Difference between ‘на автобусе’ and ‘в автобусе’

Depending on the context, we can use either the preposition ‘В‘ or the preposition ‘НА‘ with any means of transport. Once you learn the exact meaning of each, you stop confusing them. Сompare the following sentences.

  • Обычно я езжу на работу на автобусе. = I usually go to work by bus.
  • Извини, я сейчас не могу говорить, я в автобусе. = Sorry, I can’t talk right now, I’m on the bus.

So, as you can see, we put the preposition ‘В‘ with means of transport when it is our current location and we are actually using this transport at the moment: в поезде, в самолёте, в такси, в трамвае

In its turn, the preposition ‘НА‘ is used when we talk about mode of transport. In English a preposition BY does this function: на поезде, на самолёте, на такси, на трамвае

In both cases, regardless of the preposition used, we put the mode of transport in the prepositional form.

Practice Russian with our chat bot!

Free and effective!

Practice Russian with our chat bot!

Free and effective!