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  1. #1
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    Я иду в Европу. Я иди домой. я подъезжаю к магазину.
    Я еду в Европу (unless you are going there by foot). Я иду домой. я подъезжаю к магазину.

    Generally "к" means that you approach some object, but do not enter it, because it's either physically impossible, or it's not your intention (at the moment or in general).
    Я подошел к нему - I approached him

    In "Я подъезжаю к магазину" it's used because the person in question approaches the store in his/her car, and that's exactly what s/he wants to tell you. We don't even know if this store is the main destination of this trip (is he going to buy something? is he meeting someone near the store? or just passing by?). The store is just a convenient reference point.
    Saying "Я еду в магазин" you state your intention - you are going there to enter the store (for shopping or whatever), and that's the focus of your sentence.

    Я еду в Европу - the same logic is used. You are going "inside" of Europe, i.e. you are going to spend some time within its borders. It's possible to say "Я еду к Европе", but it describes your direction (you are moving towards Europe from some other point), not your point of destination.

    Doesn't it seem "logical" that is should be "I'm going TO Europe", not "I'm going IN Europe"?
    Or, trust me, from the Russian point of view it doesn't.
    Many Russian ESL learners struggle with ambiguous things like this, and almost everyone at one point or another tried saying something like "I'm going IN England". Because - CAN IT BE? You are going to be IN England, but it's not "in", but "to"?? Weird, right?

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    Подающий надежды оратор Astrum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gRomoZeka View Post
    Я еду в Европу (unless you are going there by foot). Я иду домой. я подъезжаю к магазину.

    Generally "к" means that you approach some object, but do not enter it, because it's either physically impossible, or it's not your intention (at the moment or in general).
    Я подошел к нему - I approached him

    In "Я подъезжаю к магазину" it's used because the person in question approaches the store in his/her car, and that's exactly what s/he wants to tell you. We don't even know if this store is the main destination of this trip (is he going to buy something? is he meeting someone near the store? or just passing by?). The store is just a convenient reference point.
    Saying "Я еду в магазин" you state your intention - you are going there to enter the store (for shopping or whatever), and that's the focus of your sentence.

    Я еду в Европу - the same logic is used. You are going "inside" of Europe, i.e. you are going to spend some time within its borders. It's possible to say "Я еду к Европе", but it describes your direction (you are moving towards Europe from some other point), not your point of destination.


    Or, trust me, from the Russian point of view it doesn't.
    Many Russian ESL learners struggle with ambiguous things like this, and almost everyone at one point or another tried saying something like "I'm going IN England". Because - CAN IT BE? You are going to be IN England, but it's not "in", but "to"?? Weird, right?
    Спасибо, спасибо. I still get confused with verbs of motion, thanks for the corrections.

    One thing that I can say about Russians, is that you're always more than willing to help Russian learners.

    But what about "домой"? It's an adjective, right? How come this is wrong "Я иду в дом"? If I'm going IN the house, it should be like "Я еду в Европе"?

    And why is Europe in accusative case?

    I know that I have a lot of questions, I'm sorry.

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    Завсегдатай Throbert McGee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Astrum View Post

    But what about "домой"? It's an adjective, right? How come this is wrong "Я иду в дом"? If I'm going IN the house, it should be like "Я еду в Европе"?

    And why is Europe in accusative case?
    Домой is actually an adverb, meaning that it doesn't decline or show gender, etc. -- it's always домой. And it means "to one's own home", or "homeward", etc.

    The noun дом can often be translated "house; home", but in some contexts it can mean simply "a building." So if you said Я иду в дом (with дом in the accusative) it would generally be understood to mean "I'm going into the building." But Я иду домой has the clear meaning "I'm going home; I'm going to my own house" (not into some other building, and not into someone else's home). The same basic distinction applies to the adverb дома ("at home, in one's own house") versus the prepositional/locative phrase в доме ("inside a building").

    To answer your other question, Europe is in the accusative because the accusative, by nature, is associated with motion towards a place. The prepositional/locative case, в Европе, expresses static location rather than destination -- "where at", rather than "where to".

