Prepositions used with the interrogative word "Куда"

Hello, dear student! Today I would like to talk about one important topic that causes problems for many foreigners. When we ask question with the interrogative word "куда" (where), we often use different prepositions which confuse people. So what should we know? Let's look at the examples:

Куда ты поехал? На работу [Kuda ty paekhal? Na rabotu] - Where did you go? I went to work
Куда она пошла? В банк [Kuda ana pashla? F bank] - Where did she go? She went to the bank
Куда вы собираетесь летом? К друзьям [Kuda vy sabiraetes' letam? K druzyam] - Where are you going in the summer? We are going to visit friends.

These examples show that the interrogative word "куда" is similar everywhere and the action implies that a person goes somewhere, makes movement, but prepositions are different in all cases. The point is that you should remember the rule:

We use a noun in accusative case for the preposition "в": Куда она делась? Ушла в комнату (что? комнату, accusative case) - Where is she? Did she go to her room?

We should use noun in accusative case for the preposition "на", too:

Куда вы идете с мамой? На выставку картин (что? Выставку, accusative case) - Where are you going with your mom? To the art exhibition.

To find out which of the prepositions: "в" or "на" to use, please, read my previous article on prepositions.

To use the preposition "к" correctly, we should use a noun in dative case, for example:

Куда вы собираетесь в обед? Мы идем к врачу (к кому? К врачу, dative case) - Where are you going? We are going to a doctor.

Such words, as:

К другу - to a friend
К сестре - to a sister
К бабушке - to a grandmother
К Вике - to Vika
К менеджеру - to a manager

are used with the preposition "к". In most cases these nouns are animate, i.e. we usually talk about people/animals:

Я уехала на каникулы к бабушке [Ya uekhala na kanikuly k babushke] - On holidays I went to visit my granny

Я приеду к Вике утром [Ya priedu k Vike utram] - I will come to see Vika in the morning