The Russian dative with к and по (к врачу, по городу, по телефону, по понедельникам)

Я иду к врачу. Мы гуляем по парку. Я звоню по телефону.I am going to the doctor's. We walk around the park. I call by phone.

Two small, very frequent Russian prepositions are followed by the dative: к ("towards", "to someone's place") and по ("along", "around", "by means of", "on a subject", "on certain days"). Their nouns take the dative endings from The dative case: addressee and age ("мне 20 лет"), and the dative after a verb is the topic of Verbs governing the dative (нравиться, звонить, помогать).

Quick shortcut: к + dative answers куда? and к кому? when you move towards a person or up to a place (к врачу, к дому); по + dative is used for movement along or around a place, for how something is sent or said, for a subject and for regular times (по городу, по телефону, по математике, по понедельникам).

к: towards a person or a place

К means "towards" or "up to". With a person, it names the person you go to, and it is the counterpart of от (coming from) and у (being at), the prepositions in The genitive case: source and basic prepositions (из, с, от, у, без, для):

• Я иду к врачу. (I am going to the doctor's.)
• Мы едем к бабушке. (We are going to Grandma's.)
• Он идёт к другу. (He is going to see a friend.)
• Подойди к окну. (Come to the window.)

к a place: up to it, not into it

With a place, к shows movement towards it without saying that you go in, while в (as in The accusative case: direction with в/на (куда?)) says that you go inside:

• Он подошёл к дому. (He came up to the house.)
• Он вошёл в дом. (He went into the house.)
• Мы идём к морю. (We are walking towards the sea.)

For a city or a shop as the destination, Russian uses в / на with the accusative: Я иду в магазин. The preposition к also appears in time expressions meaning "by": Я буду дома к пяти часам. (I will be home by five o'clock.)

к before мне and a few other words

К becomes ко in a few words, such as мне, всем and всему: Приходи ко мне. (Come to my place.) Он добр ко всем. (He is kind to everyone.) With the other personal pronouns к stays: к тебе, к нам, к вам. The third-person pronouns get н- after a preposition, as in Personal pronouns in oblique cases (меня, мне, мной, о нём):

• Он идёт ко мне. (He is coming to my place.)
• Мы идём к нему. (We are going to his place.)

по: along, by, on a subject, on certain days

The meaning of по depends on the noun that follows. In the senses below the noun is in the dative; по also occurs with other cases, which this lesson does not cover.

Along or around a place

По shows that the movement happens over a surface or an area, in several places or in several directions, and not towards one goal:

• Мы гуляем по парку. (We are walking around the park.)
• Он идёт по улице. (He is walking along the street.)
• Она ходит по городу. (She walks around the city.)

Compare this with в + accusative for one goal: Мы идём в парк. (We are going to the park.)

How something is sent, said or shown

По is used with the means or channel by which you contact someone or get information:

• Я говорю по телефону. (I am talking on the phone.)
• Письмо пришло по почте. (The letter came by post.)
• Фильм идёт по телевизору. (The film is on TV.)

A subject or a field

With a school or work subject, по means "in" or "on" it:

• У нас экзамен по математике. (We have a maths exam.)
• Это учебник по русскому. (This is a Russian textbook.)

Regular times

With a day of the week or a part of the day, по + the dative plural means "on those days, every time":

• Я хожу в бассейн по субботам. (I go to the pool on Saturdays.)
• Мы пьём кофе по утрам. (We drink coffee in the mornings.)

In these examples the dative plural ends in -ам or -ям (субботам, утрам, вечерам, понедельникам). A single occasion takes в + accusative (в субботу), as in Days, dates and time expressions (в понедельник, в 2020 году).

According to

По can mean "according to" something written or agreed:

• Поезд приходит по расписанию. (The train arrives on schedule.)
• Это было по плану. (It went according to plan.)

The word по-русски ("in Russian") is a separate adverb written with a hyphen, not the preposition: Он говорит по-русски.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Я иду к врач. → ✅ Я иду к врачу. (the noun after к goes into the dative)
• ❌ Я иду в врачу. → ✅ Я иду к врачу. (a person as the destination takes к, not в)
• ❌ Он идёт к я. → ✅ Он идёт ко мне. (the pronoun is in the dative; ко before мне)
• ❌ Мы идём к ему. → ✅ Мы идём к нему. (н- before the third-person pronouns after a preposition)
• ❌ Я говорю по телефона. → ✅ Я говорю по телефону. (the dative of телефон is телефону)
• ❌ Мы гуляем по парк. → ✅ Мы гуляем по парку. (the noun after по goes into the dative)
• ❌ Я хожу в бассейн по суббота. → ✅ Я хожу в бассейн по субботам. (regular days take the dative plural)

Quick check

Put the word in brackets into the correct form.

1. Мы идём к ____. (бабушка)
2. Я иду к ____. (врач)
3. Мы гуляем по ____. (парк)
4. Я говорю по ____. (телефон)
5. Приходи ко ____. (я)
6. По ____ у нас русский. (вторник)

Key takeaways

• К + dative means "towards, up to": with a person, it is the counterpart of от and у (к другу, у друга, от друга); with a place, it does not say that you go in (к дому, but в дом is into the house).
• К becomes ко in a few words (ко мне, ко всем), and the dative pronouns ему, ей, им get an н- after it: к нему, к ней, к ним.
• По + dative covers movement along or around a place (по городу), the channel of contact (по телефону, по почте), a subject (по математике), regular times in the plural (по субботам) and "according to" (по расписанию).
• По-русски is a separate adverb, not по + a noun.