414 Spatial Prepositions 435

за дмом behind the house

за мостм on the other side of the bridge
за рекй beyond the river

Note
СзHди and позад& + genitive are synonymous with за + instrumental
in the meaning ‘behind’: сзHди, позад& дма ‘behind the house’.
СзHди мен ‘behind me’ lacks the idea of close proximity that adheres
to за мной.
(ii) The following phrases are particularly common:
за бртом overboard
з городом in the suburbs, in the country
за гран&цей abroad
за дв)рью behind, outside the door
за окнм outside the window (from the inside), inside the
window (from the outside)
за рулём at the wheel
за столм at the table (also за об)дом ‘at lunch’ etc.)
за углм round the corner
Note also змужем ‘married’ (of a woman): Он змужем за р"сским
‘She is married to a Russian’.

(2) За + accusative
За + accusative is used to denote movement to these positions:
похать з город to drive out of town
хать за гран&цу to go abroad
спр5таться за дверь to hide behind the door
сесть за стол to sit down at the table
зайт з угол to go round the corner
Note also змуж: Он в шла змуж за актёра ‘She married an
actor’.

(3) Из-за + genitive

Из-за + genitive denotes withdrawal from these positions:
Он верн"лся из-за гран&цы He returned from abroad
Он встла из-за стол She got up from the table
Он показлись из-за угл They appeared round the
corner
436 The Preposition 415

415 Pf + instrumental/accusative: extension of the spatial

meanings

Other spatial meanings of за are as follows:

(1) за + instrumental
(i) Sequence:
Самолёты взлетли од&н за друг&м
The aircraft took off one after the other
(ii) An object followed or pursued:
гнться за мячм to chase the ball
охтиться за т&гром to hunt a tiger (for the zoo,
cf. охтиться на тгра
‘to hunt (to kill) a tiger’)
слдовать за экскурсовдом to follow the guide
(iii) Occupation with an activity:
проводть вчер за игрй to spend the evening playing

(2) За + accusative
За + accusative may denote distance from a point:
За пять киломтров отс8да сегдня свдьба
There is a wedding today five kilometres from here

Note
В пят& килом)трах could also be used here (see 413 (1) (ii)), but only
за is possible:
(a) When movement to a goal is implied:
бежть за всемь килом)тров домй
to run eight kilometres home
(b) When за combines with до to distinguish two spatial points:
За пятьст мтров до фниша подтян"лся англичнин
Five hundred metres from the finish the Englishman rallied
(c) When distance is expressed in terms of дверь ‘door’, дом ‘house’,
квартл ‘block’:
 415–417 Spatial Prepositions 437

За два дма до >того угл в 20-е гды б ло общежтие

(Panova)
There was a hostel two doors down from this corner in the 1920s

416 Gthtl + instrumental, dgthtlπ + genitive

(1) Перед means ‘in front of ’:

перед дмом in front of the house

Note
(a) Unlike за, перед cannot take the accusative to denote movement
to a position, cf. Он повсил пальт за дверь ‘He hung the coat
behind the door’, but Он поствнл мску перед собй ‘He put
the bowl in front of him’.
(b) Note figurative usage: Перед нмн большя задча ‘A major task
faces us’.
(2) Вперед& + genitive ‘in front of, ahead of ’ is usually associated with
animate nouns or moving objects: хать вперед& автбуса ‘to drive
ahead of the bus’. Unlike перед, it does not imply closeness: Дти
бежли далек вперед& взрслых ‘The children were running far
ahead of the adults’.

417 Gjl + instrumental/accusative, bp-gjl + genitive

(l) Под + instrumental

(i) The central meaning of под is ‘under’:
плвать под водй to swim under water
сто5ть под мостм to stand under the bridge
под м+шкой under one’s arm
пле под ржью a field under rye
Note the phrases
под нсом, под рукй near by, close at hand
под горй at the bottom of the hill
под дождём in the rain
под потолкм from the ceiling (Лмпы вис5т под
потолкм ‘The lamps hang from
the ceiling’)
438 The Preposition 417

(ii) Под also denotes proximity to towns:

бо под Москвй the battles near Moscow
(iii) Под углм means ‘at an angle’:
Kлица выходла под углм к трамвйной останвке
The street went off at an angle to the tram stop
(iv) Под is also used figuratively: под ар)стом, влинием, давл)нием,
контрлем, угрзой ‘under arrest, the influence, pressure, control,
threat’, cf.:
Эксперимнты провдятся под руковдством учёных
The experiments are carried out under the guidance of scientists

Note
Что вы понимете под >тим слвом? ‘What do you understand by
this word?’

