Table of endings of nouns of the 1st declension (lesson about declensions).
I Declension |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence (Who?) |
– |
а, я |
ы, и |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
у, ю |
ы, и, ей or zero ending |
Genitive |
Possession Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
ы, и |
ей or zero ending |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
е |
ам, ям |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
е |
ах, ях |
Instrumental |
Means or Instrument |
with, by |
ой, ей |
ами, ями |
Let’s see how nouns девушка (girl) and книга (book) change in all cases:
I Declension |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence |
– |
Девушка идет по мостовой. The girl is walking on the pavement. Книга лежит на столе. The book is on the table (litterally: The book is lying on the tabe) |
Девушки идут по мостовой. The girls are walking on the pavement. Книги лежат на столе. The books are on the table. |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
Я знаю эту красивую девушку. I know this beautiful girl. Я вижу эту книгу. I see this book. |
Я знаю этих красивых девушек. I know these beautiful girls Я вижу эти книги. I see these books. |
Genitive |
Posse-ssion Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
Вещи девушки. Girl’s things. Книги там нет. There is no book. |
Вещи девушек. Girls’ things. Книг там нет. There is no books. |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
Подарить цветы девушке. Give flowers to a girl. Моей книге несколько столетий. My book is several centuries old. |
Подарить цветы девушкам. Give flowers to girls. Моим книгам несколько столетий. My books are several centuries old. |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
Говорить о девушке. To talk about a girl. В этой книге много ошибок. There is a lot of mistakes in this book. |
Говорить о девушках. To talk about girls. В этих книгах много ошибок. There is a lot of mistakes in these books. |
Instrumental |
Means or Instru-ment |
with, by |
Ссориться с девушкой. To quarrel with a girl. Убить паука книгой. To kill the spider with a book. |
Ссориться с девушками. To quarrel with girls. Убить паука книгами. To kill the spider with books. |
The 2nd declension.
II Declension |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
|
Masculine |
Neutral |
||||
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence (Who?) |
– |
– |
о, е |
а, я, ы, и |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
– |
о, е |
а, я, ы, и |
Genitive |
Posse-ssion Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
а, я |
ов, ев, ей or zero ending |
|
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
у, ю |
ам, ям |
|
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
е, и |
ах, ях |
|
Instrumental |
Means or Instru-ment |
with, by |
ом, ем |
ами, ями |
For example, друг (friend) and лицо (face):
II Declension, masculine |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence |
– |
Друг всегда поможет. A friend will always help. |
Друзья всегда помогут. Friends will always help. |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
Увидеть друга. To see a friend. |
Увидеть друзей. To see friends. |
Genitive |
Posse-ssion Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
У него нет друга. He has no friend. |
У него нет друзей. He has no friends. |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
Позвонить другу. To call a friend. (In the meaning of calling by phone) |
Позвонить друзьям. To call friends. |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
Гулять с другом. To walk with a friend. |
Гулять с друзьями. To walk with friends. |
The 3rd declension.
II Declension, neutral |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence |
– |
Лицо человека. A face of a human. |
Лица людей. Faces of people. |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
Помнить лицо. To remember a face. |
Помнить лица. To remember faces. |
Genitive |
Posse-ssion Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
Выражение лица. Expression of a face. (Facial expression) |
Выражение лиц. Expression of faces. |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
По лицу текут слезы. Tears flow down the face. |
По лицам текут слезы. Tears flow down the faces. |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
Вспомнить о лице. Call the face to memory. |
Вспомнить о лицах. Call the faces to memory. |
Instrumental |
Means or Instru-ment |
with, by |
Людям с таким лицом суждено быть актерами. People with such a face are made to be actors. |
Людям с такими лицами суждено быть актерами. People with such faces are made to be actors. |
III Declension |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence (Who?) |
– |
– |
и |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
– |
и, ей |
Genitive |
Possession Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
и |
ей |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
и |
ам, ям |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
и |
ах, ях |
Instrumental |
Means or Instrument |
with, by |
ю |
ами, ями |
The examples of the nouns of the 3rd declensions are мышь (mouse) and ночь (night):
III Declension |
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Case |
Function |
Preposi-tions |
Singular |
Plural |
Nominative |
Subject of the sentence (Who?) |
– |
Белая мышь. White mouse. Черная ночь. Black night. |
Белые мыши. White mice. Черные ночи. Black nights. |
Accusative |
Direct object |
– |
Бояться мышь. To be afraid of a mouse. Любить ночь. To love the night. |
Бояться мышей. To be afraid of mice. Любить ночи. To love the nights. |
Genitive |
Possession Negation Quantity |
of, some, a little, a lot of, no |
Усики мыши. Whiskers of a mouse. Создание ночи. Creature of the night. |
Усики мышей. Whiskers of mice. Создания ночи. Creatures of the night. |
Dative |
Indirect object, Recipient |
to |
Дать сыр мыши. To give cheese to a mouse. Дать шанс этой ночи. To give a chance to this night. |
Дать сыр мышам. To give cheese to mice. Дать шанс этим ночам. To give a chance to these nights. |
Prepositional |
Object of speech or thoughts, Location |
about, in, at |
Говорить о мыши. To talk about a mouse. Думать о ночи. To think about the night. |
Говорить о мышах. To talk about mice. Думать о ночах. To think about the nights. |
Instrumental |
Means or Instrument |
with, by |
Жить с мышью. To live with a mouse. Гулять ночью. To walk at night.* |
Жить с мышами. To live with mice. Гулять ночами. To walk at nights. |
* Russian words meaning parts of the day (утром — in the morning, днем – in the afternoon, вечером – in the evening, ночью – at night) and seasons (летом – in summer, зимой – in winter, весной – in spring, осенью – in autumn) are oficially adverbs of time. However, their stems are nouns and they have exactly the same endings as nouns in prepositional case, that’s why I present them as such. I believe that it is better than to learn them by heart as adverbs without any logical explanation.