Russian I Tutorial
written by Stephen VanZuylen & mp3s recorded by Marina
Please note: this tutorial is intended as a primer and quick reference, not the final word on the subject; I am not a native speaker, and many areas are glossed over or simplified in the interest of brevity. My thanks to those who looked over the original version to correct my mistakes. Any remaining mistakes are, of course, my own. Finally, this page is formatted in UTF-8 and is best viewed at 1024x768 resolution; different codings and resolutions and can lead to viewing problems, particularly with the ample Cyrillic text and table-breaking.
| Yes Да dah |
No Нет nyet |
Maybe Мо́жет быть moh-zhit bit' |
| Hello
(Formal Usage) Здра́вствуйте zdrav-stvoo-tye |
Hi
(Informal Usage) Приве́т preev-yet |
Good
Day, Hello До́брый День doh-bry dzyen' |
| Good
Evening До́брый ве́чер doh-bry vyecher |
Good
Night До́брой но́чи doh-broo-y noh-tchi |
Good
Bye (General use/more formal) До свида́ния duh-svee-dah-nya |
| See
You (informal) Пока́ pah-kah |
See
you tomorrow До за́втра dah zav-trah |
Please/You're
Welcome Пожа́луйста pah-zhahl-stah |
| Thank
You Спаси́бо spah-see-bah |
Sorry Прости́те prah-stee-tye |
Welcome Добро́ пожа́ловать dah-broh poh-zhahl-oh-vat' |
| How
are you doing? Как дела́? kahk dze-la? |
(Not)
bad (Не)пло́хо (neh)ploh-khah |
As
always Как всегда́ Kahk vseg-dah |
| Excellent Хорошо́ Khah-rah-sho |
Pleased
to meet you (lit. "it is very pleasant") О́чень прия́тно oh-chen' pree-yaht-nah |
How
old are you? Ско́лько вам лет? Skohl-kuh vahm l-yet |
| I'm
x years old Мне __ лет m-nyeh __ l-yet |
Excuse
me... Извини́те eez-vee-nee-tye |
Do
you speak English? Вы зна́ете англи́йский? vi znah-yeh-tye an-glee-skee |
|
What
languages do you know? Kаки́е языки́ вы зна́ете? kahk-ee-ye yah-zik-ee vi znah-ye-tye? |
How
do you say x in Russian? Как по-ру́сски...? Kahk pah-roos-kee |
I
don't understand Я (не) понима́ю yah (nyeh-) poh-nee-mah-yoo |
|
I
(don't) know Я (не) зна́ю yah (neh-) znah-yoo |
Where
are you from? Отку́да вы? aht-koo-dah vi? |
What
is your name? Как вас зову́т? kahk vas zah-voot |
|
My
name is... Меня́ зову́т meen-yah zah-voot... |
What
time is it? Cко́лько вре́мени? skohl-kuh vreh-meh-nee? |
How
much does it cost? Ско́лько сто́ит? skohl-kuh stoy-it |
|
Do
you know where x is? Вы зна́ете где...? vi znah-yeh-tye g-dze |
Do
you want...? Ты хо́чешь? Ti kho-tchesh |
Is
that everything? Э́то всё? eh-ta f-syoh? |
|
No, that
isn't necessary Нет, не на́до nyet, ni nah-duh |
Help
me! Помоги́те! pah-mah-gee-tyeh |
Bless
you! (after cough or sneeze) Бу́дьте здоро́вы! Boodz-tye z-dah-roh-vi |
| Could
you repeat that? Повтори́те! (пожа́луйста) Pav-toh-ree-tye! (pah-zhahl-stah) |
||
Bold syllables indicate stress in the English pronunciation. The accute accent mark shows the stress in the Russian word.
2. Pronunciation & Alphabet
The Russian Alphabet, known as Cyrillic or Кири́ллица (Ki-reel-lee-tsa) has 33 letters; 21 consonants, 10 vowels and two signs. The letters are: А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ ъ ы ь Э Ю and Я. In order to make this explanation easier, the letters are broken down into specific groups. While many who are unfamiliar with the alphabet dismiss it as being too hard, the alphabet is deceptively simple, as the phonetic principle is very prominent, and successive reforms have removed excess letters and greatly simplified the spelling system.
| Consonants | ||
| Б
б В в Г г Д д Ж ж З з Й й К к Л л М м Н н П п Р р С с Т т Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ |
Бэ
-- Beh Вэ -- Veh Гэ -- Geh Дэ -- Deh Жэ -- Zheh Зэ-- Zeh И краткое-- i kratkoye Ка-- Kah Эл-- El Эм-- Em Эн -- En Пэ-- Peh Эрр -- Err Эс -- Es Тэ -- Teh Эф -- Ef Ха -- Khah Цэ -- Tseh Че -- Cheh Шэ -- Shah Ща -- Shchah |
Best Vent Gift Deep Pleasure Zebra York King Lion Mend Next Pet trilled r Sink Tape Find Kh, like German machen Boots Chair Ship See note* |
*I
have heard two ways of pronouncing the letter щ, which I will assume to
be regional variances. The first is to begin with a ш sound with a ч made
just after without pause. (The example "fresh cheese" is most common.)
