Thread: берег

Are на береге and на берегу interchangeable?

thank you

Originally Posted by quartz

Are на береге and на берегу interchangeable?

No, only the latter is actually used in Russian.

prepositional case isn't used with на for this word?

Originally Posted by quartz

prepositional case isn't used with на for this word?

На берегу (где?) is the prepositional case.

In modern Russian, some words have two different forms of prepositional case, which is why some linguists insist that one of these forms (the u-form) is actually a different (locational) case.

О береге - на берегу
О лесе - в лесу

The majority of the second declension nouns have only the e-form of the prepositional case. Use of those that have both the u-form and the e-form isn't quite consistent. With some of them, use of the u-form in the "locational" sense is the norm. With others, the e-form is preferred for all meanings, and the u-form is considered substandard.

thank you for the explanation