Quote Originally Posted by zorro View Post
Hello all,
I'm working through Ben T. Clark's Russian on my own and have some questions.
In this sentence Садись в автобус, is автобус here in the accusative case? It seems it should be in the prepositonal case, автобусе, unless the sense is "go into the bus and sit down". Am I missing something here?
Quote Originally Posted by Doomer View Post
This is exactly the meaning
It does not even imply that one will take a seat. "Садитесь в автобус" just means "Take the bus" or "Go into the bus". There can be even no free seats available, and one might have to stand in the bus. "Садиться в автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт" (imperfective) or "сесть в автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт" (perfective) is just the expression for boarding a vehicle.

Note. If it is a ship, then the preposition "на" is used: "садитесь на корабль".

BTW, we also can use "на" for other vehicles, like "садитесь на автобус/трамвай/поезд/самолёт".

I think there is a simple explanation for this.
In earlier times, there were no mechanical vehicles, and the only way of transportation were horses. The verb "ездить/ехать" originally assumed riding a horse. The same is for the English verb "to ride". The same way, "садиться/сесть" was applied to climbing a horse. And then, after first vehicles were invented, it started being used for them metaphorically.

Quote Originally Posted by Doomer View Post
я очень хочу посмотреть Красную Площадь
nothing awkward
I'm just curious: what exactly do you find awkward here, Zorro?

Quote Originally Posted by Doomer View Post
"I like Yalta much more than Sochi" - Я люблю Ялту намного больше чем Сочи (Me too, BTW)
+ 1

Other options:
Я люблю Ялту гораздо больше чем Сочи.
Мне Ялта нравится намного больше чем Сочи.
Мне Ялта нравится гораздо больше чем Сочи.

Quote Originally Posted by zorro View Post
"Did you go there by plane?"--is this Ты там летал?
Ты туда летал? - It is direction, not static location.

Quote Originally Posted by Doomer View Post
"Ты прилетел туда на самолёте? (perfective is required, because the action has been completed)
Why? It depends on the context.

Ты туда летал? - is perfectly OK.
Ты прилетел туда на самолёте? - is more like "Did you arrive there by plane?"