The second is to make a "sh" sound, but push your jaw slightly forward
and tighten the corners of your lips into a kind of semi-smile.
In addition to the above consonants, there are certain variations in the sound made for most consonants, referred to most often as "soft" consonants. Rather than add new letters to represent these sounds, the Russian Alphabet shows them in one of two ways: either through a softening vowel, or should there be no vowel, a soft sign, used below. An explanation of how to pronounce these individually are below as well. The signs have additional uses, explained later.
In addition to the above consonants, there are certain variations in the sound made for most consonants, referred to most often as "soft" consonants. Rather than add new letters to represent these sounds, the Russian Alphabet shows them in one of two ways: either through a softening vowel, or should there be no vowel, a soft sign, used below. An explanation of how to pronounce these individually are below as well. The signs have additional uses, explained later.
| Soft Consonants |
| Бь
-Like Пь, but voiced Вь -Push your lower lip upwards so the inside touches the lower front portion of your front teeth Дь - Use the frontal portion of your tongue rather than just the tip to make a sound similar to "dz" or the d in the French "jeudi." Жж -This is, in theory, a voiced version of Щ, but is rarely spoken as anything other than ж, and is marked by жж, not жь, for reasons explained later. Зь -Push your lower jaw forward a little, and/or press the first centimeter or so of your tongue just behind your front teeth. Ль -Use the whole front portion of your tongue to make an l sound like that in French or German. Нь -Press the front of your tongue against the top of your mouth, just behind the front teeth; sounds like Spanish ñ. Пь -Like the p in "computer" Рь -Similar to a regular Р, but with more aspiration. Сь -This is a devoiced version of the soft З. Ть -Sounds a bit like ц but with the front of the tongue on the roof of the mouth. The t in the French "tu" makes the same sound. Фь -Like Вь, but devoiced. |
| "Soft"
Vowels |
||
| Е
е Ё ё И и Ю ю Я я |
Yeh Yoh Ee Yu Yah |
Yes Yodel Feet Youth Yacht |
Ё
is always stressed
| "Hard"
Vowels |
||
| Э
э О о ы У у А а |
Eh Oh Еры* Ooh Ah |
Enter Note Boot Swan |
*This
is difficult to pronounce until you hear it, a sort of mix between the
u in "under," the i in "if," and the ee in "feet;"
until you have heard it a few times, pronounce it like the i in "if."
(If you know Romanian, ы is the same sound as î, and if you know Polish, it is the same sound as y. A similar vowel is found in the Turkish l, but ы is made further forward in the mouth.)
(If you know Romanian, ы is the same sound as î, and if you know Polish, it is the same sound as y. A similar vowel is found in the Turkish l, but ы is made further forward in the mouth.)
| Pronunciation
With Й |
|
| ай ей/эй ой уй |
Wide Bay Boy Hooey |
While most Cyrillic typefaces' letter forms may look only slightly different than the one used on this page, the letter forms of handwritten Russian are decidedly different, and can be easily comfused to those unfamiliar with them. My own handwriting being as terrible as it is, I would recommend downloading OdessaScript to get an idea of what the letter forms should look like, and Pushkin for a more stylized and "realistic" example. The key to learning the written script is practice; start by mimicking the OdessaScript letters individually, copying them out 20-30 times in a row before moving onto the next one. Then move on to words of 3-5 letters, and finally onto longer words. Copying out poems, newspaper articles and other short texts can be the final step, and aid greatly in keeping your skills up to par.
3. Further Notes on Pronunciation
The
"Signs"
The
ь, or мя́гкий знак ("soft sign,") as noted before, denotes a soft consonant
when there is no vowel present to perform that function. However, when placed
in front of a soft vowel, it not only shows a soft consonant, indicates
a more strongly pronounced y (as in yoke) sound in the vowel following.The ъ, or твёрдый знак ("hard sign,") fulfills the same latter function of the soft sign, but also indicates that the preceding consonant is hard, despite the soft vowel following it. This is, however, a rarely used letter and is seen mostly in verb prefixes, as in Съездить, Отъездить and the like, and can also be marked with a double quotation or ".
