Thread: в vs. на

I was reviewing verbs of motion and came accross the following sentences from previous posts.

Я пойду в магазин, пока! – I will go to the store, bye!
Я пойду в кино в 4 часов - I will be going to the cinema at 4 pm
Мне надо пойти на почту – I need to go to the post office
Мы пошли на похороны - We went to the funeral
Он пошёл на дискотеку - he went to the discotec

Sometimes в is used and sometimes на is used.

What is the rule?

Thanks is advance.

There are about a hundred threads on this topic. I usually say just learn it for every word, and chaika usually says something about buying a book where you will learn that на is used for open, round objects like stadiums(which seems to me equally difficult to remember as just learning the word).

Wow that was quick Pravit.

Actually, now that you mention it, I do remember a thread about В Украине vs. На Украине.
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtopic.php?t=4407

I will review the thread.
Thanks.

Oops, wrong thread.

I found the right one
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/viewtop ... %C2+%ED%E0

My book simply says there is no rule, so it must be memorized which one is used.

i think that was the thread i got banned for because all the blind sheep couldn't understand my elementry logic. Anyways.

If you got banned for calling someone an idiot, I think that is wrong.
If it makes you feel better, you can call me whatever you want, as long as I get the right answer.

Son: Dad can you help me with my homework?
Dad: No.
Son: Why not? You should be like John D Rockerfeller. His father helped him invent the Cotton Gin.
Dad: You're an idiot. Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin.
Son: Thanks dad. That answers my homework question.

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Я пойду в кино в 4 часов - I will be going to the cinema at 4 pm

Я пойду в кино в 4 часа

P.S.: there is no rule

Originally Posted by kwatts59

If you got banned for calling someone an idiot, I think that is wrong.
If it makes you feel better, you can call me whatever you want, as long as I get the right answer.

Son: Dad can you help me with my homework?
Dad: No.
Son: Why not? You should be like John D Rockerfeller. His father helped him invent the Cotton Gin.
Dad: You're an idiot. Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin.
Son: Thanks dad. That answers my homework question.

Originally Posted by DenisM

P.S.: there is no rule

P.P.S: But there are some guidelines that can help you get on the right track!

В
(in, at, into, to)

В + prepositional is used:

to describe the place of something or someone, or the place where an action occurs. Imagine that you are answering the question Где? Where?

В лесу поют птицы.
Люся читает книгу в библиотеке.


with the words неделя (week), месяц (month), год (year), век (century) to designate time or date. Imagine that your are answering the question Когда? When?

Он родился в двадцатом веке.
Анна окончила колледж в тысяча девятьсот девяносто пятом году.
В + accusative is used:

to describe motion towards or direction. A noun in the accusative designates the purpose of motion. Imagine that you are answering the question Куда? Where to?

Машина едет в город.
Туристы пошли в лес.
Андрей полетел в Москву.


with the word час (hour) and days of the week to designate exact time or date.

Поезд отходит в два часа.
Во вторник магазин не работал.

-----------------------------------------

На
(onto, on, to)

На + prepositional is used:

to describe the place of something or someone (compare with the B + prepositional pattern). Imagine that you are answering the question Где? На чём? На ком? Where? On what? On whom?

На улице идёт дождь.
Воробей сидит на ветке.
На девочке новое платье.


with the word неделя (week) and some other words to say when an action occurs.

На следующей неделе у него будет день рождения.
Мама приеде на этой неделе.
Мы отправились в поход на рассвете.


to describe objects which help to perform some actions and on which actions are directed.

Спортсмен едет на велосипеде.
Катя и Оля катяются на коньках.
Мы едем на машине.
Музыкант играет на скрипке.



На + accusative is used:

to speak about direction or motion towards (compare with the B + prepositional pattern). Imagine that you are answering the question Куда? На что? Where? On what?

Дети вышли на улицу.
Воробей сел на ветку.


with such words as неделя (week), месяц (month), завтра (tomorrow), etc. to designate exact time, date or period of time.

Он приедет к нам в гости на неделю.
Я взял эту книгу на два дня.
Он получил отпуск на месяц.
Фильм перенесён на завтра.

Originally Posted by MasterAdmin

В
(in, at, into, to)

В + prepositional is used:

to describe the place of something or someone, or the place where an action occurs. Imagine that you are answering the question Где? Where?

В лесу поют птицы.
Люся читает книгу в библиотеке.

Thank you very much MA.
One question though.

Should it not be:
В лесе поют птицы.

Nope it is one of those "exceptions" we all learn to love

В лесу
В углу
etc.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

Oh! One more question. Sorry if this is but I am too tired to open another thread.

What is the past tense of:
I have a book.
У меня есть книга.

In other words, how do you say:
I had a book.

у меня была книга.

Thanks a ton!!!

I tried typing "I had a book" into an on-line translator and it came back with "Я имел книгу". Ugh!