Thread: Questions about на and в

I have two questions.

Firstly;

идём на кухню

Why на and not в? My rule of thumb in these cases is that if it is something you can go inside then it should be в. And на if it is something you go to the edge of. (For example; ходить в комнату, смотрит на его). Obviously either wrong - or at least wrong in this case?

Secondly. In general terms am I correct that if I go в something then when I go away from it it is из. And if I go на something then when I go away from it it is c. Is this correct?


спасибо

Verbs of Motion - prefixes on verbs

The Russian Prepositions (Accusative Case) - prepositions of the sort you're talking about

The Russian Prepositions (Genitive Case)

In most cases yes, the idea is на for surfaces, в for enclosures

The second and third links have little tables that lay the structure out.

Looks like this roughly:
towards, located at, from
в acc, в prep, из ------------ enclosure
на acc, на prep, с ----------- surface
к, у, от ----------------------- pillar (often a person)

With кухня, it's a hard thing to come up with a good logical explanation for, especially since the etymology doesn't jump out with an explanation... It's probably best to just consider it an "exception", or better yet an "anomaly"... "That's just the way it is" sort of thing.

Yep, it's really looks like exception. "В зал", "в гостиную", "в комнату", but "на кухню".

In colloquial speech, в кухню is also possible.

Google "пошёл на кухню" — 345,000 results
Google "пошёл в кухню" — 170,000 results

Google "стол на кухне" — 340,000 results
Google "стол в кухне" — 102,000 results

(I personally prefer в кухню).

спасибо за связи xXHoax.