Stress
Vowel
Reduction
--The O rule: an unstressed o, before the point of stress, is pronounced like an a, and after the point of stress, makes an "uh" sound, a schwa in linguistic terms.
--The И Rule: an unstressed и before the point of stress is pronounced like the i in if, whereas a finial и is pronounced normally.
--The E rule: at the
beginning of a word, e is always pronounced as "ye," regardless of stress.
An unstressed e, unless preceded by a vowel is pronounced like a "schwa",
though any preceding consonant is still softened.
As with any language, there are certain differences in vowel pronounciation
to be heard in different areas of Russia. Many of the boundaries of
these differences remain a subject of debate, but below are the common
changes in vowel pronunciation commonly heard in and around the Moscow
region, and is thus considered the "standard" form of Russian.
--The O rule: an unstressed o, before the point of stress, is pronounced like an a, and after the point of stress, makes an "uh" sound, a schwa in linguistic terms.
--The И Rule: an unstressed и before the point of stress is pronounced like the i in if, whereas a finial и is pronounced normally.
In virtually all spoken forms, all final consonants are devoiced.
4. Spelling & Combination Rules
There are three main spelling rules that you have to know in Russian; they are fairly simple and easy to remember, so don't forget them!
The
7-Letter Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Г, Х, & К, write И instead of Ы
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Ц, don’t write O if it’s unstressed; write E instead
The Hush Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, don’t write Я or Ю; use А or У instead
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Г, Х, & К, write И instead of Ы
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Ц, don’t write O if it’s unstressed; write E instead
The Hush Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, don’t write Я or Ю; use А or У instead
Note that the letters Щ, and Ч are always soft, and Ж, Ш, and Ц are always considered hard; this means that after the former two, a is always pronounced as я, у is always pronounced like ю, and so on, while after the latter three, и sounds like ы, е and sounds like э.
Rules of Combination
Once you start changing words as required by inflection (nouns, adjectives, pronouns) or conjugation (verbs) you not only have to apply the three rules above, but also the rules of vowel combination. Don't worry though; once you understand hard and soft consonants and the vowels/signs that reflect them, this makes absolute sense.
Rule # 1: After й or ь, of there is a hard vowel, the two "blend" to form the soft variant
This
table shows it how it works:
| When
this... |
Meets
this... |
You
get... |
And
this... |
plus
this... |
equals
this... |
| й |
а |
я |
ь |
а |
я |
| й |
э/е |
е |
ь |
э/е |
е |
| й |
у |
ю |
ь |
у |
ю |
| й |
о |
е |
ь |
о |
е |
| й |
о |
ё |
ь |
о |
ё |
| й |
ы |
и |
ь |
ы |
и |
One
little thing: й or ь plus o always makes e unless it is stressed; only
then does it become ё
To illustrate this, I will use the adjective Си́ний (Dark Blue) Notice the soft H.
Say I want to make the feminine-nominative form:
Take Си́ний, and add the proper adjective ending, -ая. Thus we get Синь+ая or Синьая. However, ь+а=я, so we get Си́няя
Or say I want the neuter-genitive:
Take Си́ний and the proper ending, ого. Thus we get Синього. However ь+о when unstressed as here =е, so we get Си́него
Rule # 2: After й or ь, if there is a soft vowel, the former is removed and the latter left on its own.
Take for instance часть. Want the plural? Add -и, and you get частьи, but the soft sign gets absorbed, so we end up with части
Keep in mind, however, that if there is a soft sign in front of a soft vowel already in the singular-nominative form, leave it alone, as it performs a phonetic, rather than grammatical, function. For instance: The singular-nominative Семья (family) becomes Семьи in the plural; the soft sign was in front of the vowel already and so it stays there.
If you need some more help with this, I would suggest checking out this page.
5. The Fleeting Vowel
Every once in a while you'll notice how sometimes words gain or lose a penultimate e or o outside of regular declension or conjugation. For instance, if I wanted the genitive plural of the word "Письмо" (letter,) the standard is to remove the finial o, leaving us with "письм." However, the actual form in the genitive plural is "писем." Where did that e come from? The e is actually an unstressed, softened o; the o is added based on an alternating paradigm left over from ancient Russian. However in this case, because of the soft sign, and because the stress is on the first syllable and not the new letter, we end up with an e.
One little trick is usually right: if you get an awkward consonant cluster, say the word out loud; if you find yourself adding an "uh" sound, chances are, an o is needed, so add it in and go through the spelling rules checklist and the word should now be spelled correctly, though one common exception is words that end in -ство; the genitive plural is -ств. Also, sometimes it is an e, even when there is no soft sign present. For those a little more confident or curious, you can apply the alternation rule, which is best explained here.