    And the distinction between the accusative and prepositional cases not only exists with "true" Verbs Of Motion (like идти and ехать) but also with other verbs that express some kind of movement, even if they're not technically VOMs.

    For example, "I was sitting in the chair" (location without movement) would be Я сидел на стуле (with the word for chair in the prepositional/locative form).

    But "She sat the child down in the chair" (movement into a position) would be Она посадила ребёнка на стул (with the word for "chair" in the accusative). Note that the verbs for "to be in a sitting position" vs. "to sit someone else in a seat" are also different, but the main point here is that the word for "chair" will be in different cases depending on whether you're talking about "where at?" (prepositional) or "where to?" (accusative).

    And, by the way, if you're getting out of a chair and standing up ("where from?") then the word would be in the genitive (стула). So, to summarize:

    "where at?" = prepositional case (but after certain prepositions, instrumental)
    "where to?" = accusative case (but after certain prepositions, dative or instrumental)
    "where from?" = genitive case (nearly always)
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    Говорит Бегемот: "Dear citizens of MR -- please correct my Russian mistakes!"

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    Подающий надежды оратор Astrum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    Домой is actually an adverb, meaning that it doesn't decline or show gender, etc. -- it's always домой. And it means "to one's own home", or "homeward", etc.

    The noun дом can often be translated "house; home", but in some contexts it can mean simply "a building." So if you said Я иду в дом (with дом in the accusative) it would generally be understood to mean "I'm going into the building." But Я иду домой has the clear meaning "I'm going home; I'm going to my own house" (not into some other building, and not into someone else's home). The same basic distinction applies to the adverb дома ("at home, in one's own house") versus the prepositional/locative phrase в доме ("inside a building").

    To answer your other question, Europe is in the accusative because the accusative, by nature, is associated with motion towards a place. The prepositional/locative case, в Европе, expresses static location rather than destination -- "where at", rather than "where to".

    And the distinction between the accusative and prepositional cases not only exists with "true" Verbs Of Motion (like идти and ехать) but also with other verbs that express some kind of movement, even if they're not technically VOMs.

    For example, "I was sitting in the chair" (location without movement) would be Я сидел на стуле (with the word for chair in the prepositional/locative form).

    But "She sat the child down in the chair" (movement into a position) would be Она посадила ребёнка на стул (with the word for "chair" in the accusative). Note that the verbs for "to be in a sitting position" vs. "to sit someone else in a seat" are also different, but the main point here is that the word for "chair" will be in different cases depending on whether you're talking about "where at?" (prepositional) or "where to?" (accusative).

    And, by the way, if you're getting out of a chair and standing up ("where from?") then the word would be in the genitive (стула). So, to summarize:

    "where at?" = prepositional case (but after certain prepositions, instrumental)
    "where to?" = accusative case (but after certain prepositions, dative or instrumental)
    "where from?" = genitive case (nearly always)
    Oh, thanks a lot, that really helps me! Many thanks! I'll write that down so I won't forget.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    Домой is actually an adverb, meaning that it doesn't decline or show gender, etc. -- it's always домой. And it means "to one's own home", or "homeward", etc.
    Yes. This is the most exact translation.

    домой=homeward

    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    The noun дом can often be translated "house; home", but in some contexts it can mean simply "a building." So if you said Я иду в дом (with дом in the accusative) it would generally be understood to mean "I'm going into the building." But Я иду домой has the clear meaning "I'm going home; I'm going to my own house" (not into some other building, and not into someone else's home). The same basic distinction applies to the adverb дома ("at home, in one's own house") versus the prepositional/locative phrase в доме ("inside a building").
    There is no locative for "дом". There is a vestige of the former locative case in the frozen phrase "на дому" but it is currently considered a two-word adverb rather than locative because you cannot insert an adjective between "на" and "дому".


    Quote Originally Posted by Throbert McGee View Post
    For example, "I was sitting in the chair" (location without movement) would be Я сидел на стуле (with the word for chair in the prepositional/locative form).
    Again, this is not locative. It is prepositional. The locative form would be "на стулУ". But is is not used.
    Throbert McGee likes this.

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