The Nominative Case

In the hallway, Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. , . Anna ("") is the subject of the sentence; she is the one doing the action. Anna is in nominative case, which is in fact the dictionary form of the word. In English, the subject is usually in the first position in a sentence, unless the first position (as in our example sentence) is in another case like the prepositional, or is maybe a verb. In the singular, most feminine Russian nouns end with either "a" ("") or "ia" (""). The endings depend on the hardness and softness of the preceding consonants (or a spelling rule: see the Russian alphabet page -- in progress -- for more information). Most masculine nouns end in a consonant (also called the "zero ending"). Most neuter nouns end in "o" or "e" (""/""), likewise depending on the hardness or softness of the preceding consonant (or a spelling rule). Compare these two sentences: Igor hits Ivan. . Ivan hits Igor. . In the sentence above, the subject is in the first position. The meaning only changes when not only the position of the words change, but the case they are in changes with them. In English, we express these changes by word order. In the Russian version of the sentences, look at the endings of the two men engaged in bellicose behavior. Depending on who is getting hit, the endings change from consonants to "a" or "ia" (""/""). They do not become feminine, rather there is a limited number of endings available to Russian words to reveal their function in the sentence, and it just so happens that the primary endings for singular animate masculine nouns in the accusative are the same as the primary endings for feminine nouns in the nominative. Most Russian nouns can become plural. For most masculine and feminine nouns, the plural is formed by adding "y" ("") to a hard consonant stem (the part before the ending -- this includes the "zero-ending" of masculine nouns!) or "i" ("") to soft consonant stems and certain spelling rule stems. The neuter plurals are formed

similarly, except that "a" ("") replaces "o" ("") and "ia" ("") replaces "e" ("") and "ie"/"io" (""). Giving our example sentence a plural subject would therefore give us the following: The Igors hit Ivan. . The Ivans hit Igor. .

ADJECTIVES IN THE NOMINATIVE

Russian has a system of complete agreement between adjectives and nouns -- the adjectives reflect perfectly the case, gender, and number of the nouns to which they are referring. If we added an adjective to our first example sentence, we might get: In the hallway, young Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. , . "" ("young") agrees with the word "" ("Anna") -- it shows that the noun it is referring to is feminine, nominative, and singular -just like the word "" is in the sentence. The following chart provides the adjective endings in the nominative case. A discussion of some forms follows, along with a link to some exercises on the nominative as a whole.

MASCULINE - * FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL - - ** - ***

Special commentary: all of the above endings, which are hard-stemmed endings, can vary with their soft-stemmed counterparts if needed, such as in the following adjective "" ("last"):

MASCULINE - FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL - - -

*If a masculine singular adjective ends with the stress, then the ending is automatically

"oi" ("") as in "" ("young"). Also, spelling rules may require that some adjectives have the apparent "soft" variant ending: "" ("good"). **Spelling rules may require the apparent "soft" variant ending: "" ("good"). ***Spelling rules may require the apparent "soft" variant ending: "" ("good"). Pronouns in the nominative reflect the gender and number of the nouns they replace. In the thrid-person, this is particularly clear. Whereas English uses "it" Russian uses whichever suits the gender of the original noun:

MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL

In each instance, the translation into English of the pronoun above could be it/he/she/they, depending on the context.

The Genitive Case In the hallway, Anna

gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. , . In the example sentence, Igor is in the genitive case. The genitive case is usually used to describe possession of something or someone by something or someone. Even in standard English, we change the ending of the word to describe to whom the book belongs -- Igor's (the 's indicate possession). Russian does the same thing, though in a more detailed fashion. Just like in English, nouns that are used in the genitive case "possess" another noun (person or thing). Like in all Russian cases, adjectives will agree with the noun they modify and go into the same case. Igor's book Igor is the owner of the book (and hence possesses it). Another way to say this in English is "the book of Igor" (which corresponds more closely to the standard Russian word order, though the word which is changed in Russian is the same word which takes the 's in English). "Of" is often a key word for this case.