These "fleeting vowels" also disappear in declension. Take for instance отец (father,) in the genitive singular: отца; the dative singular: отцу; and the genitive plural: отцов. Normally when a word ends with an e or o plus consonant, the e/o is dropped and the new ending placed after the consonant. These seem unpredictable at first, but with patience, they are not a problem.
6. Nouns and Gender
Russian nouns belong to one of three genders: Masculine, (мужской род) Feminine (женской род) and Neuter (средний род). Unlike German and some of the Romance languages, the gender of a noun can be easily assessed, simply by looking at the ending in the nominative case.
Masculine nouns end in consonants or й
Feminine nouns end in -а, -я, or -ия
Neuter nouns end in -е, -о, or -ие
There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they are easy to spot:
-There are a few masculine nouns that end in a; these are usually associated exclusvely with males, such as мужчи́на (man,) дя́дя (uncle,) де́душка (grandfather,) and the like, or "familiar" forms of masculine names, like Воло́дя, Бо́ря, and so on. These nouns have one attribute that is easy to remember: they decline like feminine nouns, but any demonstratives, adjectives and the like decline like masculine nouns.
-There are 10 words which are neuter, yet end in -я. These have their own unique declension class, which is shown below, and all demonstratives, adjectives and the like use the standard neuter endings. The words are: бре́мя (burden,) вре́мя (time,) вы́мя (udder,) зна́мя (banner,) и́мя (given name,) пла́мя (flame,) пле́мя (tribe,) се́мя (seed,) стре́мя (stirrup) and те́мя (crown.)
-Neuter nouns ending in -о or -и that are direct imports from foreign languages, such as кафе́, кино́, or такси́ do not decline at all, regardless of what case they ought ot be in, however any adjectives or demonstratives tied to them do.
-And finally, there are a number of nouns, which end in -ь and can be either masculine or feminine. There are generally few ways to predict this, however, if a noun ends in -сть, such as кре́пость (fortress,) or it ends in a hush-plus-soft-sign, (-шь, -щь, -жь, -чь) it is feminine. Masculine nouns with a -ь ending decline like those ending with й. The feminine ones have their own declension class, detailed below.
7. Personal Pronouns
Personal
Pronouns
| Case |
I/Me |
You
(singular/ informal) |
He/It |
She |
We |
You
(plural/ formal) |
They |
| Nominative |
Я |
Ты |
Он/Оно́ |
Она́ |
Мы |
Вы |
Они́ |
| Accusative |
Меня́ |
Тебя́ |
Его́ |
Её |
Нас |
Вас |
Их |
| Dative |
Мне |
Тебе́ |
Ему́ |
Ей |
Нам |
Вам |
Им |
| Genitive |
Меня́ |
Тебя́ |
Его́ |
Её |
Нас |
Вас |
Их |
| Prepositional |
Мне |
Тебе́ |
Нём |
Ней |
Нас |
Вас |
Них |
| Instrumental |
Мной |
Тобо́й |
Им |
Ей |
На́ми |
Ва́ми |
И́ми |
Note that when preceded by a preposition, those pronouns beginning with a vowel take an H- on the beginning.
Demonstrative
Pronouns
| This/These | That/Those |
||||||||
| Case |
Masc. |
Fem. |
Neut. |
Pl. |
Masc. |
Fem. |
Neut. |
Pl. |
|
| Nominative | Э́тот |
Э́та |
Э́то |
Э́ти |
Тот |
Та |
То |
Те |
|
| Accusative | Э́тот/Э́того |
Э́ту |
Э́то |
Э́ти/Э́тих |
Тот/Того |
Ту |
То |
Те/Тех |
|
| Dative | Э́тому |
Э́той |
Э́тому |
Э́тим |
Тому́ |
Той |
Тому́ |
Тем |
|
| Genitive | Э́того |
Э́той |
Э́того |
Э́тих |
Того́ |
Той |
Того́ |
Тех |
|
| Prepositional | Э́том |
Э́той |
Э́том |
Э́тих |
Том |
Той |
Том |
Тех |
|
| Instrumental | Э́тим |
Э́той |
Э́тим |
Э́тими |
Тем |
Той |
Тем |
Те́ми |
|
Notes on Э́то: Not only is this word the neuter-nominative, it is also used in the predicative sense; that means if you want to say "this is" or "is this," you simply write это. (See section 36 for more on this.) Also, you may have noticed that there are no articles (a, an, the) in Russian, a fact that can make direct translations sound strange at times; if you wish to indicate that you are speaking about a specific thing, you can use the э́тот, тот, or оди́н.
