Russian grammar
The grammar of Russian is both interesting and intricate.
Cases (
падеж)
Russian has six cases (or declension). It does not have—at least not anymore—all that exist in other languages, such as vocative or ablative.
Cases change the forms of nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals to represent their grammatical function in a sentence. This is done by changing the word ending. It can also make disappear so-called fleeting vowels (usually о, е or ё), e.g., Отец (nominative) becomes Отца in its singular genetive form (not Отеца) and отцов in its plural genitive. In each case, there is also a form for singular and plural, as well as differing for masculine, feminine and neutral. Russian also takes into account animacy, i.e., whether the object is alive or sentient, in which cases there are "syncretism" (cases which match together).
It is difficult to find words that are different in all the six cases, as there are often repeats; we will use two words, книга (book) and музей (museum) which together differ in all cases (книга has, on its own, the same dative and prepositional while музей has the same nominative and accusative):
Nominative
This concerns the subject, or the doer of an action.
- Книга и музей привлекают внимание.
Genitive case
This concerns possessive, and is also used for negation or absence.
Possessive:
- Я знаю автора книги и хранителя музея.
Absence:
- У меня не было мобильного телефона.
The possession would otherwise use the nominative: У меня был мобильный телефон.
Accusative
This concerns the direct object (
complément d'objet direct), or the object on which the action is performed.
- Я люблю книгу и музей.
Dative case
This concerns the indirect object ( complément d'objet indirect), or the receiver of the action.
- Я дарю книге и музею свое время.
Instrumental
This concerns the instrument (or means) of the action, or how an action is done.
- Я интересуюсь книгой и музеем.
Prepositional
This concerns the location, or where the action takes place.
- Я думаю о книге и музее.
Tables
Nouns
Feminine
Or masculine but with 'а', 'я' ending (папа or дядя):
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative | -а | -я | -ия | -ы1 | -и | -ии | |
| Accusative | -у | -ю | -ию | N or G | |||
| Genitive | -ы1 | -и | -ии | – | -ь | -ий | |
| Prepositional | -е | -ах | -ях | -иях | |||
| Dative | -ам | -ям | -иям | ||||
| Instrumental | -ой2 | -ей3 | -ией | -ами | -ями | -иями | |
- After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш, щ) or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written.
- After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
- After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
In the instrumental case, -ою and -ею instead of -ой and -ей endings may be encountered in the singular.
Examples: рабо́та – a work/job, ба́ня – a bathhouse, кни́га – a book, ли́ния – a line:
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Nominative | рабо́та | ба́ня | кни́га | ли́ния | рабо́ты | ба́ни | кни́ги | ли́нии | |
| Accusative | рабо́ту | ба́ню | кни́гу | ли́нию | |||||
| Genitive | рабо́ты | ба́ни | кни́ги | ли́нии | рабо́т | ба́нь | книг | ли́ний | |
| Prepositional | рабо́те | ба́не | кни́ге | рабо́тах | ба́нях | кни́гах | ли́ниях | ||
| Dative | рабо́там | ба́ням | кни́гам | ли́ниям | |||||
| Instrumental | рабо́той | ба́ней | кни́гой | ли́нией | рабо́тами | ба́нями | кни́гами | ли́ниями | |
Masculine
Nouns ending in a consonant are marked in the following table with – (thus no ending).
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Nominative | – | -ь | -й | -ий | -ы1 | -и | -ии | ||
| Accusative | N or G | N or G | |||||||
| Genitive | -а | -я | -ия | -ов2 | -ей | -ев3 | -иев | ||
| Prepositional | -е | -ии | -ах | -ях | -иях | ||||
| Dative | -у | -ю | -ию | -ам | -ям | -иям | |||
| Instrumental | -ом4 | -ем3 | -ием | -ами | -ями | -иями | |||
Notes:
- After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш, щ) or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written, or, for some words, а (глаз — глаза, доктор — доктора, etc.).
- After a sibilant, ей is written.
- After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
- After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
Examples: фильм – a film/movie, писа́тель – a writer, геро́й – a hero, коммента́рий – a comment
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Nominative | фи́льм | писа́тель | геро́й | коммента́рий | фи́льмы | писа́тели | геро́и | коммента́рии | |
| Accusative | писа́теля | геро́я | писа́телей | геро́ев | |||||
| Genitive | фи́льма | коммента́рия | фи́льмов | коммента́риев | |||||
| Prepositional | фи́льме | писа́теле | геро́е | коммента́рии | фи́льмах | писа́телях | геро́ях | коммента́риях | |
| Dative | фи́льму | писа́телю | геро́ю | коммента́рию | фи́льмам | писа́телям | геро́ям | коммента́риям | |
| Instrumental | фи́льмом | писа́телем | геро́ем | коммента́рием | фи́льмами | писа́телями | геро́ями | коммента́риями | |
Neutral
Mainly nouns ending in e or o:
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Nominative | -о1 | -е2 | -а | -я | |
| Accusative | N or G | ||||
| Genitive | -а | -я | – | -й / -ей4 | |
| Prepositional | -е | -е3 | -ах | -ях | |
| Dative | -у | -ю | -ам | -ям | |
| Instrumental | -ом1 | -ем2 | -ами | -ями | |
- After a sibilant, о is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
- After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
- For nouns ending in ие in the nominative singular, и is written (but е when stressed — for the word остриё).
