Category: "Iz"
Из (часть первая)
One of the prepositions that takes the genitive case is из, which means ‘from’. But not all froms are created equal in Russia. Let's start thinking about to/from/at in Russian like this. There are three words for to, three words for at, and three words for from. And they are related, roughly speaking, like this:
If you go "to" a place using… | then you'll be "at" that place using… | and you'll return "from" that place using… |
в + acc | в + pre | из + gen |
на + acc | на + pre | с + gen |
к + dat | у + gen | от + gen |
So if you go to a place using в, and you are at that placе using в, then you come back from it using из. That applies to most cities and countries and places of business:
Она только что пришла из аптеки. | She just came back from the pharmacy. |
Он только что приехал из Москвы. | He just returned from Moscow. |
Мы только что прилетели из Гонолулу. | We have just returned [by air] from Honolulu. |
— Откуда он? — Из Перми. |
“Where is he from?” “From Perm.” |
These aren't the only contexts which require из, but it's a good start to keep them in mind.