Я иду в школу. Мы едем в Москву.I'm going to school. We're going to Moscow.

To say where someone is going, Russian uses the same prepositions в and на, but the noun is in the accusative case. The question is куда? (where to?), while for a place where someone already is, the question is где? and the noun is in the prepositional case.

Quick shortcut: где? + в / на + prepositional (Я в школе) for being somewhere; куда? + в / на + accusative (Я иду в школу) for going there. The preposition is the same in both.

Where and where to

Where? (prepositional) Where to? (accusative)
Я в школе. (I'm at school.) Я иду в школу. (I'm going to school.)
Мы в Москве. (We're in Moscow.) Мы едем в Москву. (We're going to Moscow.)
Он на работе. (He's at work.) Он идёт на работу. (He's going to work.)
Мама на кухне. (Mum is in the kitchen.) Мама идёт на кухню. (Mum is going to the kitchen.)
Книга в доме. (The book is in the house.) Он идёт в дом. (He is going into the house.)

The preposition does not change: a place that takes на for "where" also takes на for "where to" (на работе → на работу, на почте → на почту, на вокзале → на вокзал), and a place that takes в also takes в (в школе → в школу). The prepositional forms are in The prepositional case: location.

The accusative endings

The endings are the same as in The accusative case: inanimate objects:

Gender Nominative Accusative Example
masculine дом, город, вокзал same as nominative Мы идём в дом. (We're going into the house.)
neuter море, окно same as nominative Они едут на море. (They're going to the seaside.)
feminine in -а школа, Москва -у: школу, Москву Я иду в школу.
feminine in -я кухня, Россия -ю: кухню, Россию Мы едем в Россию. (We're going to Russia.)

Feminine nouns in -ь stay the same. An adjective before a feminine noun changes too: в новую школу (to a new school).

Verbs of going: идти and ехать

Two verbs of motion are the most useful at this level:

  • идти (to go on foot): иду, идёшь, идёт, идём, идёте, идут
  • ехать (to go by vehicle): еду, едешь, едет, едем, едете, едут

Я иду в магазин. (I'm walking to the shop.) Мы едем на вокзал. (We're going to the station.) Both describe going somewhere now. For regular trips and round trips Russian uses other verbs (ходить, ездить), which are not covered here. The verbs идти and ехать are conjugated as in Present tense: common stem changes and irregular verbs.

With хотеть the verb of going is often left out: Я хочу в Москву. (I want to go to Moscow.)

дома, домой, здесь, сюда, там, туда

Some place words have separate forms for "where" and "where to" and take no preposition:

Where? Where to?
дома (at home) домой (home)
здесь (here) сюда (to here)
там (there) туда (to there)

Я дома. but Я иду домой. (I'm going home.) Мы здесь. but Они едут сюда. (They're coming here.) Они там. but Мы едем туда. (We're going there.)

Common mistakes

  • ❌ Я иду в школе. → ✅ Я иду в школу. (going to a place needs the accusative)
  • ❌ Мы едем в Москве. → ✅ Мы едем в Москву. (-а becomes -у for "where to")
  • ❌ Он идёт в работу. → ✅ Он идёт на работу. (работа takes на here too)
  • ❌ Я иду дома. → ✅ Я иду домой. (for "home" as a destination, use домой)
  • ❌ Она идёт на школу. → ✅ Она идёт в школу. (школа takes в)

Quick check

Which form fits each gap?

  1. (школа) Я иду в ____.
  2. (Москва) Мы едем в ____.
  3. (работа) Он идёт на ____.
  4. (кухня) Мама идёт на ____.
  5. (дом) Мы идём в ____.
Show answers
  1. школу   2. Москву   3. работу   4. кухню   5. дом

Key takeaways

  • Куда? + в / на + the accusative says where someone is going; где? + в / на + the prepositional says where someone is.
  • The preposition stays the same: в школе → в школу, на работе → на работу.
  • The endings are those of the accusative: masculine and neuter unchanged, feminine -а → -у and -я → -ю.
  • Идти is "to go on foot" and ехать "to go by vehicle"; домой, сюда, туда take no preposition.