у, ў, на, з, да, ад, каля, праз and the cases they govern, plus the spelling rule that turns у into ў after a vowel and the да that replaces Russian к.
I can say where something is, where I am going and who I am going with, choosing the right preposition and case.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Я жыву ў Мінску, а працую ў Гродне.
I live in Minsk and work in Hrodna.
Заўтра еду ў Брэст на цягніку.
Tomorrow I am going to Brest by train.
Іду да сябра піць гарбату.
I am going to a friend's place for tea.
Мы сустрэліся каля Чырвонага касцёла.
We met by the Red Church.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
A Belarusian preposition always governs a case, and the same preposition with two different cases means two different things. Learn the pair, not the word.
| Preposition | Case | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| у / ў | locative | in (position) | у Мінску — in Minsk |
| у / ў | accusative | into (direction) | у Мінск — to Minsk |
| на | locative | on, at | на стале — on the table |
| на | accusative | onto, to | на працу — to work |
| з | genitive | from, out of | з Гродна — from Hrodna |
| з | instrumental | with | з сябрам — with a friend |
| да | genitive | to, up to, as far as | да сябра — to a friend's |
| ад | genitive | away from | ад дома — from home |
| каля | genitive | near, beside | каля возера — by the lake |
| праз | accusative | through, across, in (time) | праз лес — through the forest |
| пад / над | instrumental | under / above | над ракой — above the river |
| для | genitive | for | для цябе — for you |
The preposition is written ў when the word before it ends in a vowel, and у otherwise:
This is one of the tidiest rules in the language and one of the first things a reader notices when it is missing.
English prepositions govern nothing; the noun after them never changes. In Belarusian the preposition is only half the construction and the case ending is the other half, so у Мінск and у Мінску are two different statements. Learn each preposition with a whole phrase.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: treating the preposition as the whole construction and leaving the noun in the dictionary form, as English allows. In Belarusian the case ending carries half the meaning: у Мінск and у Мінску are different sentences.
Error with Прыназоўнікі
Review Прыназоўнікі.
Я жыву ў Мінску, а працую ў Гродне.
I live in Minsk and work in Hrodna.
Location, so the locative twice. Both prepositions follow a vowel, hence <strong>ў</strong> both times.
Заўтра еду ў Брэст на цягніку.
Tomorrow I am going to Brest by train.
Direction takes the accusative: <em>у Брэст</em>, not <em>у Брэсце</em>. Brest keeps the fortress that held out in June 1941.
Іду да сябра піць гарбату.
I am going to a friend's place for tea.
<strong>Да</strong> plus the genitive where English uses <em>to</em>. And <em>гарбата</em> is the Belarusian word for tea, unrelated to the Russian one.
Мы сустрэліся каля Чырвонага касцёла.
We met by the Red Church.
<em>Каля</em> plus the genitive. The Red Church stands on Independence Square in Minsk and is the city's most photographed building.
Яна размаўляе па-беларуску з бацькамі.
She speaks Belarusian with her parents.
<em>З</em> plus the instrumental for company, and the language adverb is hyphenated: <strong>па-беларуску</strong>.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
The syntax volume of the current academic reference grammar, cited as the standard reference for Belarusian sentence structure rather than for one quoted passage. It is what the description on this page is measured against; it is not a source for any single claim here.
The current academic reference grammar; the linked edition serves the full text. Cited for its declension section, which sets out the first, second and third declensions, notes that plural-only nouns decline on those same patterns, and treats маці as a noun of its own.