The Focus of this Lesson is Plural Nouns and Adjectives in the Prepositional Case
Наталья, завтра у нас в офисе будут проходить очень важные переговоры о новых поставках нашего оборудования.
"Natalia, tomorrow, some very important negotiations on new supplies of our equipment will be held in our office."

In this lesson, you will learn about the formation of plural nouns and adjectives in the prepositional case (another name, which can be seen in literature, is the locative case). Let's remember when the prepositional case is used. 

The prepositional case is used to denote the location of something or somebody or when we want to point out the place of action. The nouns expressing the place of location or action are put in the prepositional case.

The prepositional case is also used when we want to express our feeling or thoughts about someone or something. In this case, the object of our thoughts, conversation, speech, dreams, etc. should be put in the locative case. In other words, the prepositional case is used after the preposition "about" (о, об, обо), which is one of the favorite prepositions of this case, and with such verbs as:

думать - "to think"

говорить - "to say" 

рассказывать/рассказать - "to tell"

спрашивать/спросить - "to ask"

знать - "to know"

читать - "to read"

писать - "to write"

заботиться - "to care" 

волноваться - "to worry"

забывать -  "to forget"

мечтать - "to dream"

сообщать - "to inform"

Let's take a look at the formation of plural nouns in the prepositional case.  

It's really very easy, since plural nouns put in the prepositional case can have one of four possible endings: [-ах], [-ях], [-иях], [-ьях].

[-ах] Ending

The ending [-ах] has masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, which, in the nominative case and the singular form, have the following endings:

Masculine nouns end in [consonant];

Feminine and masculine nouns end in [-а];

Neuter nouns end in [-o].

For example:

* m - masculine

   f - feminine

   n -neuter

[-ях] Ending

The ending [-ях] has masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, which, in the nominative case and the singular form, have the following endings:

Masculine nouns end in [-ь], [-й], or [я];

Feminine nouns end in [-я], [-ь].

Neuter nouns end in [-e].

For example:

[-иях] Ending

The ending [-иях] has masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, which, in the nominative case and the singular form, have the following endings:

Masculine nouns end in [-ий];

Feminine nouns end in [-ия];

Neuter nouns end in [-иe].

For example:

[-ьях] Ending

A small number of nouns have a [-ьях] ending. These are the nouns that have a [-ья] ending in the plural form in the nominative case.

For example:

For example:

1. Я мечтаю о полётах на другие планеты.
   "I dream about flights to other planets."
2. На всех подоконниках в комнате стоят цветы.
   "There are flowers on all windowsills in the room."
3. Я был во многих странах, но больше всего мне нравится отдыхать на Бали.
   "I have been to many countries, but most of all, I like to rest in Bali."
4. Матери разговаривают о своих сыновьях.
   "Mothers are talking about their sons."
5. Не забудь о своих занятиях по теннису на следующей неделе.
   "Do not forget about your tennis lessons next week."

As you know, all adjectives in Russian should agree with nouns in gender, number, and case. Therefore, if a noun is plural and in the prepositional case, the adjective should be also put in the plural form and the locative case. There are only two types of endings of the prepositional case for adjectives: [ых] and [их]. They don't depend on the gender of an adjective.

The rule is simple:

To form plural forms of adjectives of all genders in the prepositional case, please use the ending [-ых], except for in the following cases: if an adjective has a stem ending in a soft consonant or in [г], [к], [х], [ж], [ч], [ш], or [щ], the ending will be [-их].

Let's see some examples.

For example:

1. В этой компании на рабочих столах стоят компьютеры.
   "There are computers on the desktops in this company."
2. В очень дорогих ресторанах завтракают только очень богатые люди.
   "Only very rich people have breakfast in very expensive restaurants."
3. Я видел в последних новостях информацию об этом инциденте.
   "I saw the information about this incident in the latest news."

как раз

The first key word for this lesson is the adverb как раз, which can be translated as "just" or "exactly."  This adverb has several usages.

We use the adverb как раз when we want to express that clothes or shoes, etc., are exactly the size we need. In other words, something fits our body size.

For example:

1. Эти ботинки мне как раз.
   "These boots are exactly my size."
2. Как тебе это платье? Как размер? Большой?
   Нет, как раз.
   "What do you think about this dress? How's the size? Large?"
   "No, exactly what I need."
3. Эти штаны велики, эти малы, а вон те как раз.
   "These pants are big, these are small, and those are just what I need."

The second meaning is "very recently, in the immediate past."

For example:

1. Я как раз о тебе вспоминал.
   "I was just thinking about you."
2. Как раз сегодня я встретил его в супермаркете.
   "Just today, I met him in the supermarket."
3. Ты не знаешь, как там наши одногруппники? Давно всех не видел..
   Ой, я как раз вчера случайно встретил Антона. Он женился и у него дочка.
   "Do you know how our classmates are there? I haven't seen them for a long time..."
   "Oh, I just yesterday met Anton by chance. He is married and has a daughter."

The third meaning is "at the right moment or place," or that something is exactly what we need. It can be translated into English as "exactly" or "right now."

For example:

1. Это как раз то, что мне нужно.
   "This is exactly what I need."
2. Ваня, ты уже закончил свою работу?
   Вот как раз заканчиваю. Еще 10 минут.
   "Vanya, have you already finished your job?"
   "I'm finishing right now. Just ten minutes."
3. Ты как раз вовремя. Я  только что приготовила ужин.
   "You're just in time—I've just finished cooking dinner."

вот бы

The second key word for this lesson is the expression вот бы, which can be translated as "I wish" or "it would be a good thing (idea)." This expression is used when we want to express our desire or hope. Because вот бы is used to denote a wish, the past tense is not used after the above-mentioned expression.

For example:

1. Вот бы поехать на Мальдивы!
   "I wish I could go to the Maldives."
2. Что тебе подарил муж на 8 марта?
   Кольцо с рубином.
   Вот бы мне такой подарок! Мой вообще забыл об этом празднике.
   "What did your husband give on the eighth of March?"
   "A ring with a ruby."
   "I wish I had such a gift! My husband forgot about this holiday completely."
3. Вот бы все дети на земле были здоровыми!
   "I wish all children in the world were healthy."

Russian Work Mentality

Russian people tend to have a creative approach to question solving, showing great ingenuity and wit. Russians love freedom in work—they like to make their own decisions. That's why one can notice that Russians don't like to follow necessary rules and regulations. Russian will always try to go beyond the rules and do everything in their own way. Unlike people from other nations, Russians hate unvaried and monotonous work—it makes them feel anguish and depression, which, not uncommonly, can be a reason for low-quality work by Russian people.