Thread: по - preposition

Well, it can be translated as 'of' if you want to do it the "English" way.

A criminal case of gas exposion has been started.

Anyway, по in Russian is more about to a movement to/on the surface of something:

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ударить по плечу
идти по дороге

In other cases it can be translated as "on/about"

лекция по философии - a lecture on philososphy

Originally Posted by iCake

Well, it can be translated as 'of' if you want to do it the "English" way.

A criminal case of gas exposion has been started.

Звучит довольно неестественно. Лучше: A criminal case has been started [over / in relation to / about] the gas explosion.

To me, "over" or "in relation to" sound much better than "about," but "about" is acceptable. И относительно "хорошему стилю", я здесь писал бы "launched" (дословно "уголовное дело уже запущено") вместо "started".