Russian declension
Russian declension is elaborate and complex. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, demonstratives, most numbers, ordinals and other particles are declined for two grammatical numbers (singular and plural), three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and six grammatical cases (see below). There are several paradigms for each declension with numerous irregular forms.
Nouns
Nominal declension is subject to six cases – nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional – in two numbers (singular and plural), and absolutely obeying grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Up to ten additional cases are identified in linguistics textbooks,[1][2][3] although all of them are either incomplete (do not apply to all nouns) or degenerate (appear identical to one of the six simple cases). The most recognized additional cases are locative (в лесу, в крови, в слезах), partitive (чаю, сахару, коньяку), and several forms of vocative (Господи, Боже, отче). The adjectives, pronouns, and the first two cardinal numbers further vary by gender. Old Russian also had a third number, the dual, but it has been lost except for its use in the nominative and accusative cases with the numbers two, three and four (e.g. два стула [dvɐ ˈstulə], "two chairs", now reanalyzed as genitive singular).
Russian noun cases often replace the usage of prepositions in Indo-European languages.[4] Their usage can be summarised as:
- Nominative – the “subject” case
- Accusative – the “object” case
- Genitive – corresponding to the possessive case or “of + (noun)”
- Dative – corresponding to “to + (noun)"
- Instrumental – denoting an instrument used in an action
- Prepositional – used with many common prepositions, such as “in”, “on” etc.
There are no articles, neither definite or indefinite (such as the, a, an in English), in the Russian language. The sense of a noun is determined from the context in which it appears. That said, there are some means of expressing whether a noun is definite or indefinite. They are:
- The use of a direct object in the genitive instead of the accusative in negation signifies that the noun is indefinite, compare: "Я не ви́жу кни́ги" ("I don't see a book" or "I don't see any books") and "Я не ви́жу кни́гу" ("I don't see the book").
- The use of the numeral one sometimes signifies that the noun is indefinite, e.g.: "Почему́ ты так до́лго?" - "Да так, встре́тил одного́ дру́га, пришло́сь поговори́ть" ("Why did it take you so long?" - "Well, I met one [=a] friend and had to talk").
- Word order may also be used for this purpose, compare "В ко́мнату вбежа́л ма́льчик" ("Into the room rushed a boy") and "Ма́льчик вбежа́л в ко́мнату" ("The boy rushed into the room").
- The plural form may signify indefiniteness: "Вы мо́жете купи́ть э́то в магази́нах" ("You can buy this in shops") vs. "Вы мо́жете купи́ть э́то в магази́не" ("You can buy this in the shop").
The category of animacy is relevant in Russian nominal and adjectival declension.[5][6] Specifically, the accusative has two possible forms in many paradigms, depending on the animacy of the referent. For animate referents (sentient species, some animals, professions and occupations), the accusative form is generally identical to the genitive form (genitive-accusative syncretism). For inanimate referents (simple lifeforms, objects, states, notions), the accusative form is identical to the nominative form (genitive-nominative syncretism). This principle is relevant for masculine singular nouns of the second declension (see below) and adjectives, and for all plural paradigms (with no gender distinction). In the tables below, this behavior is indicated by the abbreviation N or G in the row corresponding to the accusative case.
In Russian there are three declensions:
- The first declension is used for feminine nouns ending with -а/-я and some masculine nouns having the same form as those of feminine gender, such as па́па papa or дя́дя uncle; also there are common-gender nouns like задира teaser which are masculine or feminine depending on the person they refer to.
- The second declension is used for most masculine and neuter nouns.
- The third declension is used for feminine nouns ending in ь.
There are also a group of several irregular "different-declension nouns" (Russian: разносклоняемые существительные), consisting of a few neuter nouns ending in -мя (e.g. время "time") and one masculine noun путь "way". However, these nouns and their forms have sufficient similarity with feminine third declension nouns that some scholars such as Litnevskaya[7] consider them to be non-feminine forms of this declension, as written in the tables below.
Nouns ending with -ий, -ия, -ие (not to be confused with substantivated adjectives) are written with -ии instead of -ие in Prepositional (as this ending is never stressed, there is no difference in pronunciation): тече́ние - в ни́жнем тече́нии реки́ "streaming - in lower streaming of a river". But if words в течение and в продолжение are representing compound preposition meaning "while, during the time of", they are written with -е: в тече́ние ча́са "in a time of an hour". For nouns ending in -ья, -ье, or -ьё, using -ьи in the Prepositional (where endings of some of them are stressed) is usually erroneous, but in poetic speech it may be acceptable (as we replace -ии with -ьи for metric or rhyming purposes): Весь день она́ лежа́ла в забытьи́ (F. Tyutchev).
First declension
Most first-declension nouns are feminine, some masculine. The same endings apply for both genders.
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| Nominative | -а | -я | -ия | -ы1 | -и | -ии | ||
| Accusative | -у | -ю | -ию | N or G | ||||
| Genitive | -ы1 | -и | -ии | - | -ь | -ий | ||
| Dative | -е | -ам | -ям | -иям | ||||
| Instrumental | -ой2 | -ей3 | -ией | -ами | -ями | -иями | ||
| Prepositional | -е | -ии | -ах | -ях | -иях | |||
- After a sibilant 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.
Examples: рабо́та - a work/job, ба́ня - a bathhouse, кни́га - a book, ли́ния - a line
Note: In Instrumental case of singular number you can also meet -ою and -ею endings instead of -ой and -ей.
| 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 | ||
| Dative | рабо́те | ба́не | кни́ге | рабо́там | ба́ням | кни́гам | ли́ниям | |||
| Instrumental | рабо́той | ба́ней | кни́гой | ли́нией | рабо́тами | ба́нями | кни́гами | ли́ниями | ||
| Prepositional | рабо́те | ба́не | кни́ге | ли́нии | рабо́тах | ба́нях | кни́гах | ли́ниях | ||
Second declension - masculine nouns
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 | |||
| Dative | -у | -ю | -ию | -ам | -ям | -иям | ||||
| Instrumental | -ом | -ем3 | -ием | -ами | -ями | -иями | ||||
| Prepositional | -е | -ии | -ах | -ях | -иях | |||||
Notes:
- After a sibilant (ж, ч, ш)[8] or a velar (г, к, or х) consonant, и is written. And а for some words (глаз — глаза, доктор — доктора, etc.).
- After a sibilant, ей is written.