- After a consonant use ей otherwise use й.
- Also: some masculine nouns ending in -о in the nominative singular (доми́шко, diminutive from дом 'house'); there is only one masculine noun ending in -е in this declension: подмасте́рье.
Examples ме́сто – a place, мо́ре – a sea, зда́ние – a building
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative | ме́сто | мо́ре | зда́ние | места́ | моря́ | зда́ния | |
| Accusative | |||||||
| Genitive | ме́ста | мо́ря | зда́ния | мест | море́й | зда́ний | |
| Prepositional | ме́сте | мо́ре | зда́нии | места́х | моря́х | зда́ниях | |
| Dative | ме́сту | мо́рю | зда́нию | места́м | моря́м | зда́ниям | |
| Instrumental | ме́стом | мо́рем | зда́нием | места́ми | моря́ми | зда́ниями | |
Feminine ending in ь
This is for feminine nouns, or with a non-standard termination of exceptional words: дитя ('child', archaic) and путь ('path').
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | ||||
| Nominative | -ь | -мя | дитя́ | путь | -и | -мена | де́ти | пути́ | |
| Accusative | N or G | дете́й | |||||||
| Genitive | -и | -мени | дитя́ти | пути́ | -ей | -мён(-мян) | путе́й | ||
| Prepositional | -ях1 | -менах | де́тях | путя́х | |||||
| Dative | -ям1 | -менам | де́тям | путя́м | |||||
| Instrumental | -ью | -менем | дитя́тей | путём | -я́ми1 (ьми́) | -менами | детьми́ | путя́ми | |
- After a sibilant, а is written.
Examples: кость (f) – a bone, мышь (f) – a mouse, и́мя (n) – a name
| Singular | Plural | ||||||
| Nominative | ко́сть | мы́шь | и́мя | ко́сти | мы́ши | имена́ | |
| Accusative | мыше́й | ||||||
| Genitive | ко́сти | мы́ши | и́мени | косте́й | имён | ||
| Prepositional | костя́х | мыша́х | имена́х | ||||
| Dative | костя́м | мыша́м | имена́м | ||||
| Instrumental | ко́стью | мы́шью | и́менем | костя́ми | мыша́ми | имена́ми | |
Adjectives
The adjective agrees with the noun it qualifies (and before which it is usually placed) in case, gender, and number.
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | -ый | -ое | -ая | -ые |
| Accusative | N or G | -ую | N or G | |
| Genitive | -ого | -ой | -ых | |
| Prepositional | -ом | |||
| Dative | -ому | -ым | ||
| Instrumental | -ым | -ыми | ||
- After a sibilant or velar consonant, и, instead of ы, is written.
- When a masculine adjective ends in -ой, the -ой is stressed.
- After a sibilant consonant, neuter adjectives end in ее. This is sometimes called the хорошее rule.
- Accusative in the masculine singular, and in the plural for all genders, depends on animacy, as for nouns.
- Instrumental feminine ending -ой/ей for all adjectives has alternative form -ою/ею, which differs only stylistically from the standard form.
Russian differentiates between hard-stem (as above) and soft-stem adjectives. Note the following:
- Masculine adjectives ending in the nominative in ий and neuters in ее are declined as follows: его (read: ево), ему, им, and ем.
- Feminine adjectives in яя are declined ей and юю.
- Plural adjectives in ие are declined их, им, ими and их.
- Case endings -ого/-его are to be read as -ово/ево.