Many prepositions also require the genitive, among them the prepositions "" ("at, by"), "" ("around/by"), ""/""/"" (all "from"), "" ("to/up to"). Most of these prepositions literally have to do with location (though the concepts are not to be confused with the prepositional case!). Another major use of the genitive is to express absolute negation, as in the concept "I have none of that," or "I don't understand any of it." The English is a bit inaccurate and a bit forced, but French has some closer equivalences: "Il n'y a pas de manger a la maison." In Russian, negation of what would be a positive statement of possession (ie., " " -- "I have a television") is placed in the genitive (" " -- " I don't have a television"). As well, nouns which would occur as a direct object in the accusative case (such as " " -- "I see the book") can be placed in the genitive when negated: " " ("I don't see any/the book"). Now for some case charts. Immediately below are singular nouns as examples. Note that the word in the middle is in the nominative, the word on the right is in the genitive singular.

MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER

-

("zero ending") ("zero ending")

- -

NOTE: All endings can vary between hard and soft variants depending on the consonant. Now for the genitive plural of nouns. These endings are the same as the accusative plural of animate nouns. The word in the middle is in the nominative singular; on the right it is in the genitive plural. This is the most complicated set of endings in Russian.

-- nouns ending in a consonant (not a -!!) -nouns ending in -; -; -; -

("zero ending") -

- -("zero ending") (really a

- -- nouns ending in -, -, -, -, - ("zero

"zero-ending") ending") -

NOTE:Remember that these endings can also vary based on hardness and softness of the stems.

ADJECTIVES
Adjectives, as would be expected, follow the same ideas as the nouns and change when they do. In the tables below is a summary of the adjective endings and how they change. Remember that spelling rules and hardness and softness constraints play a role here, too (see the Nominative Case page and the alphabet page for more information).

MASCULINE FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL

- - - - - - - -

NOTE: the neuter adjective endings are the same as the masculine; the feminine are the same as every other singular case except for the nominative and the accusative. Some more information on the genitive: it is used after numbers ("counters"). For historical reasons, Russian doesn't automatically use the plural after numbers other than one (as in "I have two shoes"). After the number one, the adjective and the noun which follow are in whatever case is required by the sentence. After the numbers 2-4, the adjective is in the genitive plural and the noun in the genitive singular (there are other possibilities for feminine nouns, but we won't get into that for the sake of standardization). Yes, this is weird. So "I have two large tables" is " ." After 5-20, both adjective and noun are in genitive plural ("I have six large tables" -- " "). The pattern begins anew for 21, then 22-24, then 25-30 and so on. Tricky yes, but fascinating.

The Dative Case

In the hallway, Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. ,

 . Ivan is the indirect object, which takes dative case. Verbs like "give" need both an indirect object and a direct object, because something is being given (the action is being performed on the object -- in this instance the blue book), and someone is being given that something (in this instance Ivan). This sentence would not be able to express its meaning without both cases. Anna gave the book. . This sentence, though it is a complete one, only tells us that Anna performed the action of giving on a book -- one step more complicated than the sentence "Anna gave." We might want further information: to whom did Anna give the book? To whom (notice how the English changes "who" to "whom") is in the dative case. The sentence is written "...Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan." It could also read "...Anna gave Ivan Igor's blue book." "To" is not necessary, but it is easier to formulate the Russian if you can place the "to" in a sentence. Some prepositions and some verbs also require the dative case in Russian. Among the verbs are "/" ("to help"), "()" ("to appeal to/like"), and "" ("to advise"). Among the prepositions, a few actually do mean "to" ("", for example). Some set expressions also require the dative, such as sentences where there are no subjects (" ?" -- "Is it permitted to smoke here?") and expressions of age (" 20 " -- "Ivan is 20 years old"). Below is a chart of the dative case endings, with nouns listed first, and adjectives second in each gender. Please note that the nominatives are listed in the middle, and the datives are on the right. Remember, too, that each ending can vary according to set rules depending on the hardness or softness of the stems, and on the spelling rules.