- After a soft consonant, ё is written when stressed; е when unstressed.
Examples
| Singular | Plural | |||||||||
| Nominative | фи́льм | писа́тель | геро́й | коммента́рий | фи́льмы | писа́тели | геро́и | коммента́рии | ||
| Accusative | писа́теля | геро́я | писа́телей | геро́ев | ||||||
| Genitive | фи́льма | коммента́рия | фи́льмов | коммента́риев | ||||||
| Dative | фи́льму | писа́телю | геро́ю | коммента́рию | фи́льмам | писа́телям | геро́ям | коммента́риям | ||
| Instrumental | фи́льмом | писа́телем | геро́ем | коммента́рием | фи́льмами | писа́телями | геро́ями | коммента́риями | ||
| Prepositional | фи́льме | писа́теле | геро́е | коммента́рии | фи́льмах | писа́телях | геро́ях | коммента́риях | ||
Second declension - virtually entirely neuter nouns
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Nominative | -о1 | -е2 | -а | -я | ||
| Accusative | N or G | |||||
| Genitive | -а | -я | - | -й / -ей4 | ||
| Dative | -у | -ю | -ам | -ям | ||
| Instrumental | -ом1 | -ем2 | -ами | -ями | ||
| Prepositional | -е | -е3 | -ах | -ях | ||
- 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 (<span title="diminitive from дом 'house'">доми́шко); the only masculine noun ending in -е in this declension (подмасте́рье).
Examples ме́сто (n) – a place, мо́ре (n) – a sea, зда́ние (n) – a building
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| Nominative | ме́сто | мо́ре | зда́ние | места́ | моря́ | зда́ния | ||
| Accusative | ||||||||
| Genitive | ме́ста | мо́ря | зда́ния | мест | море́й | зда́ний | ||
| Dative | ме́сту | мо́рю | зда́нию | места́м | моря́м | зда́ниям | ||
| Instrumental | ме́стом | мо́рем | зда́нием | места́ми | моря́ми | зда́ниями | ||
| Prepositional | ме́сте | мо́ре | зда́нии | места́х | моря́х | зда́ниях | ||
Third declension
The third declension is mostly for feminine nouns, with some masculine and neuter.
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | |||
| Nominative | -ь | -мя / дитя́ | путь | -и | -мена / де́ти | пути | ||
| Accusative | N or G | -мена / дете́й | пути́ | |||||
| Genitive | -и | -мени / дитяти | пути́ | -ей | -мён(-мян) / дете́й | путе́й | ||
| Dative | -ям1 | -менам / де́тям | путя́м | |||||
| Instrumental | -ью | -менем / дитятей | путём | -я́ми1 (ьми́) | -менами / детьми́ | путями́ | ||
| Prepositional | -и | -мени / дитяти | пути́ | -ях1 | -менах / де́тях | путя́х | ||
- 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 | |||
| Dative | костя́м | мыша́м | имена́м | |||||
| Instrumental | ко́стью | мы́шью | и́менем | костя́ми | мыша́ми | имена́ми | ||
| Prepositional | ко́сти | мы́ши | и́мени | костя́х | мыша́х | имена́х | ||
Irregular plural forms
There are various kinds of irregularities in forming plurals. Some words have an irregular plural form, but a few use suppletion, being substituted by a different root altogether. Historically, some of these irregularities come from older declensional patterns that have become mostly obsolete in modern Russian.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Change of root/suppletion | |
| ребёнок (m) – (child) | де́ти |
| челове́к (m) – (man, human) | лю́ди |
| ёнок → я́та, for animals' children | |
| ребёнок (m) – (boy) | ребя́та |
| телёнок (m) – (calf) | теля́та |
| волчо́нок (m) – (wolf cub) | волча́та |
| Old imparisyllabic nouns (gets a suffix) | |
| чу́до (n) – (miracle) | чудеса́ |
| не́бо (n) – (sky) | небеса́ |
| мать (f) – (mother) | ма́тери |
| дочь (f) – (daughter) | до́чери |
| сын (m) – (son) | сыновья́ (also сыны́ in certain cases) |
| кум (m) – (godfather) | кумовья́ |
| Remnants of the dual number | |
| коле́но (n) – (knee) | коле́ни |
| плечо́ (n) – (shoulder) | пле́чи |
| у́хо (n) – (ear) | у́ши |
| ве́ко (n) – (eyelid) | ве́ки |
| я́блоко (n) – (apple) | я́блоки |
| Plural in -ья/ья́ | |
| брат (m) – (brother) | бра́тья |
| брус (m) – (baulk, timber) | бру́сья |
| граф (m) – (count) | гра́фы/графья́ |
| гроздь (f) – (bunch) | гро́здья |
| де́верь (m) – (brother-in-law) | деверья́ |
| де́рево (n) – (tree) | дере́вья |
| дно (n) – (bottom) | до́нья |
| друг (m) – (friend) | друзья́ |
| звено́ (n) – (link) | зве́нья |
| зять (m) – (son-in-law) | зятья́ |
| клин (m) – (wedge) | кли́нья |
| клок (m) – (shred, scrap) | кло́чья |
| князь (m) – (prince) | князья́ |
| кол (m) – (stake) | ко́лья |
| ко́лос (m) – (ear of a plant) | коло́сья |
| крыло́ (n) – (wing) | кры́лья |
| лист (m) – here: (leaf) | ли́стья1 |
| муж (m) – here: (husband) | мужья́ |
| перо́ (n) – (feather) | пе́рья |
| поле́но (n) – (log) | поле́нья |
| по́лоз (m) – (runner, coluber) | поло́зья/по́лозы |
| помело́ (n) – (broom) | поме́лья |
| прут (m) – (twig) | пру́тья |
| собра́т (m) – (confrere, fellow) | собра́тья |
| струп (m) – (scab) | стру́пья |
| стул (m) – (chair) | сту́лья |
| сук (m) – (branch) | су́чья |
| ши́ло (m) – (awl) | ши́лья |
| шу́рин (m) – (brother-in-law) | шурья́/шу́рины |
| -но / -а́ | |
| су́дно (n) – here: (ship) | суда́ |
| Loses a suffix | |
| цвето́к (m) – (flower) | цветы́ (flowers, as a collective noun) / цветки́ (several individual flowers) |
| хозя́ин (m) – (owner, host) | хозя́ева |
| сосе́д (m) – (neighbor) | сосе́ди |
- If the word лист has the lexical meaning "paper", then its declension is normal (лист → листы). If it has lexical meaning "leaf (of a tree)", its declension is лист → листья.
