ABSTRACT
Being on the surface: на столе´ (on the table), на земле´ (on land)
Designated space: в зда´нии (in a building), в лесу´ (in the woods), в па´рке (in a park), в саду´ (in the garden), во дворе´ (in the yard)
Outdoors location such as street, square, avenue, junction, field, road, path, motorway etc.: на у´лице (on the street), на шоссе´ (on the motorway)
Geographical locations: в Аме´рике (in America – a continent/country), в Ло´ндоне (in London – a city/town), в дере´вне Леснико´во (in Lesnikovo village – a village/ settlement ), в Моско´вском райо´не (in Moscow district)
Location on the shore/on the bank of a river, lake, sea, ocean: на берегу´ (on the shore), на Байка´ле (on Lake Baikal) на kу´бe (on islands)
Being a part of a group: в па´ртии (in the party), в университе´те (at university), в шко´ле (at school), в кла´ссе (in class)
The points of the compass: на се´вере (in the north), на ю´ге (in the south), на восто´ке (in the east), на за´паде (in the west)
Also: в гора´х (in the mountains), в мо´ре (in the sea)
Attending an event: на о´пере (at the opera), на вы´ставке (at an exhibition), на уро´ке (at a lesson)
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The preposition в (in/at) is used to indicate: The preposition на (on/at) is used to indicate:
Exceptions (location at the following places): на вокза´ле (at/in the railway station), на ста´нции (in the station), на по´чте (at/in the post office), на фа´брике/ на заво´де (at/in factory) на стадио´не (at/in the stadium), на ры´нке (at/in the market), на да´че (at/in the country house), на/в ку´хне (in the kitchen), на этаже´ (on a floor), на фло´те (in the navy), на Ура´ле (in the Urals), на Кавка´зе (in the Caucasus), на Ро´дине (in the Motherland)
Use of the prepositions в and на follows the same principles in the accusative and prepositional cases: ☞ 6.3.1.1. 10.3 Other roles of the prepositional case
10.3.1 Use of the prepositional case in time expressions The prepositional case can be used to indicate time. A noun in the prepositional case, in this context, can answer the questions когдá (when?), в како´м году´ (what year?) в како´м ме´сяце (what month?), на како´й неде´ле (what week?): • Year (with the preposition в): в про´шлом году´ (last year), в э´том году´ (this year), в
сле´дующем году´ (next year), в 2011 году´ • Month (with the preposition в): в январе´ (in January), в сентябре´ (in September). • Week (with the preposition на): на про´шлой неде´ле (last week), на э´той неде´ле (this
week), на сле´дующей неде´ле (next week). • The political regime of the times (with the preposition при): при сове´тской влáсти (in
Soviet times), при Петре´ Вели´ком (in Peter the Great’s times).
