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### Changing Posture: Destination over Location

When you talk about changing your physical posture—like sitting down, lying down, or standing up—Russian treats this as directional movement rather than a stationary state. 

Because you are directing your body *onto* or *into* a space, you must use the prepositions **на** (onto) or **в** (into) followed by the **Accusative case** (the case of destination), rather than the Prepositional case.

### Lying Down: ложиться and лечь

To say "to lie down," use the verbs **ложиться** (imperfective) or **лечь** (perfective). 

Remember that in the Accusative case, inanimate masculine nouns (like **матрас** or **пол**) and neuter nouns do not change their forms. Use **на** for lying on top of a surface, and **в** for lying into something that envelops you, like a hammock (**гамак**).

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You can also use this structure to talk about lying on a specific side of your body (**бок**):

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### Sitting Down: садиться and сесть

To say "to sit down," use the verbs **садиться** (imperfective) or **сесть** (perfective). You will often see this paired with **на** for open surfaces (like a deckchair or stool) and **в** for enclosed seating (like an armchair).

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When your destination is a feminine noun ending in **-а**, such as **табуретка** (stool), its Accusative ending changes to **-у**. Any adjectives describing it must change accordingly.

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Neuter nouns, such as **бревно** (log), stay identical to their Nominative dictionary form in the Accusative case.

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### Standing Up: вставать and встать

To say "to stand up" or "to get up," use the verbs **вставать** (imperfective) or **встать** (perfective). 

Beyond simply getting out of bed, this verb is used when you physically position yourself *onto* a surface or put your weight *onto* a specific limb.

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Assuming a position (садиться, ложиться, вставать)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Presentative (это)

Noun gender

Soft-sign nouns (-ь)

Subject pronouns (я, ты, он...)

Yes/no questions (да / нет)

Basic interrogatives (кто / что)

Basic negation (не)

Coordinating conjunctions (и / а)

Possessive pronouns (мой, твой, наш, ваш)

Demonstrative pronouns (этот, эта, это)

Adjective agreement

Which and whose (какой, чей)

First conjugation verbs, singular (-ать)

First conjugation verbs, plural (-ать)

Second conjugation verbs (-ить)

Irregular present tense verbs

Adverbs of manner (как, очень)

Locations in prepositional case (в / на)

Prepositional case modifiers (-ом, -ой)

Topics of speech (о, об)

Direct objects (-у, -ю)

Direct object pronouns (меня, тебя)

Verbs of motion (идти, ехать)

Destination (куда, в, на)

Plural nouns (-ы, -и, -а, -я)

Irregular plural nouns (друзья, дети)

Plural adjectives and pronouns (-ые, -ие)

Numbers 1 to 10 (один, два, три)

Possession with pronouns (у меня есть)

Possession with nouns (-а, -я, -ы, -и)

Genitive of negation (нет)

Numbers 2, 3, and 4

Quantities with mass nouns (сколько, много, мало)

Animate direct objects

The past tense of to be (был, была, было, были)

Regular past tense verbs

Time sequence expressions (вчера, завтра, раньше, потом)

Verb aspect in the past tense

Dative personal pronouns (мне, тебе, ему)

Expressing likes (нравится, нравятся)

Absence (нет)

Expressing age (год, года, лет)

Indirect objects (-у, -ю, -е)

Modal verbs (хотеть, мочь)

Reason and contrast (поэтому, но)

Double negation (ничего, никогда)

Reflexive verbs (-ся, -сь)

Polite requests and instructions (-ите, -йте)

Days of the week (в + Accusative)

Compound future tense (буду...)

Simple future tense

Accompaniment (с)

Multidirectional verbs of motion (ходить, ездить)

Greetings and goodbyes (здравствуйте, привет)

Thank you and sorry (спасибо, извините)

Countries and languages (русский, английский)

Meeting people (меня зовут, как дела)

Public transport (трамвай, остановка)

Left, right and the compass (слева, справа)

Places in the city (цирк, зоопарк)

Fruit and vegetables (помидор, огурец)

Post and travel (открытка, чемодан)

Family and relatives (внук, родственник)

Jobs and professions (инженер, продавец)

Sport and games (футбол, теннис)

Describing people (умный, сильный)

Health and the body (болен, здоровье)

The months of the year (январь, февраль)

Accusative feminine and inanimate adjectives (-ую, -юю)

Accusative animate masculine adjectives (-ого, -его)

Short-form adjectives (готов, занят)

Personal obligation (должен, должна)

Professions in the instrumental case

Genitive singular adjectives and possessives

Prepositions of absence and purpose (без, для)

Dative singular adjectives and possessives

Impersonal states (мне холодно)

Impersonal obligation (надо, нужно)

Impersonal permission (можно / нельзя)

Instrumental adjectives and pronouns

Reciprocal verbs (с + Instrumental)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (свой)

Reflexive pronouns (себя)

Specific indefinite pronouns (-то)

Non-specific indefinite pronouns (-нибудь)

Negative pronouns (никто / ничто)

Numbers 11 to 20

Question	Answer
mattress	матрас
We have a new mattress.	У нас есть новый матрас.
This is my mattress, you cannot lie down on it.	Это мой матрас, нельзя ложиться на него.
to lie down	лечь
I want to lie down on this mattress.	Я хочу лечь на этот матрас.
Someone decided to lie down on the floor.	Кто-то решил лечь на пол.
side (of a body, flank)	бок
The doctor told me to lie down on my right side.	Врач сказал мне лечь на правый бок.
My cat likes to lie down on its left side.	Мой кот любит ложиться на левый бок.
hammock	гамак
A beautiful hammock hangs in the garden.	В саду висит красивый гамак.
May I lie down in this hammock?	Можно лечь в этот гамак?
deckchair	шезлонг
The tourist slowly lay down on the deckchair.	Турист медленно лёг на шезлонг.
Is there a free deckchair on the beach?	На пляже есть свободный шезлонг?
to sit down (imperfective)	садиться
Why do you always sit down on my deckchair?	Почему ты всегда садишься на мой шезлонг?
He slowly sat down in the armchair.	Он медленно сел в кресло.
windowsill	подоконник
You cannot sit down on this windowsill!	Нельзя садиться на этот подоконник!
We have a wide windowsill at home.	У нас дома широкий подоконник.
stool	табуретка
There is no stool in the bedroom.	В спальне нет табуретки.
Grandfather sat down heavily on the stool.	Дедушка тяжело сел на табуретку.
log	бревно
The children sat down on a large log.	Дети сели на большое бревно.
This old log is very dirty.	Это старое бревно очень грязное.
to get up (perfective)	встать
The athlete cannot stand up on his right leg.	Спортсмен не может встать на правую ногу.
Why did you stand up on the stool?	Зачем ты встал на табуретку?
to hold on; to keep	держаться
Hold on to my hand, please.	Держитесь за мою руку, пожалуйста.
He held on to the table as he got up.	Он держался за стол, когда вставал.

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