Undeclined nouns
Some nouns (such as borrowings from other languages, abbreviations, etc.) are not modified when they change number and case. This appears mostly when their gender appears to have no ending in any declension which suits the final part of the word: these are masculine names on vowels different from -а/-я, female names on hard consonants (names like Триш "Trish" won't take the soft sign to go into third declension like native мышь "mouse"). Most borrowed words ending in Russian in э/е, и, о, у and stressed а are not declined:[9] кафе, пальто (French: paletot), Дюма etc. Most abbreviations are undeclined (one exception is вуз). Many people also think that Georgian surnames on -ия like Данелия (Georgian: დანელია) shouldn't be declined since they are originally something like Russian possessive genitives[citation needed].
Person names
Traditionally, full Russian name consists of a person name (и́мя - given name or first name), patronym (о́тчество - father's name as middle name) and a family name (фами́лия - surname or last name). All of these words have the same grammatical gender as biological one. Slavic, as well as Greek, Roman, Jewish and other person names of European or Semitic origin loaned centuries ago have gender-specific versions of respective patronyms. To produce a patronym, suffixes -вич- and -вн- are used with final vowel addition or modification: -о for hard consonant (Петро́вич/Петро́вна ⇐ son/daughter of Пётр), -ье for -ий (Григо́рьевич/Григо́рьевна ⇐ Григо́рий), and -е for other cases (Матве́евич/Матве́евна ⇐ Матве́й, И́горевич/И́горевна ⇐ И́горь). Some person names also have versions for both males and females (Алекса́ндр - Алекса́ндра, Евге́ний - Евге́ния).
Additionally, Slavic names have short forms, usually meant for affectionate calls (Ива́н - Ва́ня, А́нна - А́ня; equivalent of Johny, Annie, etc.). Short forms by themselves can form "reemerging" Vocative case (sometimes called Neo-vocative); it's used for calling a familiar person, substituting Nominative singular by removing last vowel (Артём - Тёма - Тём, О́льга - О́ля - Оль). For this reason Neo-vocative is not possible for male names, that can't produce short forms with a final vowel (including some popular ones: Влади́мир, Вита́лий, И́горь). Likewise, there is Neo-vocative form for close relatives: мать - ма́ма - мам (mother - mommy - mom), оте́ц - па́па - пап (father - daddy - dad). When replacing Nominative plural (used for always plural nouns), it can be used for collective calls: ребя́та ("guys, lads") - ребя́т, девча́та ("gals") - девча́т.
Most family names in Russia are also gender-specific (shown below in male/female pairs) and declinable like most words (including plural form to denote a married couple or a whole family, as "The Smiths"). They can be divided in these categories (sorted by occurrence):
- Russian origin, gender-specific, declinable as nouns: -о́в/-о́ва (unstressed for names four of more syllables long), -ев/-ева, -ёв/ёва, -и́н/-ина́ (sometimes stressed for names two syllables long);
- Russian origin, gender-agnostic, indeclinable:[10] -ы́х, -и́х;
- Ukrainian origin, gender-specific, declinable as adjectives: -ый/-ая, -о́й/-а́я;
- Ukrainian or Belorussian origin, gender-agnostic, indeclinable: -е́нко (mostly stressed), -ко́;
- Ukrainian or Belorussian origin, gender-agnostic, declinable as masculine nouns: -у́к, -ю́к, -и́к, -е́ц, etc.;
- Other Slavic origin, gender-specific, declinable as adjectives: -ский/-ская, -цкий/-цкая;
- Other Slavic or non-Slavic origin, gender-agnostic, declinable as masculine nouns: -о́вич, -е́вич, -ер, -ман, -берг, etc.
Examples:
| male | female | family or couple | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин | Валенти́на Ива́новна Гага́рина | Гага́рины | |
| Genitive | Юрия Алексеевича Гагарина | Валентины Ивановны Гагариной | Гагариных | |
| Dative | Юрию Алексеевичу Гагарину | Валентине Ивановне Гагариной | Гагариным | |
| Accusative | Юрия Алексеевича Гагарина | Валентину Ивановну Гагарину | Гагариных | |
| Instrumental | Юрием Алексеевичем Гагариным | Валентиной Ивановной Гагариной | Гагариными | |
| Prepositional | Юрии Алексеевиче Гагарине | Валентине Ивановне Гагариной | Гагариных |
Here male name is composed of 2nd declention nouns, but there are exceptional endings for Instrumental (patronym: -ем, not -ом; family name: -ым, not -ом). Female name is in 1st declention, but ending -ой is used for a family name in all oblique cases. Plural follows adjectival declention, except that Nominative is short -ы.
Adjectives
A Russian adjective (имя прилагательное) is usually placed before the noun it qualifies, and it agrees with the noun in case, gender, and number. With the exception of a few invariant forms borrowed from other languages, such as беж 'beige' or хаки 'khaki',[note 1] most adjectives follow one of a small number of regular declension patterns, except for some which provide difficulty in forming the short form. In modern Russian, the short form appears only in the nominative and is used when the adjective is in a predicative role; formerly (as in the bylinas) short adjectives appeared in all other forms and roles, which are not used in modern language, but are nonetheless understandable to Russian speakers as they are declined exactly like nouns of the corresponding gender.[11]
Adjectives may be divided into three general groups:
- Qualitative (ка́чественные) — denote quality of the object; only they are usual to have degrees of comparison.
- Relational (относи́тельные) — denote some sort of relationship; unlikely to act as a predicate or have a short form.
- Possessive (притяжа́тельные) — denote belonging to a specific subject; have some declensional peculiarities.
Adjectival declension
The pattern described below suits for full forms of most adjectives, except possessive ones; it is also used for substantivated adjectives as учёный and for adjectival participles.
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | -ый | -ое | -ая | -ые | ||
| Accusative | N or G | -ую | N or G | |||
| Genitive | -ого | -ой | -ых | |||
| Dative | -ому | -ым | ||||
| Instrumental | -ым | -ыми | ||||
| Prepositional | -ом | -ых | ||||
- 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. It is sometimes called the хорошее rule.
- Accusative in the masculine gender and in plural depends on animacy, as for nouns.