| Possessive Pronoun Мой My/Mine | ||||
| Case |
Masc. |
Fem. |
Neut. |
Pl. |
| Nominative | Мой |
Моя́ |
Моё |
Мои́ |
| Accusative | Мой/Моего́ |
Мою́ |
Моё |
Мои́/Мои́х |
| Dative | Моему́ |
Мое́й |
Моему́ | Мои́м |
| Genitive | Моего́ |
Мое́й | Моего́ | Мои́х |
| Prepositional | Моём |
Мое́й | Моём | Мои́х |
| Instrumental | Мои́м |
Мое́й | Мои́м | Мои́ми |
| Pronouns that decline like this one: Твой (your/yours informal) | ||||
Note that the possessive pronouns его́ (his,) её (her,) их (their) do not decline.
| Possessive Pronoun Наш Our/Ours | ||||
| Case | Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | Pl. |
| Nominative | Наш | На́ша | На́ше | На́ши |
| Accusative | На́шего | На́шу | На́ше | На́ших |
| Dative | На́шему | На́шей | На́шему | На́шим |
| Genitive | На́шего | На́шей | На́шего | На́ших |
| Prepositional | На́шем | На́шей | На́шем | На́ших |
| Instrumental | На́шим | На́шей | На́шим | На́шими |
| Pronouns that decline like this one: Ваш- (your/yours formal, plural) | ||||
In Russian, there are two ways of sayng "both" as we would know the
word. Here, it is used as a semi-adjective and often with nouns, such
as "both children" or "both players" and so on. If you wish to use the
word both in the sense of "both x and y," you must use the conjunction
и...и, discussed in section 29.
| Case | Masc./Neut. |
Fem |
| Nominative |
óба |
óбе |
| Accusative |
óба/обо́их |
óбе/oбе́их |
| Dative |
обо́им |
|
| Genitive |
обо́их |
|
| Prepositional |
обо́их |
|
| Instrumental |
обо́ими |
|
11. The Case System: Introduction to Inflection
To those who have studied languages such as German, Greek, Latin or another Slavic Language, you are already familiar with the concepts of inflection and can likely skip this introduction, but if you haven't, it helps to receive a quick introduction.
To give a dictionary style answer, inflection is the process where a word is changed (declined) relative to its role as a part of speech in a sentence. Thus in Russian, nouns and other declining words have different forms depending on whether they are the subject, direct object, indirect object, or possessor. English has lost most of its ancient inflection system, but there are a few remnants to build off of. Let's start with a common, and often ignored, mistake in English: "Me and my friend went to a movie." We are often told that this is properly written as "My friend and I went to a movie," but rarely told why. The answer is that the pronoun I is in the subjective (or nomnative) form, or case, while me is in the objective (accusative/dative) case; that is, marking the subject and object (direct or indirect) respectively. "Me," thus, cannot be used as the subject of a sentence! Here is a quick summary of the personal pronouns in English:
| Subjective |
I |
You |
He |
She |
We |
They |
| Objective |
Me |
You |
Him |
Her |
Us |
Them |
If a pronoun is the subject, it must be in the subjective case, and when it is an object, it must be in the objective case; sounds simple enough. Unfortunately, English does not have separate pronouns to disambiguate the direct and indirect objects, thus relying on prepositions and word order to do the job instead. The direct and indirect objects can be written one of two ways:
-"He gave her it."
-"He have it to her."
(The direct object is bold, the indirect is italic)
In Russian, the word break-down for the same sentence would look like this:
Он - "he;" subject; nominative case
Дал - "to give" past tense, masculine
Его́ - "it;" direct object; accusative case
Ей - "her;" indirect object; dative case
It would then be written as "Он дал его́ ей" or any combination of those words, so long as they remain in their proper case.
If you are translating from Russian, the subject and objects are easy to see, as the case is evident, but when trying to translate into Russian, it is often difficult at first due to the ambiguities of English grammar. Until you are familiar with these concepts enough to feel confident, it helps to use this methodology: when you come across a sentence, the first thing you should look at is the verb, which is key to finding the subject/object. Let's say the verb is "to take." Ask yourself the following questions:
--For the Subject: "Who or what did or is doing the taking?"
--For the Direct Object: "Who or what was/is being taken?"
--For the Indirect Object: "To whom or to what was the direct object taken?"
Keep these questions in mind as you practice and learn and adapt them to the specific verb and subject/objects you are using at the time and you should not have too many problems.
However, as you have seen form the tables just above this section, Russian has cases for more than just subjects and objects, for a total of six, and unlike English, not only pronouns, but also nouns and adjectives all change by case. The concept of case usage can be overwhelming if you are unfamiliar with the idea, so it helps to learn just one or two at the most at one time, and only moving on when you are comfortable in your knowledge, as learning all of them in one stretch can complicate matters greatly. Also, keep this in mind: if you were never taught these grammatical concepts before, it will take a little extra effort to fully comprehend it all, but there is a plethora of additional resources, both on-line and in print to help you understand, all of which are usually easy to find, so it is far from impossible; this site's webmaster's English grammar overview can help in this regard.