MASCULINE FEMININE* NEUTER

- (zero-ending) - -

PLURAL

NOTE: The masculine and neuter endings are the same for both nouns and adjectives. *This ending is for feminine nouns ending in "-, -" only, and is the same ending as those of the PREPOSITIONAL case for feminine adjectives and nouns. However, for feminine nouns ending in "-", such as "" ("news") the ending is "-" (which is the same ending that these nouns use for the nominative plural, and all case endings -including the prepositional -- in the singular except for the INSTRUMENTAL case). The adjective, of course, remains the standard feminine dative case adjective.

The Accusative Case

In the hallway, Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. , . "Book" ("") is in the accusative case, functioning here as the direct object of the verb "to give" (""). The direct object means that the action of "giving" is being performed on the object in question (here ""). The adjective "blue" ("") is also in the accusative case, since it describes the direct object, the "book." There are very few instances in English when we change the endings of words to reflect their accusative case role in a sentence. One example is "Whom do you see on the street?" "Whom" is the direct object version of "who" (which would probably be used more frequently in less formal English today). Again, the direct object is the noun that receives the action in this sentence. The book is being given by Anna (who is doing the action of giving). Usually, the direct object immediately follows the verb. Igor hits Ivan. .

Ivan hits Igor. . In the first sentence, Ivan is receiving the action from Igor. In the second, Igor is on the receiving end. The nouns change their endings to reflect their function in the sentence. Because of Russian's system of changing endings to reflect a noun's (and adjective's!) role in a sentence, it would be just as possible to invert the players in this little skirmish without changing the overall meaning: Igor hits Ivan = = . Again, because of the endings, which reveal the function the word has in the sentence, it doesn't really matter what order the words are in Russian (whereas in English changing the order around usually changes the meaning of the sentence). Anna gave Ivan the blue book. What did she give Ivan? What (the blue book) is in the accusative case and in English generally corresponds to the direct object. The accusative case is also used after a series of prepositions, of which the largest group are those denoted some kind of motion into a location. In this group are "" ("on/at"), "" ("in"), "" ("beyond"). Another major use of the accusative is in time expressions and the duration of time an action was performed (" " -- "on Friday" is in the accusative case, as is " " -- "(My) sister read for an hour."). In the table below are the standard singular, and some plural, accusative endings for nouns in Russian. The word in the middle is in the nominative, the word on the right is in the plural.

MASCULINE INANIMATE*

("zero ending")

("zero ending") -

FEMININE NOUNS IN - ALL OTHER FEMININE - ALL NEUTER PLURAL INANIMATE* -

NOTE: All endings can vary between hard and soft variants depending on the consonant of the stem to which they are being attached (see the alphabet page for more information on hard and soft consonants and on the Russian spelling rules). Hence the accusative of "" ("aunt") would not be "*", which would suddenly change the final

"" from soft to hard, but rather "", which maintains its softness. *This rule applies only to inanimate nouns, that is, nouns which do not refer to living beings. Animate nouns follow slightly different endings (which happen to be the same as those of another case, the GENITIVE case), as summarized below:

MASCULINE SINGULAR ANIMATE PLURAL ANIMATE

-- nouns ending in a consonant (not a -!!) -nouns ending in -; -; -; - -- nouns ending in -, -, -, -, -

("zero ending") ("zero ending") -

- ("zero ending") -

- ("zero ending")

NOTE: Remember that these endings can also vary based on hardness and softness of the stems.

ADJECTIVES
Adjectives, as would be expected, follow the same ideas as the nouns and change when they do. In the tables below is a summary of the adjective endings and how they change. Remember that spelling rules and hardness and softness constraints play a role here, too (see the Nominative Case page and the alphabet page for more information).

MASCULINE INANIMATE
- -

- - - - -

MASCULINE ANIMATE* FEMININE NEUTER PLURAL INANIMATE PLURAL ANIMATE*

*These endings are the same as those of the genitive case.