- Instrumental feminine ending -ой/ей has alternative form -ою/ею for all adjectives, which has only stylistical difference.
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 | |||
| Dative | но́вому | но́вым | ||||
| Instrumental | но́вым | но́выми | ||||
| Prepositional | но́вом | но́вых | ||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | си́ний | си́нее | си́няя | си́ние | ||
| Accusative | N or G | си́нюю | N or G | |||
| Genitive | си́него | си́ней | си́них | |||
| Dative | си́нему | си́ним | ||||
| Instrumental | си́ним | си́ними | ||||
| Prepositional | си́нем | си́них | ||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | высо́кий | высо́кое | высо́кая | высо́кие | ||
| Accusative | N or G | высо́кую | N or G | |||
| Genitive | высо́кого | высо́кой | высо́ких | |||
| Dative | высо́кому | высо́ким | ||||
| Instrumental | высо́ким | высо́кими | ||||
| Prepositional | высо́ком | высо́ких | ||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | хоро́ший | хоро́шее | хоро́шая | хоро́шие | ||
| Accusative | N or G | хоро́шую | N or G | |||
| Genitive | хоро́шего | хоро́шей | хоро́ших | |||
| Dative | хоро́шему | хоро́шим | ||||
| Instrumental | хоро́шим | хоро́шими | ||||
| Prepositional | хоро́шем | хоро́ших | ||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | большо́й | большо́е | больша́я | больши́е | ||
| Accusative | N or G | большу́ю | N or G | |||
| Genitive | большо́го | большо́й | больши́х | |||
| Dative | большо́му | больши́м | ||||
| Instrumental | больши́м | больши́ми | ||||
| Prepositional | большо́м | больши́х | ||||
Before 1917, adjectival declension looked quite different, at least in writing; for example, there were special feminine plural forms, as in French. In modern editions of classical poetry some elements of this system are still used if they are important for rhyme or metrics. A notable example is ending -ыя (bisyllabic) instead of -ой (monosyllabic) for genitive single female adjectives, which were considered bookish and deprecated even in the times of Alexandr Pushkin but were still used by him in lines such as «тайна брачныя постели» («Евгений Онегин», IV, L).[12]
Comparison of adjectives
Comparison forms are usual only for qualitative adjectives and adverbs. Comparative and superlative synthetic forms are not part of the paradigm of original adjective but are different lexical items, since not all qualitative adjectives have them. Few adjectives have irregular forms which are declined as usual adjectives: большой 'big' — больший 'bigger', хороший 'good' — лучший 'better'. Most synthetically derived comparative forms are derived by adding -ее or -ей to adjective stem: красный 'red' — краснее 'more red'; these forms are difficult to distinguish from adverbs, and probably they are adverbs.[11] Superlative synthetic forms are derived by adding suffix -ейш- or -айш- and additionally sometimes prefix наи-, or using special comparative form with наи-: добрый 'kind' — добрейший 'the kindest', большой 'big' — наибольший 'the biggest'.
Another way of comparison are analytical forms with adverbs более 'more' / менее 'less' and самый 'most' / наиболее 'most' / наименее 'least': добрый 'kind' — более добрый 'kinder' — самый добрый 'the kindest'. This way is rarely used if special comparative forms exists.
Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives are used in Russian to a less extent than in most other Slavic languages,[13] but are still in use. They answer the questions чей? чья? чьё? чьи? (whose?) and denote only animated possessors. Alternative for possessive adjectives are possessive genitives which are used much more commonly.[14] There are three suffixes to form them: -ов/ев, -ын/ин and -ий.
Suffix -ов/ев is used to form adjective from a word denoting single human which is masculine and ends on consonant; selection depends on if the stem hard or soft. Suffix -ын/ин is similar but is attached to feminine words or masculine ending in -а/я. Both types are more common in spoken language than in literary (though being acceptable in both styles) and generally are forms of kinship terms, given names and their diminutives:[13] мама — мамин 'mom's', отец — отцов 'father's', Саша — Сашин 'Sasha's' /for diminutives from both Alexandr and Alexandra/. Words of this type also are common as Russian surnames, like Пушкин (derived from пушка 'gun' which used to be a nickname).
Adjectives on -ов and -ин are declined via mixed declension: some of their forms are nominal, some are adjectival, and some are ambivalent.
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | ма́мин | ма́мино | ма́мина | ма́мины | ||
| Accusative | N or G | ма́мину | N or G | |||
| Genitive | ма́миного, ма́мина | ма́миной | ма́миных | |||
| Dative | ма́миному, ма́мину | ма́миным | ||||
| Instrumental | ма́миным | ма́миными | ||||
| Prepositional | ма́мином | ма́миных | ||||
Adjectives on -ий (speaking about suffix, not case ending; before vowels, this suffix deceases to single sound /j/ and is written as ь) are used for deriving adjectives mostly from animal species (in Old Russian language, this suffix derived possessive adjectives from plural possessors[14]): лиса 'fox' — лисий 'of a fox', 'likely for a fox'. Declension of such adjectives is nominal in nominative and accusative (except masculine and plural animated accusative) and adjectival for other forms.
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | ||||
| Nominative | ли́сий | ли́сье | ли́сья | ли́сьи | ||
| Accusative | N or G | ли́сью | N or G | |||
| Genitive | ли́сьего | ли́сьей | ли́сьих | |||
| Dative | ли́сьему | ли́сьим | ||||
| Instrumental | ли́сьим | ли́сьими | ||||
| Prepositional | ли́сьем | ли́сьих | ||||
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
| 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 | |||||
| Accusative | меня́ | тебя́ | его́ | её | нас | вас | их | себя́ | |||||
| Genitive | |||||||||||||
| Dative | мне | тебе́ | ему́ | ей | нам | вам | им | себе́ | |||||
| Instrumental | мной (мно́ю) |
тобо́й (тобо́ю) |
им | ей (ею) |
на́ми | ва́ми | и́ми | собо́й (собо́ю) | |||||
| Prepositional | мне | тебе́ | нём | ней | наc | вас | них | себе́ | |||||
- 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, 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 pronouns
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | э́тот | э́то | э́та | э́ти | тот | то | та | те | ||
| Accusative | N or G | э́ту | N or G | N or G | ту | N or G | ||||
| Genitive | э́того | э́той | э́тих | того́ | той | тех | ||||
| Dative | э́тому | э́тим | тому́ | тем | ||||||
| Instrumental | э́тим | э́тими | тем | те́ми | ||||||
| Prepositional | э́том | э́тих | том | тех | ||||||
Possessive adjectives and pronouns
Unlike English, Russian uses the same form for a possessive adjective and the corresponding possessive pronoun. In Russian grammar they are called possessive pronouns притяжательные местоимения (compare with possessive adjectives like Peter's = петин above). The following rules apply:
- Possessive pronouns agree with the noun of the possessed in case, gender, and number.