Examples:
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | но́вый | но́вое | но́вая | но́вые |
| Accusative | N or G | но́вую | N or G | |
| Genitive | но́вого | но́вой | но́вых | |
| Prepositional | но́вом | |||
| Dative | но́вому | но́вым | ||
| Instrumental | но́вым | но́выми | ||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | высо́кий | высо́кое | высо́кая | высо́кие |
| Accusative | N or G | высо́кую | N or G | |
| Genitive | высо́кого | высо́кой | высо́ких | |
| Prepositional | высо́ком | |||
| Dative | высо́кому | высо́ким | ||
| Instrumental | высо́ким | высо́кими | ||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | си́ний | си́нее | си́няя | си́ние |
| Accusative | N or G | си́нюю | N or G | |
| Genitive | си́него | си́ней | си́них | |
| Prepositional | си́нем | |||
| Dative | си́нему | си́ним | ||
| Instrumental | си́ним | си́ними | ||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | хоро́ший | хоро́шее | хоро́шая | хоро́шие |
| Accusative | N or G | хоро́шую | N or G | |
| Genitive | хоро́шего | хоро́шей | хоро́ших | |
| Prepositional | хоро́шем | |||
| Dative | хоро́шему | хоро́шим | ||
| Instrumental | хоро́шим | хоро́шими | ||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||
| Nominative | большо́й | большо́е | больша́я | больши́е |
| Accusative | N or G | большу́ю | N or G | |
| Genitive | большо́го | большо́й | больши́х | |
| Prepositional | большо́м | |||
| Dative | большо́му | больши́м | ||
| Instrumental | больши́м | больши́ми | ||
Pronouns
Personal
| Singular | Plural | Reflexive | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | ||||
| Neut. | Masc. | Fem. | |||||||
| English | I / me | you | it | he / him | she / her | we / us | you | they / them | -self |
| Nominative | я | ты | оно́ | он | она́ | мы | вы | они́ | сам |
| Accusative | меня́ | тебя́ | (н)его́ | (н)её | нас | вас | (н)их | себя́ | |
| Genitive | |||||||||
| Prepositional | мне | тебе́ | нём | ней | них | себе́ | |||
| Dative | (н)ему́ | (н)ей | нам | вам | (н)им | ||||
| Instrumental | мной (мно́ю) |
тобо́й (тобо́ю) |
(н)им | (н)ей ((н)ею) |
на́ми | ва́ми | (н)и́ми | собо́й (собо́ю) | |
- Russian is subject to T-V distinction. The respectful form of the singular you is the same as the plural form. It begins with a capital letter: Вы, Вас, Вам etc. in following situations: personal letters and official papers (addressee is definite), and questionnaires (addressee is indefinite), otherwise it begins with minuscule. Compare the distinction between du and Sie in German or tu and vous in French.
- When a preposition is used directly before a 3rd-person pronoun in oblique cases, н- is prefixed: у него (read: у нево), с неё, etc. Because the prepositional case always occurs after a preposition, the third person prepositional always starts with an н-.
- Like adjectives and numerals, letter г (g) in genitive and accusative form is pronounced as в (v) его/него ево/нево.
Demonstrative
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | э́тот | э́то | э́та | э́ти |
| Accusative | N or G | э́ту | N or G | |
| Genitive | э́того | э́той | э́тих | |
| Prepositional | э́том | |||
| Dative | э́тому | э́тим | ||
| Instrumental | э́тим | э́тими | ||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | тот | то | та | те |
| Accusative | N or G | ту | N or G | |
| Genitive | того́ | той | тех | |
| Prepositional | том | |||
| Dative | тому́ | тем | ||
| Instrumental | тем | те́ми | ||
Possessive
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | мой | моё | моя́ | мои́ |
| Accusative | N or G | мою́ | N or G | |
| Genitive | моего́ | мое́й | мои́х | |
| Prepositional | моём | |||
| Dative | моему́ | мои́м | ||
| Instrumental | мои́м | мои́ми | ||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | твой | твоё | твоя́ | твои́ |
| Accusative | N or G | твою́ | N or G | |
| Genitive | твоего́ | твое́й | твои́х | |
| Prepositional | твоём | |||
| Dative | твоему́ | твои́м | ||
| Instrumental | твои́м | твои́ми | ||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | свой | своё | своя́ | свои́ |
| Accusative | N or G | свою́ | N or G | |
| Genitive | своего́ | свое́й | свои́х | |
| Prepositional | своём | |||
| Dative | своему́ | свои́м | ||
| Instrumental | свои́м | свои́ми | ||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | наш | на́ше | на́ша | на́ши |
| Accusative | N or G | на́шу | N or G | |
| Genitive | на́шего | на́шей | на́ших | |
| Prepositional | на́шем | |||
| Dative | на́шему | на́шим | ||
| Instrumental | на́шим | на́шими | ||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ваш | ва́ше | ва́ша | ва́ши |
| Accusative | N or G | ва́шу | N or G | |
| Genitive | ва́шего | ва́шей | ва́ших | |
| Prepositional | ва́шем | |||
| Dative | ва́шему | ва́шим | ||
| Instrumental | ва́шим | ва́шими | ||
Interrogative
| кто | что | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | кто | что (read: што) |
| Accusative | кого́ (read: каво́) | |
| Genitive | чего́ (read: чиво́) | |
| Prepositional | ком | чём |
| Dative | кому́ | чему́ |
| Instrumental | кем | чем |
| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | чей | чьё | чья | чьи |
| Accusative | N or G | чью | N or G | |
| Genitive | чьего́ | чьей | чьих | |
| Prepositional | чьём | |||
| Dative | чьему́ | чьим | ||
| Instrumental | чьим | чьи́ми | ||
- The ending -его is pronounced as -ево.
| Case | Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Neuter Singular | Plural (All Genders) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | который | которая | которое | которые |
| Accusative | которого / который* | которую | которое | которых / которые* |
| Genitive | которого | которой | которого | которых |
| Dative | которому | которой | которому | которым |
| Instrumental | которым | которой | которым | которыми |
| Prepositional | котором | которой | котором | которых |
- Note: In the accusative case, for masculine singular and plural, use **которого** (singular) or **которых** (plural) for animate nouns, and **который** (singular) or **которые** (plural) for inanimate nouns.
