Category: V - Russian Word of the Day

В (motion)

June 17th, 2009 by Don
The most common word for “to” in Russian is “в” followed by the accusative case. This is tricky for Gringos because “в” followed by prepositional means “at.” Observe the contrast:
Mама в магазине. “Mom is at the store.”
Mама пошла в магазин. “Mom has gone to the store.”
Лена занимается в библотеке. “Lena is studying at the library.”
Лена пошла в библотеку. “Lena has gone to the library.”
“В” can also indicate motion and be translated as “into”:
Машина въехала в туннель. The car drove into the tunnel.
Учительница вошла в комнату. The teacher walked into the room.

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В (location)

June 15th, 2009 by Don
The most common word for “at” in Russian is в followed by the prepositional case:
— Где мама?
— Она в магазине.		 “Where's Mom?”
“She is at the store.”
— Где Лена?
— Она занимается в библотеке.		 “Where is Lena?”
“She is studying at the library.”
Дети любят играть в парке. Children love to play at the park
Давай встретимся в бассейне. Let's meet at the pool.
But в can often be translated as “in”:
Молоко в холодильнике. The milk is in the refrigerator.
— В чём живёт улитка?
— В ракушке.		 “What does a snail live in?”
“In its shell.”
Летучие мыши спят днём в пещерах. Bats sleep in caves during the day.
Почему в моём пупочке столько пуха? Why is there so much fuzz in my bellybutton?
If you are an English speaker, your intuition will be a good guide as to when to translate в as in and when as at. Pity the poor Russian speaker, though, who has to figure out the difference in English.
В can also be used to indicate emotional states:
Он это сказал в гневе. Не принимай его слова всерьёз. He said that in anger. Don't take his words seriously.
Я весь день бегал в панике, то туда, то сюда. I ran around here and there all day long in a panic.
Я был в полном шоке, когда меня уволили. I was in complete shock when they fired me.
Когда загораю на пляже, я чувствую себя в полном блаженстве. When I'm soaking up the sun on the beach, I am in complete bliss.

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