- The reflexive pronoun свой is used when the possessor is the subject of the clause, whatever the person, gender, and number of that subject.
- No non-reflexive exists for the 3rd person: the genitive of the personal pronoun is instead, i.e. его for a masc./neut. sing. possessor, её for a fem. sing. possessor and их for a plural possessor. But unlike other genitives used with a possessive meaning, in modern Russian these words are usually placed before the object of possession.
- Example of the difference between reflexive and non-reflexive pronouns:
- “Он лю́бит свою́ жену́ = He loves his (own) wife” while “Он лю́бит его́ жену́ = He loves his (someone else's) wife”.
- Unlike Latin where a similar rule applies for the third person only, Russian accepts using reflexives for all persons:
- “Люблю́ свою́ жену́ = I love my wife”
- “Люблю́ себя́ = I love myself”
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | мой | моё | моя́ | мои́ | твой | твоё | твоя́ | твои́ | свой | своё | своя́ | свои́ | |||
| Accusative | N or G | мою́ | N or G | N or G | твою́ | N or G | N or G | свою́ | N or G | ||||||
| Genitive | моего́ | мое́й | мои́х | твоего́ | твое́й | твои́х | своего́ | свое́й | свои́х | ||||||
| Dative | моему́ | мои́м | твоему́ | твои́м | своему́ | свои́м | |||||||||
| Instrumental | мои́м | мои́ми | твои́м | твои́ми | свои́м | свои́ми | |||||||||
| Prepositional | моём | мои́х | твоём | твои́х | своём | свои́х | |||||||||
- The ending -его is pronounced as -ево.
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | наш | на́ше | на́ша | на́ши | ваш | ва́ше | ва́ша | ва́ши | ||
| Accusative | N or G | на́шу | N or G | N or G | ва́шу | N or G | ||||
| Genitive | на́шего | на́шей | на́ших | ва́шего | ва́шей | ва́ших | ||||
| Dative | на́шему | на́шим | ва́шему | ва́шим | ||||||
| Instrumental | на́шим | на́шими | ва́шим | ва́шими | ||||||
| Prepositional | на́шем | на́ших | ва́шем | ва́ших | ||||||
- The ending -его is pronounced as -ево́.
Interrogative pronouns
| кто | что | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | кто | что (read: што) | |
| Accusative | кого́ (read: каво́) | ||
| Genitive | чего́ (read: чиво́) | ||
| Dative | кому́ | чему́ | |
| Instrumental | кем | чем | |
| Prepositional | ком | чём |
| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | чей | чьё | чья | чьи | |
| Accusative | N or G | чью | N or G | ||
| Genitive | чьего́ | чьей | чьих | ||
| Dative | чьему́ | чьим | |||
| Instrumental | чьим | чьи́ми | |||
| Prepositional | чьём | чьих | |||
- The ending -его is pronounced as -ево.
Numerals
Russian have several main classes of numerals (числи́тельные): cardinal, ordinal, collective, and fractional constructions. It also has other types of words, relative to numbers:
- multiplicative adjectives and compound nouns: еди́нственный - single (sole, unique), двойно́й - double, учетверённый - quadrupled, трёхкра́тный - three-times (also as repetition adjective), пятицили́ндовый - five-cylinder; однообра́зие - monotony, тро́йственность - triplicity, семибо́рье - heptathlon;
- multiplicative verbs: утро́ить/утра́ивать - triple, уполови́ни(ва)ть - halve (imp./perf. with/without -ва- suffix);
- multiplicative adverbs: вдвойне́ - doubly, впя́теро - five times (for compound adverbs: впя́теро быстре́е - 5 times faster), вполови́ну - half as;
- collective and repetition adverbs: втроём - three together; четы́режды - four times (with a verb for repeated action or a noun for repeatedly acquired state or title);
- two interrogative and negative adverbs: ско́лько? - how much/many?; ниско́лько - none (at all);
- counting-system, ordinal and partitive adjectives: двои́чный - binary, шестнадцатири́чный - hexadecimal; перви́чный - primary; тро́йственный (трёхча́стный) - three-sided (tripartite);
- two dual numerals: о́ба - both (masculine/neuter), о́бе - both (feminine); but no single word for "neither";
- numeric-pronominal, indefinite quantity words: ско́лько-то, ско́лько-нибудь - some, as much; не́сколько - few; (не)мно́го - (not) much/many; (не)ма́ло - (not a) little; много and мало are also used for compound words: малозна́чимость - small significance, многоу́ровневый - multilevel, малопоня́тно - vaguely (lit.: little clear);
- nouns for a number itself or an object defined by it (symbol, playing cards, banknote, transport route, etc.): едини́ца - number "1", unit; пятисо́тка - number "500" (all feminine); noun for masculine ноль (zero) is но́лик.
- multiple loaned numerals (also used as prefixes and first roots for compound words) from Greek, Latin and (for musical terminology) Italian;
Here are the numerals from 0 to 10:
| Cardinal Numbers | Ordinal Numbers (Nominative case, masculine) |
Collective Numbers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ноль or нуль (m.) | нулево́й | — |
| 1 | оди́н (m.), одна́ (f.), одно́ (n.), одни (pl.) (раз is used for counting; един- is used in some compound words) | пе́рвый | — |
| 2 | два (m., n.), две (f.) | второ́й | дво́е |
| 3 | три | тре́тий | тро́е |
| 4 | четы́ре | четвёртый | че́тверо |
| 5 | пять | пя́тый | пя́теро |
| 6 | шесть | шесто́й | ше́стеро |
| 7 | семь | седьмо́й | се́меро |
| 8 | во́семь | восьмо́й | (во́сьмеро)[note 2] |
| 9 | де́вять | девя́тый | (де́вятеро) |
| 10 | де́сять | деся́тый | (де́сятеро) |
Declension of cardinal numerals
Declension of numerals and numeral constructions in Russian is a complicated thing, sometimes difficult to do correctly even for native speakers.