Numeral's case and number rules
If the numeral is один (one), or ends with один, except 11, e.g., двадцать один (twenty-one), the noun stays in the nominative singular.
For numerals два, три, четыре (two, three, four), or ending such (22, 53, etc., again excluding 12, 13 & 14) the noun takes the genitive singular in the nominative or accusative case.
Numerals from 5 to 20 (and beyond, including 20, 30, 40, etc., not ending in 1, 2, 3, 4) require the noun to be in the genitive plural when the numeral is in the nominative or accusative case.
Links
Aspect ( вид)
Russian has a strong notion of grammatical aspect, i.e., of specifying the completeness, duration or repetition of an action, with so-called perfective verbs typically denoting completed or single actions and imperfective verbs indicating ongoing, habitual, or incomplete actions.
Meaning
In English or French grammar, such notions are implicit instead, and although the grammar can mold itself in that direction, especially in the past, through various tenses which furthermore are named similarly, the exact meaning is difficult to render. For instance, in French, the "imparfait" resembles the Russian's imperfective:
Je lisais.- читал.
In contrast, the "passé simple" and "passé composé" convey the perfective:
- Je lus, j'ai lu.
- прочитал.
In the present tense, the perfective translates as a future, since it implies once the action is completed. This makes for nuances that are difficult to capture in other languages when comparing to the future (as a tense) of imperfective verbs, e.g.,
- Я буду читать книгу.
- Я прочитаю книгу.
(There is no future of perfective verbs, e.g., Я буду прочитать книгу, baring, of coures, exceptions, e.g., Я буду сделать это.) The present perfective implies the book will be read (action will be completed) while the future imperfective implies a recurrent, ongoing, periodic action (focus on the activity, not its outcome or completion). Translations could be:
I will read the book [completely].- I will be reading the book.
- Je lirai le livre (et le finirai).
- Je serai en train de lire le livre.
For this reason, instead of present perfective, some grammarians describe this directly as future, but it somehow overlooks a bit a subtlety. The fact that ad hoc construct must be made to render an idea that is built-in the verb itself in Russian, makes this aspect of the language (no pun intended) one of its specificity as well as core difficulties.
The addition of the prefix пере- to a verb usually makes one in the perfective form (completed action), e.g.:
- писать ("to write") → переписать ("to rewrite").
- ходить ("to walk") → переходить ("to cross" or "to switch").
Verb pairing
Most Russian verbs exist in pairs (imperfective/perfective), and are formed by the perfective adding a Prefix (e.g., по-, про-, с-, за-, вы-, etc.) to the imperfective, e.g.:
- любить/полюбить, "to love/to fall in love".
- читать/прочитать, "to read/to read completely"
- делать/сделать, "to do/to have done".
- писать/написать, "to write/to write completely".
- работать/поработать, "to work/to complete the work".
There are, of course exceptions, especially for very used or very old terms, e.g., which differ in their root:
- Говорить/сказать
- Брать/взять
- Ловить/поймать
- Искать/найти
- Класть/положить
Or pairs where the perfective has no prefix and the imperfective seems to be derived from it, e.g.,
- покупать/купить, to buy.
Or pairs where the imperfective seems to be a perfective but the perfectiv is actually, e.g.,
- пробовать/попробовать, to try.
Быть
The verb Быть (to be) only exists in the imperfective, and further serves to provide the future through its present tense (imperfective) conjugation:
- Я буду дома завтра.
- Ты будешь готов через час?
Imperfective pairing can be found (or express) with other verbes:
- Побыть is a prefixed form of быть that can function as its perfective version, meaning "to be for a while" or "to stay briefly." For example, "Я побыл в Москве" ("I was in Moscow for a while") indicates a completed, temporary state.
- Стать ("to become") is often used as a perfective verb to indicate a change of state or a completed action related to being. For instance, "Он стал врачом" ("He became a doctor") conveys a completed transition. It has, however, its imperfective: становиться.
- Оказаться ("to turn out to be") can also serve as a perfective substitute in some contexts, e.g., "Он оказался прав" ("He turned out to be right"). It also has, however, its imperfective: оказываться.