Na vs v

[Belianine Valeri]

Bonjour, SEELANGERs
E> I've been told that one can say both "v kvartire" and "na kvartire."  Can someone explain the difference?
E> Dr. Eric Laursen eric.laursen at m.cc.utah.edu

As far as I (as a native speaker) understand:
V kvartire - means in the apartment - zhit v kvartire, byt
propisannym v kvartire, navodit poryadok v kvartire (to make order)
= in the premises, inside the rooms.
like v dome, v komnate, v pomeschenii.
Na kvartire = at the space of flat, at the place where a party takes
place = shodka revolucionerov byla na kvartire u N-a,
Novyj god mozhno vstretit na kvartire u druga,
proizvesti obysk na kvartire (to make a search)
Na kvartire = the flat is not a place to live but a place (territory)
for some action.
Like na stadione, na scene, na concerte, na vstreche.
Though be careful: on zhivet u neye na kvartire = he rents her
apartment = literary he takes part of her space.
In my opinion v kvartire is 80% of all cases compared with 20% na
kvartire. Though you may try Google.

Cordially, Val Belianine
Professor of Russian, Moscow State University <www.cie.ru>
Editor for www.textology.ru

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