Вместе или раздельно? Prepositions vs. Prefixes

Some prepositions look and sound the same as prefixes, but unlike prefixes they're spelled as stand-alone words, e.g.

по vs. по- (по улице vs. пошел, по пятницам vs. посидел, по этому городу vs. поэтому "that's why")
за vs. за- (за плату vs. заплата, за мужем vs. замужем)
в vs. в- (в верх здания vs. взлетел вверх, в левый угол vs. свернул влево)
от vs. от- (от дома vs. откуда, оттуда, отсюда)

Prefixes affect the meaning of the word; prepositions do not. A preposition establishes a relationship between two or more words; a prefix affects only one word. A word may usually be inserted between the preposition and the following word, e.g. по нашей улице, за большую плату, в самый верх здания. No words can be inserted between the prefix and the root.

Sometimes nearly identical strings of words may confuse you, e.g. «В ответ на пример профессора студент привел свой пример.» vs. «Например, мой профессор никогда не отвечает на вопросы.» In the first example, на is a preposition and пример is a noun that is controlled by it (в ответ на какой пример?). You could insert a word between the two: в ответ на этот пример... In the second example, например is one word (a parenthetical word, вводное слово), and no such insertion is possible.

Вместе или раздельно? Conjunctions

Note an interesting case: the conjunction также "also" is spelled as one word, but the adverbial phrase так же "the same way (as)" is spelled as two words, e.g. Я не знаю французского, и мои родители также не говорят по-французски. Compare: Они говорят так же хорошо, как я.

не vs. ни

некогда vs. никогда, негде vs. нигде, etc.

Вместе или раздельно? Negation

Usually, the particle не can be moved around in the sentence, e. g. Он не пришел в субботу vs. Он пришел не в субботу. With the particle ни, you can usually add more text along the same lines, e.g. Ни мне, ни тебе здесь не нравится vs. Ни мне, ни тебе, ни Наташе здесь не нравится. Although these transformations change the meaning of the sentence to some extent, the sentence remains grammatical and essentially states the same or similar facts. In contrast to that, the prefix не- remains firmly connected to its root and cannot be separated from it without drastically changing the meaning, e .g. Никто не пришел. Нигде тебе не нравится. Никогда мы не уедем. Omitting the negative particle не usually reverses the meaning of the sentence whereas omitting the prefix не- or ни- does not: it creates a sentence with a different, but not the opposite, meaning. Compare Он живет здесь and Он живет не здесь (reversed meaning) vs. Никто не живет здесь and Кто живет здесь (a different--but not reversed--meaning).

In Russian words that mean "un/non/not + adjective" or "un/non/not + adverb," не- is a prefix: небольшой, негромко, неважно, etc. Similarly, не- is a prefix in quantity words немного, несколько and in некоторые "some" and некий "certain."

Вместе или через дефис? Hyphenation

These particles are always separated from the word by a hyphen:
-то
-нибудь

These prepositions are spelled with a hyphen:
из-за
из-под

These particles are always spelled as stand-alone words:
же
уж
бы
ли

Other uses of the hyphen include:

• Words like русско-английский, желто-коричневый, светло-синий, i. e. double adjectives created from two adjectives.
  Note: Compound adjective + noun words are not spelled with a hyphen, e. g. светловолосый, седобородый.
• Adverbs that mean "in a certain way," e.g. по-французски "in French; in a French fashion"; по-приятельски "in a friendly fashion."
• Words created by duplication, e. g. далеко-далеко "very, very far," большой-пребольшой "enormous, huge." These words are not part of the standard language; they're created for added expressiveness in unusual stylistic circumstances.

Compiled by Slava Paperno. Not copyrighted. May be reproduced without asking for permission. Comments sent to sp27@cornell.edu will be appreciated.