(2) Под + accusative

Под + the accusative denotes:
(i) Movement to a position underneath something:
Он сли под д)рево They sat down under a tree
Он спр5тал р"ки под стол He hid his hands under the table
Compare also the phrases
спускться пд гору (= с гор+) to go downhill
Он попла под дождь She got caught in the rain
обрабтать пле под пшен&цу to put a field under wheat
(ii) Movement to a position near (a town):
Мы перехалн под We moved to near
Санкт-Петерб3рг St Petersburg
(iii) Transfer to a state:
ствить под угрзу to place under threat

(3) Из-под + genitive

(i) Из-под means ‘from underneath, from near’ (a town):
 417–419 Spatial Prepositions 439

Он в лез из-под стол He climbed out from under the

Он верн"лся из-под Роства
(ii) It is also used figuratively:
Машна в шла из-под контрля
Он в шла из-под ег влиния
table
He has returned from near Rostov
The car went out of control
She escaped from his
influence

418 Yfl + instrumental, gjdéh[ + genitive

(1) Над means ‘over, above’:

над головй
overhead
Самолёт летт над гродом
The aircraft is flying over the town
над 3ровнем мря
above sea level

Note
(a) Unlike под (see 417 (2)(i)), над does not take the accusative to
denote movement to a position: Повсили лмпу над столм
‘They hung the lamp over the table’.
(b) Над is also used figuratively: побда над фаш&змом ‘victory
over Fascism’, рабтать над ромном ‘to work on a novel’,
сжлиться над сиротй ‘to take pity on an orphan’, сме5ться
над дуракм ‘to laugh at a fool’, суд над Fйхманом ‘the trial of
Eichmann’.
(2) Пов)рх means ‘over, over the top of, on top of ’: смотрть пов)рх
очкв ‘to look over the top of one’s spectacles’, Он надл свтер
пов)рх рубшки ‘He put his sweater on over his shirt’.

419 Vè;le + instrumental, chtl5, gjchtlπ, yfghónbd,

ghònbd, dlòkm, dyè, dyenh5, dy6nhm, djrh6u, v5vj +
genitive

(1) Мaжду/средo
440 The Preposition 419

(i) МAжду means ‘between’

мAжду магаз&ном и доргой
between the shop and the road
МAжду домми есть забр
There is a fence between the houses
мAжду нми
between you and me

Note
МAжду governs the instrumental singular and the instrumental or (less
frequently) genitive plural (мAжду дер)вьями/дер)вьев ‘between the
trees’); the genitive is found mainly in poetic speech and idiomatic
phrases (мAжду двух огн)й ‘between the devil and the deep blue sea’,
читть мAжду строк ‘to read between the lines’).
(ii) СредO/посред& means ‘in the middle’ (of an area):
СредO/посред& пля сто5ло нсколько куств
In the middle of the field stood several bushes

Note
СредO (but not посред) can also mean ‘among, surrounded by’:
СредO дер)вьев стот дом A house stands among the trees

(2) Напртив/прbтив
Напртив/прBтив mean ‘opposite’, combining with verbs of state and
movement:
Я жив" напртив/прBтив завда
I live opposite the factory
Крсло поствлю напртив/прBтив телевзора
I shall put the chair opposite the TV set

Note
ПрBтив (but not напртив) also has the meaning ‘against, opposed to’:
идт прBтив в)тра ‘to walk into the wind’, плыть прBтив теч)ния ‘to
swim against the current’, прBтив часовй стр)лки ‘anti-clockwise’.

(3) Вдbль, внa, внутрo, внiтрь, вокрiг, мoмо

(i) ВдBль means ‘along, alongside’:
 419–420 Spatial Prepositions 441

идт вдBль шосс)

to walk alongside the highway (cf. хать по шосс ‘to drive along
the highway’)
ВдBль забра посжены дервья
Trees are planted along(side) the fence

Note
See also 424 (1) (d) for вдBль in the meaning ‘along the surface of ’.
(ii) ВнA means ‘outside’:
Часть дня он провдит внA дма
He spends part of the day outside the house

Note
Figurative usage: внA опсности, череди ‘out of danger, out of turn’.
(iii) ВнутрO and its directional counterpart внIтрь mean ‘inside’:
внутрO грода inside the town
проникть внIтрь помещ)ния to penetrate inside the building
(iv) ВокрIг means ‘round’:
Земл5 вращется вокрIг the Earth rotates round its axis
сво)й си
Он сидли вокрIг стол They sat round the table
(v) МOмо means ‘past’:
идт мOмо дма to go past the house

Prepositions that Denote Spatial Closeness to an

Object, Movement Towards or Away from an Object,
or Distance from an Object

420 E + genitive, r + dative, jn + genitive

(1) У + genitive case

(i) The central meaning of у + genitive is ‘at, by, near’ an object:
остановться у смой дв)ри to stop right by the door
сидть у окн to sit by the window
442 The Preposition 420

Note
(a) For prepositions denoting proximity to a person, see 421.
(b) Figurative usage: быть у влсти ‘to be in power’.
(ii) У also means ‘at the house of, with, at’ (the doctor’s etc.):
Он отдыхет у сестр+ в дервне
She is relaxing at her sister’s place in the country
Сегдня Сша был у врач
Today Sasha was at the doctor’s
у нас
at our place, in our country

(2) 1 + dative case

(i) 1 is used in the meaning ‘towards’ (a place), ‘to see’ (a person):
Я побежл к в+ходу I ran towards the exit
Он идёт к гроду She is going towards the town
(cf. идт по направл)нию к
гроду, в направл)нии грода/к
гроду ‘to walk in the direction
of the town’)
Он пошёл к врач3 He has gone to see the doctor

Note
(a) Он пришёл к влсти ‘He came to power’, путь к счстью ‘the
path to happiness’.
(b) Идт навстр)чу др3гу ‘to go to meet a friend’, and figurative
usage: идт навстр)чу всем опсностям ‘to face up to all kinds
of dangers’.
(ii) 1 can also denote bodily attitude:
Я сто5л бком к мост3 I stood sideways on to the bridge
Он сидл спинй ко мне He sat with his back to me

(3) От + genitive case

The central meaning of от is ‘away from’:
Он шёл от рек& He was walking away from the river
(cf. Он шёл со сторон+ рек
‘He was walking from the direction
of the river’)
Он ушл от м3жа She left her husband
 421–422 Spatial Prepositions 443

421 <k5p, ,k5prj jn, dòpkt, ytlfktró jn, ytgjlfk/re

jn, òrjkj, gòlkt + genitive; ,k5prj r, ,k5;t r + dative;
hΩljv c + instrumental

Of these prepositions, пbдле ‘beside’ is rarely used, while блOз, вBзле

and Bколо ‘near, close to’ are commonly used to denote proximity to a
person or an object:

блOз/вBзле/Bколо дма near the house

Note
(a) ВBзле may imply greater proximity: Он живёт вBзле нас ‘He lives
very near us’. Additional emphasis may be imparted by the pronoun
смый: вbзле смого л)са ‘hard by the forest’.
(b) Qколо ‘near’ expresses a greater degree of proximity than
недалек от ‘not far from’. Неподалёку is more colloquial than
недалек.
(c) Бл&зко от ‘close to’ is used to denote passage at close quarters, as
well as close location: Птца пролетла бл&зко от нег ‘The bird
flew past very close to him’.
(d) Рдом с means ‘next to, next door to’: Дом рдом с прком ‘The
house is next to the park’.
(e) Бл&зко/бл&же к denote direction towards: Он подощёл бл&зко/
бл&же к дму ‘He went up close/closer to the house’.
(f) For под + instrumental/accusative and из-под + genitive in meaning
of proximity see 417 (1) (ii), (2) (ii), (3) (i).

422 Ghb + prepositional

При + prepositional:

(i) combines with the following nouns in the meaning of proximity:

вход/въезд ‘entrance’, в+ход ‘exit’, дорга ‘road’:

Дча сто5ла при дорге

The country cottage stood at the roadside

повсить объявлние при вхде

to hang a notice at the entrance

поствить часов х при въ)зде в туннль

to post sentries at the entrance to the tunnel
444 The Preposition 422–424

(ii) combines with the names of the sites of battles: бтва при
Сталингрде ‘the battle of Stalingrad’ (cf. бой за Великобритнию
‘the Battle of Britain’).
(iii) denotes attachment: При университ)те есть поликлника ‘There
is a polyclinic attached to the university’, прчечная при общеж&тии
‘a laundry attached to the residence’.

423 Dlfkπ jn, lfktró jn, gjlákmit jn + genitive

Both вдал& от and далек от mean ‘far from’: вдал&/далек от

роднго грода ‘far from one’s home town’. However, вдал& от
never denotes movement: Он отошёл далек от (but not вдал
от) дервни ‘He moved far away from the village’. ((По)дльше от,
however, is used in such contexts: Сел подльше от окн ‘He sat
down a little further away from the window’.)
See also 413 (1) (ii) and 415 (2) (в + prepositional, за + accusative,
на + prepositional in the meaning of distance).

Prepositions that Denote Along, Across, Through a

Spatial Area

424 Gj + dative; xthtp, crdòpm + accusative; gjgth/r,

duke,m, dlòkm + genitive

(1) По means ‘over the surface/along/up/down’ etc.:

идт по б)регу
to walk along the shore
плыть вверх по теч)нию
to sail upstream
Кпли дожд5 стекют по стекл3
Raindrops stream down the pane
По коридру мать прошл на к"хню
Mother proceeded down the corridor to the kitchen

Note
(a) Movement may be in more than one direction: катться по кр3гу