Every major Russian preposition, the case it governs, and what it actually means.
In Russian, prepositions don't stand alone — each one governs a specific case (or sometimes more than one, with different meanings depending on the case used). Mastering prepositions really means mastering preposition-plus-case combinations, not just memorising a word list.
у (at/by, possession: у меня = "I have"), из (out of), от (away from), до (until/up to), для (for the benefit of), без (without), около (near), после (after).
к (towards, to see someone), по (along / according to — also used idiomatically for "by means of," e.g. по телефону, "by phone").
в and на when expressing motion into/onto something, через (through, or a time span), про (about, colloquial).
с (with, accompaniment), над (above), под (under, static location), перед (in front of), между (between).
в and на when expressing static location ("in/at/on"), о/об (about, discussing a topic), при (in the presence of / attached to).
The most important pattern to internalise is that в and на change case — and meaning — depending on whether you're describing motion or location:
| Preposition + Case | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| в + Accusative | motion into | Я иду в магазин (I'm going into the shop) |
| в + Prepositional | static location "in" | Я в магазине (I am in the shop) |
| на + Accusative | motion onto | Я кладу книгу на стол (I put the book onto the table) |
| на + Prepositional | static location "on" | Книга на столе (The book is on the table) |
A frequent source of confusion: some locations conventionally take на even for static location, rather than в — largely as a matter of fixed usage rather than logic. На почте (at the post office), на работе (at work), на юге (in the south), на Украине (in Ukraine, a traditional but disputed usage), and events like на концерте (at a concert) all take на by convention. There's no fully reliable shortcut here beyond learning each noun's habitual preposition as you encounter it.