Concepts of location, direction, and motion are very important in Russian. Careful study of the way Russians think about and talk about motion and location will provide you with a rich set of tools for expressing yourself.
Russian makes a distinction between being at a location and moving toward or away from it. This is a distinction which was lost in English around the time of World War I. In the table below we show the archaic English adverbs of motion in parentheses:
From Where | Where | To Where | |
Question |
отку́да? from where? (whence?) |
где́? where? |
куда́? to where? (whither?) |
Here |
отсю́да from here (hence) |
зде́сь here |
сюда́ to here (hither) |
There |
отту́да from there (thence) |
там over there |
туда́ to there (thither) |
This distinction holds even when we name the location:
From Where Genitive Case |
Where Prepositional Case |
To Where Accusative or Dative Case |
|
Surface |
со стола́ off the table |
на столе́ on the table |
на стол onto the table |
Enclosed Space |
из ба́нки out of the can |
в ба́нке inside the can |
в ба́нку into the can |
Unpenetrated Space |
от челове́ка from the man |
у челове́ка near the man |
к челове́ку toward the man |
From a surface: | Дай таре́лку со стола́. | Pass the plate from the table. |
Into a space: | Сыпь са́хар в ба́нку. | Pour sugar into the can. |
Toward a space: | Я иду́ к врачу́. | I am going toward the doctor. |
The classification of a space may at times surprise:
As a surface: | Он прие́хал на маши́не. | He arrived on an automobile. |
As a surface: | Он пришёл на рабо́ту. | He arrived onto work. |
As a surface: | Он пришёл на собра́ние. | He arrived onto the meeting. |
The classification can depend on how the space is used:
An enclosed space: | из коро́бки | from inside the cardboard box |
A surface: | с коро́бки | from on top of the cardboard box |
Thus as the interaction with a space changes, the classification may have to change to match:
Seen as unpenetrated: | Он шёл к челове́ку. | He was walking toward the man. |
Seen as a surface: | Он насы́пал на челове́ка песо́к. | He poured sand onto the man. |
Seen as enclosed: | Он стреля́л в челове́ка. | He shot into a man. (Seen as enclosed) |