To express  that something occurred in a certain decade,  use the preposition “в” followed by the prepositional plural case of the ordinal numeral and the noun годax (prepositional plural form of the word год). Sometimes the word “годах” is left out, typically when talking about the 20th century.

For example:

• В шестидесятых годах – in the 1960s
• В девяностых годах – in the 1990s

If you do not specify the century, it will be understood that you are referring to the 20th century. For other centuries, you need to clarify which century you mean by adding the century in the genitive case.

For example:

• В шестидесятых годах девятнадцатого века – in the 1860s
• В пятидесятых годах восемнадцатого века – in the 1750s

Use this table to review nominative singular and prepositional plural forms of ordinal numerals that are typically used to talk about decades:

Note: In conversational Russian, these expressions can also be used with the accusative case. For example:

• Он родился в шестидесятые. – He was born in the 1960s.
• В семидесятые они часто путешествовали. – In the 1970s, they traveled often.

When talking or reading about family history and immigration you can often encounter phrases that relate different events to time. Let’s learn how to use some of the most frequent ones.

1. В конце, в начале, в середине (at the end, at the beginning, in the middle of)  + noun in the genitive case.

For example:

• В конце года – at the end of the year
• В начале века – at the beginning of the century
• В середине недели – in the middle of the week

2. Во время  (during) + noun in the genitive case.

This phrase is used to indicate actions occurring during another event or period of time.

For example:

• Она родилась во время войны. –  She was born during the war.
• Во время поездки я познакомился с новыми друзьями.  – During the trip I met new friends.

3. В течение  (during the course of/throughout) + noun in genitive case

This phrase is used to indicate that something happens continuously throughout a specific period. It emphasizes the duration over which something occurs.

For example:

• В течение урока ученики работали над проектом. – Throughout the lesson, the students worked on the project.
• В течение дня погода менялась несколько раз. – During the course of the day, the weather changed several times.

Remind yourself of the genitive case endings:

You may already know how to use these words to relate events in time:

Remember that in Russian, only nouns or noun phrases can come directly after the prepositions “перед” and “после.” If you want to use a clause (a subordinate sentence with a verb) after these prepositions, it is necessary to use conjunctions перед тем, как or после того, как.

Compare these sentences:

A.

Он учил английский язык перед эмиграцией в Америку.  (“эмиграцией” is a noun)

Он учил английский язык перед тем, как эмигрировать в Америку. ( “эмигрировать в Америку” is a clause)

B.

Я начала говорить по-английски после переезда в Чикаго.  (“переезда” [the move] is a noun)

Я начала говорить по-английски после того, как я переехала в Чикаго. (“я переехала в Чикаго” is a clause)

Откуда is an interrogative word meaning “from where.” It is used to ask about the origin or starting point of someone or something.

For example:

• Откуда ты? – Where are you from?
• Откуда он приехал? – Where did he come from?
• Откуда у вас эта информация? – Where did you get this information from?
• Откуда ты знаешь об этом? – How do you know about this? (where do you have this knowledge from)

Из is a preposition meaning “from” or “out of.” It is used to indicate the origin or starting point of an action, movement, or the source of something. It is used with nouns in the genitive case.

For example:

• Я приехалa из Астаны. – I came from Astana.
• Из книги я узнал много нового. – I learned a lot from the book.
• Он вышел из дома. – He came out of the house.

Note: In Russian, prepositions indicating direction towards a place (в, на, к) have corresponding prepositions indicating direction away from a place (из, с, от). Here is how they correspond:

The verbs быть (to be) and стать (to become) are used with the instrumental case to indicate roles, professions, or condition or situation that someone is in.

For example:

• Она была врачом. – She was a doctor.
• Мы стали друзьями. – We became friends.
• Он будет хорошим студентом.  – He will be a good student.
• Oни станут бедными. – They will become poor.

Remind yourself of the instrumental case endings: