Position prepositions with the instrumental

You already know one pair of prepositions that change their case depending on the question they answer: u and na take the locative for where is it? (u sobi) and the accusative for where to? (u sobu). Five more prepositions work exactly the same way — only the case for where is it? is different. Instead of the locative, they take the instrumental, the case you know from s bratom and kolima.

The five prepositions

The instrumental endings are the ones you already learned: -om or -em for masculine and neuter nouns (stolom, krevetom), -om for feminine nouns in -a (foteljom), and -ima / -ama in the plural (jastucima, knjigama). The accusative is the ordinary direct-object form: the inanimate masculine stays as it is (sto, krevet), the feminine in -a takes -u (fotelju).

Where is it, or where is it going?

Ask the same question you ask with u and na. If something is somewhere — it stands, lies, hangs, sleeps, sits there — use the instrumental. If something moves into that place — you put it there, push it there, it crawls or sits down there — use the accusative.

• Mačka spava pod krevetom. — the cat is already under the bed: instrumental.
• Mačka se zavukla pod krevet. — the cat went under the bed: accusative.
• Lampa visi nad stolom. — the lamp hangs there: instrumental.
• Nagnuo se nad sto. — he bent forward, over the table: accusative.

Verbs of being in a place — biti, stajati, ležati, sedeti, visiti, spavati — go with the instrumental. Verbs of putting and moving — staviti, gurnuti, sesti, sakriti, zavući se, nagnuti se — go with the accusative.

sedeti (to be sitting) and sesti (to sit down) show the whole rule in one pair: Sedimo za stolom (we are sitting at the table) but Sedite za sto! (sit down at the table!).

među needs more than one thing

među means among or between, so the noun after it is always plural (među knjigama, među jastucima) or two things joined by i (među ormarom i krevetom). Never put a single noun after među.

Two kinds of za

You met za with the accusative for purpose and for someone: Ovaj sto je za kuhinju (this table is for the kitchen). That za has nothing to do with place. The za of this lesson means behind — Kofer je za ormarom (the suitcase is behind the wardrobe) — and, very often, at a table or desk: za stolom, za radnim stolom.

If za is followed by the instrumental, it is about position: behind something, or seated at it. If it is followed by the accusative, check the verb: with sesti or staviti it is movement into that position (sesti za sto), otherwise it is the familiar for (poklon za mamu).

nad, pod, pred, za beside iznad, ispod, ispred, iza

You also know iznad, ispod, ispred, iza, između with the genitive. They mean the same things and only ever describe a fixed position: iznad stola = nad stolom. In everyday speech both are common. The difference is that only the short prepositions of this lesson can also describe movement, with the accusative.