Thread: "B" and "HA"

When I studied Russian in college, we were taught that, generally speaking, one used в with "enclosed spaces" and на with "open spaces", which may be a better guideline than trying to say that one equals "in(to)" and the other equals "on(to)". This is also true for their antonyms: the preposition из suggests leaving an "enclosed space" while с suggests leaving an "open space."

Admittedly, in practice it may not be always obvious which is an "enclosed space" and which is an "open space." For example, if I'm not mistaken, the noun аэропорт was historically considered an "open space" (think of the runways) and therefore usually took на, but nowadays the word is seen more as an "enclosed space" (think of the terminal buildings) and thus the preposition в is often preferred.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

For example, if I'm not mistaken, the noun аэропорт was historically considered an "open space" (think of the runways) and therefore usually took на, but nowadays the word is seen more as an "enclosed space" (think of the terminal buildings) and thus the preposition в is often preferred.

No, "в аэропорт" and "в порт" only possible both in the past and now.

Originally Posted by Demonic_Duck

Another example: «в России» = in Russia, but «на Украине» = in Ukraine (note that Ukraine is the exception to the rule here, almost all other countries use «в»).

"На" is used with islands (на Кубу, на Таити) and with many Russian and Ukrainian provinces and historical regions (на Брянщину, на Волынь) so the argument is: as Ukraine in not a province any more but a separate state, it should be grammatically supported.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

For example, if I'm not mistaken, the noun аэропорт was historically considered an "open space" (think of the runways) and therefore usually took на, but nowadays the word is seen more as an "enclosed space" (think of the terminal buildings) and thus the preposition в is often preferred.

I imagine, this could be a story of how an аэродром ("open space") evolved into an аэропорт ("enclosed space").