In this tutorial, each of the six cases used in Russian is given an individual treatment with nouns of all genders, as they are more complicated than pronouns. For the examples, I have used the same series of words to show the patterns in inflection. They are: телеви́зор (television), музе́й (museum), коро́ль (king), маши́на (car), земля́ (land, earth), фами́лия (surname), ми́лость (kindness), о́зеро (lake), пла́тье (dress), мне́ние (opinion), and вре́мя (time).
12. The Nominative Case (Имени́тельный Паде́ж)
This case is used to indicate the subject of the sentence, as well as in comparisons following чем, and a few other instances, discussed later. If you look up a word in the dictionary, it is always in the nominative case unless stated otherwise.
Forming
the plural:
| Masc.
(consonant) |
Masc
-й |
Masc.
-ь |
Fem.
-а |
Fem.
-я |
Fem.-ия |
Fem.
-ь |
|
| New
ending |
-ы |
-и |
-и |
-ы |
-и |
-ии |
-и |
| Example |
Телеви́зор |
Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на |
Земля́ | Фами́лия |
Ми́лость |
| Plural |
Телеви́зоры | Музе́и | Короли́ | Маши́ны | Зе́мли | Фами́лии |
Ми́лости |
| Neut.
о |
Neut.
е |
Neut.
-ие |
Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-а |
-я |
-ия |
-ена |
| Example |
О́зеро |
Пла́тье |
Мне́ние |
Вре́мя |
| Plural |
Озёра |
Пла́тья |
Мне́ния |
Времена́ |
There are a few exceptions for masculine nouns ending
in a consonant; rather than ending in ы, they take a stressed a. There is
no real way of predicting them, so the easiest way to memorize them, in
my opinion, is to say the singular and plural forms out loud; you'll remember
the different forms as you remember the pronunciation of the word. Be careful,
however, not to confuse them with the gentive-singular forms, which often
look exactly the same.
Examples:
Мост -Bridge - Моста́ - Bridges
Го́род -City - Города́ - Cities
In addition, there are a number of words that end in -нин; these decline
regularly except in the nominative plural, where it becomes -не, and in
the genintive plural, where it becomes -н
13. The Accusative Case (Вини́тельный Паде́ж)
The Accusative is used to indicate the direct object of a sentence or phrase, that is the noun on which the action was performed. Simple as this may sound, this case is complicated by the fact that it is, in effect, five cases; masculine nouns are the same as the nominative form, unless they are animate, in which case t takes the noun takes the genitive case endings; neuter nouns are always the same as the nominative; and feminine nouns ending in -а or -я become -у and -ю, while those ending in -ь stay the same, all regardless of animacy, while in the plural, they are like the nominative plural, unless it is animate, in which case it takes the genitive.
Forming the singular:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-- |
-- |
-я |
-у |
-ю |
-ию |
-ь |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль* | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Короля́ | Маши́ну | Зе́млю | Фами́лию | Ми́лость |
*animate,
thus the endings are genitive
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-о |
-е |
-ие |
-я |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
Forming
the plural:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-ы |
-и |
-ей |
-ы |
-и |
-ии |
-и |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль* | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зоры | Музе́и | Короле́й | Маши́ны | Зе́мли | Фами́лии | Ми́лости |
*animate,
thus the endings are genitive
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-а |
-я |
-ия |
-ена |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| Озёра | Пла́тья | Мне́ния | Времена́ |
14. The Dative Case (Да́тельный Паде́ж)
The Dative is used to mark the indirect object in the sentence or phrase, that is, the recipient or "benefactor" of the action. It can also represent the opinion statements "to me..." or "for me..." Forming the Dative in Russian is very easy; Masculine and neuter nouns take -у or -ю as the ending, depending on whether or not it is hard or soft, and Feminine nouns take -е regardless. There is a caveat here: if the (feminine) word ends in -ь, it takes -и in the dative, and if it ends in -ия, it takes -ии. The plural is even easier: all nouns take -ам or -ям, depending on a hard or soft ending .
