How to use

Prepositions в and на are used to describe location or direction.

• В usually refers to locations inside or enclosed spaces with clear boundaries, and can be translated as ‘in’, ‘inside’, or ‘at’.
• На usually refers to locations on a surface, in open spaces without a ceiling, or at events, and can be translated as ’on’ or ’at’, and sometimes even ‘to’ in the corresponding English translation.

Many nouns can be used with both prepositions expressing different meanings. For example:

• На столе́ (on the table)
• В столе́ (inside the table, in the drawer)

Some nouns regularly appear with a specific preposition, even if it doesn’t match the standard patterns. Here are a few important exceptions from the A1 level with the explanations of the logic behind them.

• на пóчте
• на завóде, на фа́брике
• на ку́хне
• на ста́нции, на вокза́ле (even if nowadays train and subway stations in mane cases are roofed buildings, in Russian grammar remains the original concept of a station as an open space)
• в кре́сле (while it is still possible to say на кресле describing the location of an object or an animal, speaking about people sitting there, the armchair feels deep enough to consider being there as ‘inside’:)

How to form

• After в and на, use the Prepositional case of the noun to describe a location where something is or where an action takes place.
• Use the Accusative case of the noun to describe a direction of movement. This typically appears with verbs of motion.