Russian Nouns

In Russian there is no article. Russian nouns decline by number, gender and case.

Grammatical Gender in Russian

There are three grammatical genders in Russian:

• masculine (m)
• feminine (f)
• neuter (n)

The gender is often, but not always, indicated by the ending of singular nouns in their basic form (Nominative Singular).
In Russian the gender can always be recognised by the ending of a defining adjective.

Masculine:
Nouns ending with a consonant, -й or -ь. (rarely also -а (-я)).
Examples: стол (table), музей (museum), словарь (dictionary), папа (Dad), дядя (uncle)

Feminine:
Most nouns ending with -а (-я) or -ь and all nouns ending with -жь, -чь, -шь, -щь.
Examples: поездка (journey), неделя (week), кровать (bed), ночь (night), мышь (mouse)

Neuter:
Nouns ending with -о, -е (-ё) or –мя.
Examples: облако (cloud), собрание (meeting), время (time)

Some Russian nouns can be masculine or feminine depending on the person they describe.
Examples:
Она такая плакса! – She is such a cry-baby!
Он такой непоседа! – He is such a fidget!

Grammatical Number in Russian

There are two numbers in Russian:

• singular
• plural

In plural most Russian nouns take the ending -и or -ы. Some nouns follow other rules, though. Note that some plural nouns have a stress on a different vowel compared to the singular form. Stressed vowels are written in italic here.

Plural ending in -и

Masculine and feminine nouns:

1. with a soft stem consonant
   словaрь – словари (dictionary); музeй – музeи (museum)
2. with stem consonants -г, -к, -х
   книга - книги (book); язык – языки (language, tongue)
3. ending in sibilants (-ч, -ж, -ш, -щ)
   клещ – клещи (tick); ключ – ключи (key)

Plural ending in -ы

Masculine und feminine nouns with a hard stem consonant.
стол – столы (table); мечта – мечты (dream)

Plural ending in -а, -я

1) Neuter nouns with:

• hard stem consonants take the ending -а
  место – места (place)
  
• soft stem consonants take the ending -я
  здание – здания (building)

2) Some masculine nouns. There is no rule.
город – города (town, city); дом – дома (house);
учитель – учителя (teacher)

Following groups of Russian nouns can be memorized:

• Job titles with the ending –op
  доктор – доктора (doctor); директор – директора (director)
• Things that come in pairs
  глаз – глаза (eye); берег – берега (bank of a river)

Irregular Plural in Russian

1) Some masculine nouns with disappearing vowels e and o in word roots
день – дни (day); рот – рты (mouse)

2) Plural ending -ья
друг – друзья (friend); муж – мужья (husband);
дерево – деревья (tree); стул – стулья (chair)

3) Change of word root
ребёнок – дети  (child - children)

Noun Declension in Russian

In Russian there are six cases:

1. Nominative – basic form of a noun and subject of a sentence. Answers the question Who? What? (кто? что?)
   Эта девушка очень красивая = This girl is very beautiful.
   Наша поездка в Россию была замечательной = Our trip to Russia was great.
2. Genitive – answers the question Whose? Of what? (кого? чего?) and can indicate:
   • possession, ex. платье девочки = dress of a girl
   • negation, ex. У них нет детей = They have no children.
   • part of something, ex. дверь дома = door of a house.
   Genitive is also indicated by different prepositions like:
   без=without; у=by, at; кроме = except; около= near; после=after; etc.
3. Dative – usually indicates a recipient of an action or a direction. Answers the question To whom? To what? (кому? чему?)
   Он дает книгу девочке = He gives a book to the girl.
   Я еду к другу = I go to a friend.
4. Accusative – indicates a direct object. Answers the question Whom? What? (кого? что?)
   Я вижу девушку. = I see a girl.
   Я хочу снять комнату. = I would like to rent a room.
5. Instrumental – answers the question With whom? With what? Whereby? (кем? чем?). In most cases it is used to indicate:
   
   • that the action is done using something or by someone
     Махать рукой = Wave with a hand
     Это блюдо было приготовлено моей бабушкой = This dish was cooked by my granny.
   • time and the way of performing an action
     Работать вечером = Work in the evening
     Идти пешком = Go on foot
   • object of interest or an activity
     Интересоваться русской литературой = be interested in the Russian literature
     Заниматься спортом = go in for sports
   Instrumental can be indicated by different prepositions like
   • c = with
     Я люблю чай с сахаром = I like tea with sugar
     Я иду в театр с другом = I go to the theatre with a friend (m).
   • за = behind
     Ресторан за углом = Restaurant around (=behind) the corner.

6. Prepositional (or locative) – is always used with prepositions. Answers the question (About) who? (About) what? ((о) ком? (о) чем?). Can be indicated by prepositions like:
   • o = about
     Расскажи мне о твоей семье = Tell me about your family.
   • на = on
     сидеть на стуле = sit on a chair
     носить ребёнка на руках = carry a child in one's arms

There are three declension types in Russian:

• 1st declension
  • Masculine nouns ending with a consonant and -й or –ь
  • Neuter nouns ending with -о or –е (-ё)

• 2nd declension
  • Feminine and masculine nouns ending with -а (-я)

• 3rd declension (the so-called i-declension)
  • Feminine nouns ending with –ь

In Russian there is a difference between the declension of animate (people and animals) and inanimate (objects and abstract terms) singular masculine nouns. Singular animate nouns have same endings in Genitive and Accusative.

Note:

• Nouns that take irregular declension have to be memorised separately (ex., брат (brother), друг (friend), дочь (daughter), etc.)
• Words of foreign origin don’t change their form (ex., кино (cinema), кофе (coffee), etc.)
  

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• Russian nouns
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