Forming the singular:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-у |
-ю |
-ю |
-е |
-е |
-ии |
-и |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зору | Музе́ю | Королю́ | Маши́не | Земле́ | Фами́лии | Ми́лости |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut -я | |
| New
ending |
-у |
-ю |
-ию |
-ени |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| О́зеру | Пла́тью | Мне́нию | Вре́мени |
Forming
the plural:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-ам |
-ям |
-ям |
-ам |
-ям |
-иям |
-ям |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зорам | Музе́ям | Короля́м | Маши́нам | Зе́млям | Фами́лиям | Ми́лостям |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-ам |
-ям |
-ям |
-енам |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| Озёрам | Пла́тьям | Мне́ниям | Времена́м |
15. The Genitive Case (Роди́тельный Паде́ж)
The Genitive is perhaps the most versatile of all of the cases in Russian; it shows ownership or possession (комната моей сестры -- my sister's room,) construction involving "of" (фотогра́фия но́вого до́ма -- A photo of the new house,) amounts of things (много людей -- many people,) in conjunction with numbers (пять братьев -- five brothers,) and more. It's formation in the singular is highly regular; masculine and neuter nouns take -а or -я depending on whether it is hard or soft; feminine nouns take the letter -ы or- и, again depending on whether it's hard o soft.
The genitive plural, however, is probably the most difficult aspect of noun declension; there are even jokes about it in Russian. Masculine nouns ending in consonants take -ов and those ending in й take -ев or -ёв, but masculine nouns ending in -ь, -ш, -щ, -ж, and -ч, all take the ending -ей. Feminine and neuter nouns ending in -а and -о lose that letter, -я and -е take- ь, and feminine and neuter nouns ending in-ия and -ие both take the -ий. Finally, feminine nouns ending in -ь, as well as neuter and feminine nouns with -ь just prior to the final vowel, such as платье, all take the ending ей.
Forming the singular:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-а |
-я |
-я |
-ы |
-и |
-ии |
-и |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зора | Музе́я | Короля́ | Маши́ны | Земли́ | Фами́лии | Ми́лости |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-а |
-я |
-ия |
-ени |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| О́зера | Пла́тья | Мне́ния | Вре́мени |
Forming
the plural:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-ов |
-ев |
-ей |
-- |
--ь |
-ий |
-ей |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зоров | Музе́ев | Короле́й | Маши́н |
Земе́ль | Фами́лий | Ми́лостей |
| Neut. о | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| New
ending |
-- |
-ий |
-ён |
| Example |
О́зеро | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| Озёр | Мне́ний | Времён |
16.
The Prepositional Case (Предло́жный Паде́ж)
This is probably the easiest case to learn other than
the nominative. It is used purely with prepositions; it is never used on
its own, hence its name. The prepositions are в (in/at) на (on/at/in) о
(about) при (near/next to/in the time of/on one's person). To form
it, masculine neuter and feminine nouns take -e in the singular, unless
it is feminine and ends in -ь, in which case it becomes -и, or -ие or -ия,
which become -ии. The plural is -ах or -ях depending on the stem.
Forming the singular:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-е |
-е |
-е |
-е |
-е |
-ии |
-и |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зоре | Музе́е | Короле́ | Маши́не | Земле́ | Фами́лии | Ми́лости |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| Еnding |
-е |
-е |
-ии |
-ени |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| О́зере | Пла́тье | Мне́нии | Вре́мени |
Forming
the plural:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-ах |
-ях |
-ях |
-ах |
-ях |
-иях |
-ях |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зорах | Музе́ях | Короля́х | Маши́нах | Зе́млях | Фами́лиях | Ми́лостях |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| Еnding |
-ах |
-ях |
-иях |
-енах |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| Озёрах | Пла́тьях | Мне́ниях | Времена́х |
There is an exception here; in the singular masculine,
there are a number of nouns that take a stressed -у or -ю, but this is ONLY
when used with the prepositions в or на; if you use o or при, you use the
regular prepositional ending.
Examples:
Лес -- Forest - в Леcу́ - In the Forest, при Ле́се
- Near the Forest
Бал -- Ball - на Балу́ - At the Ball, о Ба́ле
- About the Ball
17. The Instrumental Case (Твори́тельный Паде́ж)
This is the final case you need to learn. It is used
to indicate how an action is carried out, roughly the same as the English
"by" or "with," the German "per," or the French "par." It is also used
following the verb быть (to be,) or following certain verbs where it
acts as the word "as," like рабо́тать официанткой, "to work as
a waitress," as well as in the sense of "by" in the passive voice,
discussed later. It is also used in time references like ве́чером (in
the evening) or о́сенью (in the autumn). The formation is rather straightforward:
masculine and neuter nouns take -ом or -ем depending on the ending;
feminine nouns ending in -а and -я take the ending -ой or -ей, while
those ending in -ия take the ending -ией. The main exception is
feminine nouns ending in -ь, which take the ending -ью. The plural is
even easier to form: simply add -ами or -ями depending on the original
ending.