The Instrumental Case

To describe this case, which is perhaps the most difficult for English speakers to understand, we'll need to expand our admittedly terse example sentence. In the hallway, Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan with her hands. , . By what means did Anna give the book to Ivan? The example makes it a bit literal, but it is "with her hands" (""). The instrumental case answers the question "by what means." When someone uses an instrument to accomplish something, then this case is used, and that instrument can be physical or more abstract. like an emotion ("with joy"): Anna writes with a pen. . "With a pen" ("") is in the instrumental case because that is the tool she uses to write -- the means by which she is writing. Certain prepositions and certain verbs likewise take this case -- it's a very used case in Russian which when mastered makes you sound elegant and cultured. There are a whole slew of prepositions: "", "", "", "", "" ("behind", "in front of", "under", "above", "between") -- these are obviously mainly spacial and some of them only take the instrumental when talking about static location, but take the accusative when talking about motion to that position. The most commonly used prepositional which uses the instrumental is the preposition "" ("with" -- note that the same preposition, if it is followed by the genitive case, means "from"). Be careful not to over use this "", however. It means literally "with." If we use our example above with the preposition "", we would be saying "Anna writes with a pen" (" "), which means that "pen" is something sitting beside her and writing -- she is writing with a pen (as in with David). Verbs which take the instrumental abound, though they tend to have one thing in common -- they are making a subjective judgement on something. So we have the future form of the verb "to be" ("") often taking the instrumental: "He will be a professor" (" ") -- it's a judgement because it's a subjective opinion (he may never become a professor after all -- it's speculation). Verbs of this type include "", "", "", "" ("to be/appear", "to consider", "to appear",

to become") and their counterparts, as well as many other verbs. Below is a chart of the instrumental case endings, with nouns listed first, and adjectives second in each gender. Please note that the nominatives are listed in the middle, and the datives are on the right. Remember, too, that each ending can vary according to set rules depending on the hardness or softness of the stems, and on the spelling rules.

MASCULINE FEMININE* NEUTER PLURAL

- (zero ending) - - -

- -

- -

NOTE: The masculine and neuter endings are the same for both nouns and adjectives. *For feminine nouns ending in "-", such as "" ("news") the ending is "-" (so "" becomes "" in the instrumental singular. The adjective, of course, remains the standard feminine instrumental case adjective.

The Prepositional Case

In the hallway, Anna gave Igor's blue book to Ivan. , . "In the hallway" (" ") is a prepositional phrase (also named after the Latin grammar term "locative" to describe position or location -- a frequent use of the prepositional case in Russian). The prepositional case requires a preposition, though not all prepositions require the prepositional case (most, actually, require other cases). Usually, the prepositional case is used to describe location in two instances, and is used to express "about" as in to talk about something.

There are three prepositions which can require the prepositional case: "" ("v") meaning "in" ("in the hallway"/" ") "" ("na") meaning "on" or "at" ("on the table"/" ") "" ("o") meaning "about" (this is not location!) ("about the student"/" "). These are the only three which use this case -- a case which is often taught first in Russian classes, even before the nominative! Below is a chart of the prepositional case endings, with nouns listed first, and adjectives second in each gender. Please note that the nominatives are listed in the middle, and the prepositionals are on the right. Remember, too, that each ending can vary according to set rules depending on the hardness or softness of the stems, and on the spelling rules.

MASCULINE*

- (zero-ending) - - -

FEMININE**

NEUTER

PLURAL

- -

- -

NOTE:The masculine and neuter endings are the same for both nouns and adjectives. *There is also another set of endings, not as common, for some masculine nouns in the prepositional. This ending is "" instead of "" and is used only after "" and "" when talking about location. If the word is following the preposition "" ("about" -not a locational preposition), then the word takes the normal prepositional ending "". So, for example, " " ("in the garden"), but " " ("about the garden").

**This ending is for feminine nouns ending in "-, -" only, and is the same ending as those of the DATIVE case for feminine adjectives and nouns. However, for feminine nouns ending in "-", such as "" ("news") the ending is "-" (which is the same ending that these nouns use for the nominative plural, and all case endings -- including the prepositional -- in the singular except for the INSTRUMENTAL case). The adjective, of course, remains the standard feminine dative case adjective.