / at the country house, and why is it на, not в?

This is an idiomatic expression in Russian.

• дача = a summer house, country cottage, or garden property
• на даче literally looks like on the dacha, but in real usage it means at the dacha / at the country house

Russian often uses на with certain places where English uses at or in. На даче is just the normal phrase you learn as a set expression.

Compare:

• на даче = at the dacha
• на работе = at work
• на кухне = in the kitchen

So this is not something you translate word-for-word too strictly; it is the standard Russian way to say it.

What case is даче, and why does дача change to даче?

даче is in the prepositional case.

The preposition на can require the prepositional case when it means location:

• дача → dictionary form
• на даче = at the dacha

This is a regular feminine noun pattern:

• дача
• о даче
• на даче

So the ending -е shows that the noun is in the prepositional case after на.