Different Russian numerals have very different types of declension. The word оди́н (one) is declined by number, (in singular) gender and case. The word два (two) is declined by gender and case, all other numbers have only case to decline by. The words for 50, 60, 70, 80, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 900 are unique for Russian as declined not only with ending in their end, but also with part of word in their middle (since they are originally composed from two words): Nom. пять'деся́т (50) - Gen. пяти́десяти etc. (compare пять деся́тков - пяти́ деся́тков "five tens").
Compound number phrases are created without any unions: сто пятьдеся́т три ры́бы "153 fishes". All numerals are declined contemporary (in spoken language not always). If numeral is in Nominative or Accusative, ending of the noun is defined by the last numeral word (the least order, see examples below), but this may not be true for an adjective attached to this noun.[15]
Most numbers ending with "1" (in any gender: оди́н, одна́, одно́) require Nominative singular for a noun: два́дцать одна́ маши́на (21 cars), сто пятьдеся́т оди́н челове́к (151 people). Most numbers ending with "2", "3", "4" (два/две, три, четы́ре) require Genitive singular: три соба́ки (3 dogs), со́рок два окна́ (42 windows). All other numbers (including 0 and those ending with it) require Genitive plural: пять я́блок (5 apples), де́сять рубле́й (10 rubles). Genitive plural is also used for numbers ending with 11 to 14 and with inexact numerals: сто оди́ннадцать ме́тров (111 meters); мно́го домо́в (many houses). Nominative plural is used only without numerals: э́ти дома́ (these houses); cf. три до́ма (3 houses; G. sg.). These rules apply only for integer numbers.[16] For rational numbers see below.
In oblique cases, noun and number take both this case, except that the numbers ending with "thousand", "million", "billion" etc. (nouns: ты́сяча (f.), миллио́н (m.), миллиа́рд (m.)) in singular or in plural are regarded as nouns and always require Genitive case in plural: пятью́ ты́сячами (Instr.) маши́н (Gen.); cf. пятью́ маши́нами and пятью́ ты́сячами тремяста́ми маши́нами (all Instr.). Initial (leftmost) numeral "1" can be omitted in combinations (одна́) ты́сяча (ты́сяча и одна́ ночь - 1001 nights), (оди́н) миллио́н, etc.
Nouns со́тня ("approximately 100", f.) and па́ра ("pair", f.) can be declined and can form compound numerals: три со́тни (≈300), пять пар носко́в (5 pair of socks). Approximate numbers are colloquially formed by reversing word order, exchanging numeral and noun: мину́ты три (≈3 minutes). Ranges (hyphenated) are also possible: пять-шесть дней (5-6 days), дней пять-шесть (probably 5-6 days). The word ми́нус (minus) declines if standalone, but does not for negative numbers: минус три гра́дуса - minus three degrees (wrong: *минуса три градуса); however: три минуса - three minuses.
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | оди́н | одно́ | одна́ | одни́ | |
| Accusative | N or G | одну́ | N or G | ||
| Genitive | одного́ | одно́й | одни́х | ||
| Dative | одному́ | одни́м | |||
| Instrumental | одни́м | одни́ми | |||
| Prepositional | одно́м | одни́х | |||
| two | three | four | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m./n. | f. | ||||
| Nominative | два | две | три | четы́ре | |
| Accusative | N or G | N or G | N or G | ||
| Genitive | двух | трёх | четырёх | ||
| Dative | двум | трём | четырём | ||
| Instrumental | двумя́ | тремя́ | четырьмя́ | ||
| Prepositional | двух | трёх | четырёх | ||
| five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten | zero | both | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m./n. | f. | |||||||||||
| Nominative | пять | шесть | семь | во́семь | де́вять | де́сять | ноль | о́ба | о́бе | |||
| Accusative | N or G | N or G | N or G | N or G | N or G | N or G | N or G | N or G | ||||
| Genitive | пяти́ | шести́ | семи́ | восьми́ | девяти́ | десяти́ | ноля́ | обо́их | обе́их | |||
| Dative | нолю́ | обо́им | обе́им | |||||||||
| Instrumental | пятью́ | шестью́ | семью́ | восемью́ | девятью́ | десятью́ | нолём | обо́ими | обе́ими | |||
| Prepositional | пяти́ | шести́ | семи́ | восьми́ | девяти́ | десяти́ | ноле́ | обо́их | обе́их | |||
Dative, Instrumental and Prepositional cases for "zero" more often use нул- root instead of нол-. The numbers from 11 to 19 are: оди́ннадцать, двена́дцать, трина́дцать, четы́рнадцать, пятна́дцать, шестна́дцать, семна́дцать, восемна́дцать, девятна́дцать. They decline in the same way as 20 (два́дцать).