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| New
ending |
-ом |
-ем |
-ем |
-ой |
-ей |
-ией |
-ью |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зором | Музе́ем | Королём | Маши́ной | Землёй | Фами́лией | Ми́лостью |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| Еnding |
-ом |
-ем |
-ием |
-енем |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| О́зером | Пла́тьем | Мне́нием | Вре́менем |
Forming
the plural:
| Masc. (consonant) | Masc -й | Masc. -ь | Fem. -а | Fem. -я | Fem.-ия | Fem. -ь | |
| Еnding |
-ами |
-ями |
-ями |
-ами |
-ями |
-иями |
-ями |
| Example |
Телеви́зор | Музе́й | Коро́ль | Маши́на | Земля́ | Фами́лия | Ми́лость |
| Телеви́зорами | Музе́ями | Короля́ми | Маши́нами | Зе́млями | Фами́лиями | Ми́лостями |
| Neut. о | Neut. е | Neut. -ие | Neut. -я | |
| Еnding |
-ами |
-ями |
-иями |
-енами |
| Example |
О́зеро | Пла́тье | Мне́ние | Вре́мя |
| Озёрами | Пла́тьями | Мне́ниями | Времена́ми |
| Мужско́й | Же́нский | Сре́дний | ||||||||||||||||||
| N |
-- | -ы | -й | -и | -ь | -и | -а | -ы | -я |
-и |
-ия |
-ии |
-ь |
-и |
-о |
-а |
-е |
-я |
-ие |
-ия |
| A |
-n/g |
-n/g |
-n/g |
-n/g |
-n/g |
-n/g |
-у |
-n/g |
-ю |
-n/g |
-ию |
-n/g |
-ь |
-n/g |
-о |
-а |
-е |
-я |
-ие |
-ия |
| D |
-у | -ам | -ю | -ям | -ю | -ям | -е | -ам | -е |
-ям | -ии |
-иям | -и |
-ям | -у |
-ам |
-ю |
-ям |
-ию |
-иям |
| G |
-а | -ов | -я | -ев | -я | -ей | -ы | -- | -и |
-ь |
-ии |
-ий |
-и |
-ей |
-а |
-- |
-я |
-ь |
-ии |
-ий |
| P |
-е | -ах | -е | -ях | -е | -ях | -е | -ах | -е |
-ях |
-ии |
-иях |
-и |
-ях |
-е |
-ах |
-е |
-ях |
-ии |
-иях |
| I |
-ом | -ами | -ем | -ями | -ем | -ями | -ой | -ами | -ей |
-ями |
-ией |
-иями |
-ью |
-ями |
-ом |
-ами |
-ем |
-ями |
-ием |
-иями |
19. Adjectives
Adjectives must agree with the nouns that they
modify in gender, number and case. Adjective endings are distinctive for
each case. One more thing: although written as ого, the genitive endings
are pronounced as though they were written ово. However, this is only for
endings associated with the genitive case. Also, some masculine-nominative
nouns have -ой instead of ый as its ending. This does not
change the declension patterns, however.
| Hard Stem Adjective (Чёрный - Black/dark) | ||||
| Case |
Masc. |
Fem. |
Neut. |
Pl. |
| Nominative |
Чёрный |
Чёрная | Чёрное | Чёрные |
| Accusative |
Чёрный/ого | Чёрную | Чёрное | Чёрные/ых |
| Dative |
Чёрному | Чёрной | Чёрному | Чёрным |
| Genitive |
Чёрного | Чёрной | Чёрного | Чёрных |
| Prepositional |
Чёрном | Чёрной | Чёрном | Чёрных |
| Instrumental |
Чёрным | Чёрной | Чёрным | Чёрными |
| Soft Stem Adjective (Средний - Medium/middle) | ||||
| Case |
Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | Pl. |
| Nominative | Сре́дний | Сре́дняя | Сре́днее | Сре́дние |
| Accusative | Сре́дний/его | Сре́днюю | Сре́днее | Сре́дние/их |
| Dative | Сре́днему | Сре́дней | Сре́днему | Сре́дним |
| Genitive | Сре́днего | Сре́дней | Сре́днего | Сре́дних |
| Prepositional | Сре́днем | Сре́дней | Сре́днем | Сре́дних |
| Instrumental | Сре́дним | Сре́дней | Сре́дним | Сре́дними |
You
should know that a number of adjectives, such as учёный (scientist)
or рабо́чий (worker) and decline like adjectives but are otherwise treated
as nouns.
There are also four short form adjectives, used only in the nominative.
They appear as follows:
| Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural |
Чёрн Чёрна Чёрно Чёрны |
Their usage is discussed in section 35.
