Describing Locations with Prepositions

1. Describing Where You Live: The Verb жить

The first verb we'll learn is жить (to live). This verb is fundamental for introductions. To say where you live, you'll almost always use the preposition в followed by the name of a city, country, state, or the type of building.

First, let's see how the verb works.

As you saw, the verb жить changes its ending depending on who is performing the action. This is called conjugation. Here are the most important forms for now, taken from the "Урок 2" PDF guide.

You can find this full conjugation table in section 7 of the PDF resource "[PDF] Урок 2 - Обзор и задачи".

Now, let's combine this with what we know about the prepositional case:

• Я живу́ в Росси́и. (I live in Russia.)
• Он живёт в го́роде Но́ви-Сад. (He lives in the city of Novi Sad.)
• Они́ живу́т в большо́м до́ме. (They live in a big house.)

Now, let's hear these phrases used in natural speech.

2. Describing Where You Work: The Verb рабо́тать

Next up is the verb рабо́тать (to work). When talking about your job, you'll often use the set phrase на рабо́те (at work), which you learned in the last lesson. But if you want to specify the location, like a building, city, or company, you'll typically use в.

Let's start with a conversational overview.

The verb рабо́тать has a more regular conjugation pattern. Here are the forms you need:

You can find this conjugation and more examples, like Я рабо́таю в фи́рме Самсунг (I work at the Samsung company), in section 6 of the "[PDF] Урок 2 - Обзор и задачи" resource.

Let's look at a few examples:

• Я рабо́таю в о́фисе. (I work in an office.)
• Она́ рабо́тает в шко́ле. (She works at a school.)
• Мой па́па рабо́тает в ба́нке. (My dad works in a bank.)

The speaker in the "Practical Russian" video also mentions work. She says she works from home (я работаю дома) and mentions a friend:

...моя подруга... она работает в школе. (...my friend... she works at a school.) (02:12)

3. Describing Where You Study: The Verb учи́ться

As a student, this is a very important verb for you: учи́ться (to study, to be a student at). You use it to say which institution you attend.

The conjugation is slightly different because it's a reflexive verb (it ends in -ся), but the pattern is straightforward.

Let's create some sentences. Since you are a chemical engineering student, you would say:

• Я учу́сь в университе́те. (I study at a university.)
• Я учу́сь на инженера. (I am studying to be an engineer.) - This uses a different case we'll cover later, but it's a useful phrase!

The "Урок 2" PDF provides a perfect example exchange in section 6:

— Где ты у́чишься? (Where do you study?)
— Я учу́сь в университе́те в О́стине. (I study at a university in Austin.)

In the "Practical Russian" video, the speaker also mentions a friend who studies:

У меня есть подруга в Сербии... Она учится в университете. (I have a friend in Serbia... She is studying at the university.) (08:24)

4. Practice

Let's put it all together. Form complete sentences from the given words. Remember to conjugate the verb and put the location in the prepositional case.

1. Я / жить / дом.
2. Мой друг / учиться / школа.
3. Они / работать / офис.
4. Ты / жить / Россия?

Conclusion

Отлично! You've just learned how to communicate some of the most basic and essential information about yourself in Russian.

Key Takeaways:

• Жить (to live): Use Я живу́ в... to say where you live (city, country, house, apartment).
• Рабо́тать (to work): Use Я рабо́таю в... to specify your workplace (office, bank, store) or the general phrase Я на рабо́те (I'm at work).
• Учи́ться (to study): Use Я учу́сь в... to name your place of study (university, school).

Preview of the next lesson:
Now that you can make statements about where things and people are, our next lesson will focus on asking the question: Где...? (Where...?). You'll learn how to form questions to ask about locations, building directly on the sentences you learned to make today.