| 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | два́дцать | три́дцать | со́рок | пятьдеся́т | шестьдеся́т | се́мьдесят | во́семьдесят | девяно́сто | сто | |
| Accusative | ||||||||||
| Genitive | двадцати́ | тридцати́ | сорока́ | пяти́десяти | шести́десяти | семи́десяти | восьми́десяти | девяно́ста | ста | |
| Dative | ||||||||||
| Instrumental | двадцатью́ | тридцатью́ | пятью́десятью | шестью́десятью | семью́десятью | восьмью́десятью | ||||
| Prepositional | двадцати́ | тридцати́ | пяти́десяти | шести́десяти | семи́десяти | восьми́десяти |
| 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 | 600 | 700 | 800 | 900 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | две́сти | три́ста | четы́реста | пятьсо́т | шестьсо́т | семьсо́т | восемьсо́т | девятьсо́т | |
| Accusative | |||||||||
| Genitive | двухсо́т | трёхсо́т | четырёхсо́т | ||||||
| Dative | двумста́м | трёмста́м | четырёмста́м | пятиста́м | шестиста́м | семиста́м | восьмиста́м | девятиста́м | |
| Instrumental | двумяста́ми | трёмяста́ми | четырьмяста́ми | пятьюста́ми | шестьюста́ми | семьюста́ми | восьмьюста́ми | девятьюста́ми | |
| Prepositional | двухста́х | трёхста́х | четырёхста́х | пятиста́х | шестиста́х | семиста́х | восьмиста́х | девятиста́х |
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ты́сяча | ты́сячи | |
| Accusative | ты́сячу | ||
| Genitive | ты́сячи | ты́сяч | |
| Dative | ты́сяче | ты́сячам | |
| Instrumental | ты́сячью, ты́сячей| ты́сячами | ||
| Prepositional | ты́сяче | ты́сячах |
| 51 meters | 6 944 meters | 32 197 meters | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | пятьдеся́тn=a оди́нn=a метрn=a | шестьn=a ты́сячG девятьсо́тn=a со́рокn=a четы́реn=a ме́траg | три́дцатьn=a двеn=a ты́сячиg стоn=a девяно́стоn=a семьn=a ме́тровG |
| Accusative | |||
| Genitive | пяти́десяти́g одного́g ме́траg | шести́g тысячG девятисо́тg сорока́g четырёхg ме́тровG | тридцати́g двухg ты́сячG стаg девяно́стаg семи́g ме́тровG |
| Dative | пяти́десяти́d одному́d ме́труd | шести́d ты́сячамD девятиста́мd сорока́d четырёмd ме́трамD | тридцати́d двумd ты́сячамD стаd девяно́стаd семи́d ме́трамD |
| Instrumental | пятью́деся́тью́i одни́мi ме́тромi | шестью́i ты́сячамиI девятьюста́миi сорока́i четырьмя́i ме́трамиI | тридцатью́i двумя́i ты́сячамиI стаi девяно́стаi семью́i ме́трамиI |
| Prepositional | пяти́десяти́p одно́мp ме́треp | шести́p ты́сячахP девятиста́хp сорока́p четырёхp ме́трахP | тридцати́p двухp ты́сячахP стаp девяно́стаp семи́p ме́трахP |
Note for superscript case notations: small letters denote singular forms, capitals denote plural. Метр is masculine (important for "51"); both метр and тысяча are inanimate (important for Accusative).
Collective numerals
Collective numerals (Russian: собирательные числительные) are used in Russian (and many other Slavic languages) instead of usual cardinal ones in specific lexical and semantic situations. Russian collective numerals are different from the cardinal numerals in that the former emphasize ‘the totality’ or ‘the aggregate as a whole’, while the latter – ‘the individuated quantity’.[17] Only numerals from 2 (двое) to 7 (семеро) are actively used nowadays, while 8 to 10 are seldom used and 11–13 are not normative;[18] word оба (both) is also considered to be collective numeral.[17] In nominative and accusative, they always force the noun into genitive plural form (while their own accusative form is dependent from animacy of the noun): трое друзей на охоту пошли, вижу двоих мужчин, вижу двое саней. These numerals are seldom used in oblique cases, especially instrumental.[18] Here comes a brief table of cases of their usage:
| Usage | Number | Case | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandatory | 2–4 | Pluralia tantum nouns in nominative case[19] | двое ножниц, трое похорон | With paired objects, construction with classifier пара are preferred: две пары ножниц |
| Normative | 5–7 | пятеро прений | ||
| Likely mandatory | 3, 4 | Masculine (and common-gender as masculine and mixed-gender) nouns in -а/-я[15] | трое мужчин, о четверых судьях | |
| Preferred | 2–7 | Masculine and neutral nouns people, including common-gender (except presuming feminine group)[19] | трое друзей, пятеро мальчиков, шестеро мужчин | Collective numerals are used to emphasize the cohesiveness of the group, while cardinal (пять мальчиков etc.) shows more individuality. In oblique cases, there is no preference to collective numerals. |
| Colloquial | Feminine nouns denoting people[19] | трое подруг | ||
| Unlikely used | Terms of high rank[19] | два министра (instead of *двое министров), два короля (instead of *двое королей) | ||
| Prohibited | First names[15][18] | три Коли, not *трое Коль | ||
| Preferred | 2–7 | With дети (children), especially about number in a family[19] | У неё двое детей | 8–10 are seldom used; in oblique cases is optional |
| Preferred | 2–7 | With masculine[17] substantivated adjectives[18] | двое рабочих, пятеро учёных | Mostly in nominative |
| Preferred | 2–7 | With ребята (children), внук][19] | пятеро ребят, трое внуков | |
| Colloquial | 2–7 | With animal's cubs in -ата/ята[19] | пятеро щенят | |
| Highly likely | 2–7 (2–10) |
As noun denoting people group[19] or with personal pronoun[17] | Нас было четверо. Шестеро бились против десятерых |
Dobrushina and Panteleeva (2008),[18] having analyzed usage of два/двое in a Russian corpus, summarize cases of usage of collective numerals in the following common rules:
- Collective numerals denote number of persons likely to have collective behaviour, i.e., existence in groups, not one by one: боевики́ 'militants', жи́тели 'inhabitants', пассажи́ры 'passengers', солда́ты 'soldiers'.
- Collective numbers are used while denoting several persons to emphasize unity, cohesion of this group.
- Contexts of nominal groups with collective numerals have properties showing their individualization and dedication: referentness, empathy, definiteness; they are unlikely to be out of focus.
Ordinal numerals
Ordinal numbers have grammatically no differences with adjectives. While forming them, upper three orders of numerals are agglutinated to nearest dividing power of 1000, which results in constructing some of the longest natural Russian words, e.g. стапятидесятитрёхты́сячный (153,000-th), while the next is сто пятьдеся́т три ты́сячи пе́рвый (153,001-st). In the latter example, only the last word is declined with noun.
Fractions
Fractions are formed as: (how much parts), expressed by cardinal number in case of the phrase, plus (of how numerous parts), expressed by ordinal number; the construction is formed as like it were related to word часть "part" (grammatically feminine), which is usually omitted. Noun to such construction always comes in Genitive single, also as like it belonged to word часть: девяно́сто две пятидеся́тых то́нны "92/50 tons". If an integer precedes a fraction, it is bound to it usually with union и, while the noun remains in Genitive: два и три восьмы́х оборо́та "2 3/8 turns" (оборо́т is masculine, so the numeral is два, not *две).
Fractions 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 have proper names (nouns): полови́на, треть and че́тверть, which are used instead of ordinal numbers. They are also often added with preposition с, while form of noun appears to be related to the integer part rather than to the fraction: де́сять с че́твертью [Instr.] оборо́тов [Gen.] "10 1/4 turns". Prefixes пол- (with Genitive) and полу- (with Nominative) are used for "half" of something: пол-лимо́на (half of a lemon), полчаса́ (half an hour; but: полови́на ча́са); полуме́сяц (half moon, crescent). Words with пол- are not declined, and there is a set of rules for writing with or without dash.
For "1 1/2" there is a special word полтора́ (feminine полторы́; in oblique cases полу́тора; requires Genitive): полтора́ я́блока - 3/2 apples. It can be used with larger numbers (полторы́ ты́сячи - 1 500, полтора миллио́на - 1 500 000) and, for approximate values, with smaller numbers (полтора деся́тка - ≈15, полторы со́тни - ≈150). There was also now-outdated form полтора́ста for exactly 150. As with other single-word numerals, it's possible to form nouns and multiplicative adjectives, associated with "1.5": полу́торка (old truck with 1.5 tonnes of payload capacity), полтора́шка (1.5 liter plastic bottle for beverage); полу́торный (something of 150% amount).
To read decimal fractions,[note 3] convert them to simple ones: 2,71828 = 2+71828/100000 - два и се́мьдесят одна́ ты́сяча восемьсо́т два́дцать во́семь стоты́сячных. After integer in such cases is often used word це́лая (substantiated adjective "full, integer", which also refers to omitted word часть and thus is feminine): 3,14 - три це́лых (и) четы́рнадцать соты́х (union is often omitted); word це́лая can appear also in naming non-decimal simple fractions: 2 3/8 - две це́лых три восьмы́х. Zero before comma is often read: 0,01 = 0+1/100 - ноль це́лых одна́ со́тая (shortly: одна́ со́тая). Informally, decimal fractional part can be read more conveniently as sequence of simple digits and numbers: два и семь-восемна́дцать-два́дцать во́семь. Same method is used to read long numerals unrelated to a noun (phone numbers, address indexes, etc.), grouping two or three digits: 123406 - сто два́дцать три четы́реста шесть, двенадцать три́дцать четы́ре ноль шесть (forced ноль added to avoid missing digit).
Count form
Russian also has so-called "count form" (счётная форма) for use by nouns in numerical phrases instead of Genitive plural (for some words mandatory, for others optional), mainly with units of measure (especially derived from names): во́семь бит (8 bits; not *би́тов), шестна́дцать байт (16 bytes), две́сти два́дцать вольт (220 volts), пять килогра́мм(ов) (5 kilograms; optional). But: коли́чество ба́йтов (amount of bytes), изба́виться от ли́шних килогра́ммов (get rid of excess kilograms).
Сount form also exists for paucal numbers (1.5, 2, 3 and 4); usually it coincides with Genitive singular, but has notable exceptions with stressed endings: два часа́ (2 hours), but середи́на ча́са (middle of an hour); два́дцать два шара́ (22 balls), but объём ша́ра (volume of the ball); три ряда́ (3 rows/lines), but вы́йти из ря́да (step out of the line); четы́ре шага́ (4 steps), but полша́га (half a step). Полчаса́ (half an hour) is additional exception; other nouns with пол- prefix does not have stressed -а ending.
Some nouns totally change for their Genitive plural forms: 4 го́да, but 5 лет (years); 3 челове́ка, but 30 люде́й/челове́к (people; optional). Сount forms for adjectives and nouns with adjectival declension after numerals require Genitive plural and Nominative plural: два лу́чших (G. pl.) игрока́ (G. sg.) "2 best players"; три зелёные (N. pl.) прямы́е (N. pl.) "3 green strait_lines", but три зелёных (G. pl.) прямы́х (G. pl.) штриха́ (G. sg.) "3 green strait strokes".
Notes
- ^ These are adjectives and not adverbs, since they can't modify verbs.
- ^ Collective numerals for more than 7 are seldom used.
- ^ In Russia, as in most world countries, comma is used as decimal separator.
References
- ^ Template:Ru icon Zaliznyak A. A. "Русское именное словоизменение." Moscow.: Science, 1967
- ^ Template:Ru icon Uspenskij V. A. "К определению падежа по А. Н. Колмогорову // Бюллетень объединения по проблемам машинного перевода." Issue. 5. Moscow., 1957 online copy
- ^ Template:Ru icon Klobukov E. V. "Семантика падежных форм в современном русском литературном языке. (Введение в методику позиционного анализа)" Moscow: Moscow State University Press, 1986.
- ^ "The Cases of Russian Nouns". Master Russian. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
- ^ Frarie, Susan E. (1992). Animacy in Czech and Russian. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- ^ Klenin, Emily (1983). Animacy in Russian: a new interpretation. Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers.
- ^ Е. И. Литневская. Русский язык. Краткий теоретический курс для школьников БСМП «ЭЛЕКС-Альфа», 2000
- ^ Le Fleming, Svetlana & Kay, Susan E. Colloquial Russian: the Complete Course for Beginners, Routledge, 2007 ISBN 978-0-415-42702-9, page25
- ^ Несклоняемые существительные // Словарь-справочник лингвистических терминов. Изд. 2-е. — М.: Просвещение. Розенталь Д. Э., Теленкова М. А.. 1976.
- ^ Russian: Калакуцкая Л.П. Склонение фамилий и личных имен в русском литературном языке / Ред. Ф.П. Филин, В.В. Иванов. — М.: Наука, 1984
- ^ a b Современный русский язык / Под ред. В. А. Белошапковой.
- ^ Сорокин. "Значение Пушкина в развитии русского литературного языка". Retrieved 15 February 2014.
- ^ a b Corbett, Greville G. (June 1987). "The Morphology/Syntax Interface: Evidence from Possessive Adjectives in Slavonic" (PDF). Language. 2. 63: 11, 12. doi:10.2307/415658. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ a b Matasović, Ranko. Slavic Possessive Genitives and Adjectives from the Historical Point of View.
- ^ a b c Янко, Т. Е. (2002). Русские числительные как классификаторы существительных (PDF). Русский язык в научном освещении (in Russian). 1. Москва: 168–181.
- ^ Cubberley, Paul (2002). Russian: a linguistic introduction. p. 141.
- ^ a b c d Kim, Hyongsup (August 2009). "The structure and use of collective numeral phrases in Slavic: Russian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, and Polish" (pdf). University of Texas. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Добрушина, Н. Р.; Пантелеева С. А. (2008). "Собирательные числительные: коллектив как индивидуализация множественности". Slavica Helsingiensia. Инструменты русистики: корпусные подходы. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wade, Terence (2010). A Comprehensive Russian Grammar (3, revised ed.). John Wiley & Sons. pp. 221–225. ISBN 9781405136396.