Russian/Grammar/Genitive case
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[edit] Nouns
Genitive case masculine and neuter nouns usually end in а. For masculine nouns ending in a consonant, add а at the end. E.g., стол (table) becomes стола. For masculine nouns ending in й, change й to я. For neuter nouns, change the о or е to а.
Genitive case feminine nouns usually change the а ending to ы. E.g., лампа (lamp) becomes лампы. The exceptions are if the word ends in я or ь, or for the 7-letter spelling rule, change я or ь to и.
[edit] Signal words
These words precede the genitive case:
- of
- some
- no, or other negation words
- any
- numbers
- comparison, e.g., "older"
[edit] Genitive case plural nouns
Genitive case plural nouns drop the vowel at the end. Thus feminine nouns drop the а and neuter nouns drop the о or е. Masculine nouns stay as they are (ending in a consonant). "Soft ending" feminine words change the я to ь (which sounds like you dropped the vowel ending).
[edit] Adjectives
Masculine and neuter adjectives form the genitive case the same way: change the ending to ого. This is pronounced "ovo" (because it sounds more masculine than "ogo"!).
The exceptions are masculine words ending in й or ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending unstressed, change to его (pronounced "yehvo").
Feminine adjectives change the ending to ой (rhymes with "boy"). The exceptions are feminine words ending in й or ь, or for the 5-letter spelling rule with the ending unstressed, change to ей (pronounced "yay").
[edit] Personal Pronouns
Genitive case is also used for saying you have something, or you don't have something. To say that you have something, start with У (means "by" or "next to"). Then change the pronoun (я, ты, вы, etc.) according to the table. In other words, Russians don't say "Ivan has a dacha," but rather say "By Ivan has dacha."
| English | Nominative | Prepositional | Genitive |
| what | что ("shto") | о чём (about what? "o chyom") | |
| who | кто ("keh-to") | о ком (about who? "o kom") | у кого (who has? "oo kovo") |
| I | Я ("yah") | oбо мне (about me, "o mnyeh") | у меня (I have, "oo mnyah") |
| you (informal) | ты ("tee") | о тебе (about you, "o tyehbyeh") | у тебя (you have, "oo tyehbyah") |
| he | он ("on") | о нём (about him, "o nyom") | у него (he has, "oo nyeh-vo") |
| she | она ("ona") | о ней (about her, "o nyay") | у неё (she has, "oo nyeh-yo") |
| we | мы ("mee") | о нас (about us, "o nas") | у нас (we have, "oo nas") |
| you (form. plur.) | вы ("vee") | о вас (about y'all, "o vas") | у вас (you have, "oo vas") |
| they | они ("onee") | о них (about them, "o neech") | у них (they have, "oo neech") |
[edit] Есть: Expressing Ownership, Existence, and Presence
[edit] Нет: Expressing Nonexistence and Absence
[edit] Possessive Pronouns
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| Whose? | чьего ("che-yevo") | чьей ("che-yay") | чьего ("che-yevo") | |
| My | моего ("mo-yevo") | моей ("mo-yay") | моего ("mo-yevo") | |
| Your (informal) | твоего ("tvo-yevo") | твоей ("tvo-yay") | твоего ("tvo-yevo") | |
| His | его ("yehvo") | его ("yehvo") | его ("yehvo") | его ("yehvo") |
| Her | её ("yeh-yo") | её ("yeh-yo") | её ("yeh-yo") | её ("yeh-yo") |
| Our | нашего ("nashevo") | нашей ("nashay") | нашего ("nashevo") | |
| Your (formal or plural) | вашего ("vashevo") | вашей ("vashay") | вашего ("vashevo") | |
| Their | их ("eehch") | их ("eehch") | их ("eehch") | их ("eehch") |
The masculine and neuter forms of genitive case possessive pronouns are the same.
"His," "her," and "their" (его, её, ех) are the same in all genders and cases.
[edit] Demonstrative Pronouns
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| This | этого ("etovo") | этей ("et-yay") | этого ("etovo") |
[edit] Demonstrative Adjectives
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| That | того ("tovo") | той ("toy") | того ("tovo") | тех ("tyehch") |
[edit] Some numbers
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
| One | одного ("odnovo") | одной ("odnoy") | одного ("odnovo") | |
| Third | третьего ("tret-yevo") | третьей ("tret-yay") | третьего ("tret-yevo") |
[edit] Examples of genitive case
"Brother of my wife" брат моей жены брат is nominative моей жены is genitive
"Wife of my brother" жена моего брата жена is nominative моего брата is genitive
"Roof of my house" крыша моего дома крыша is nominative моего дома is genitive
"He drank some water" Он выпил воды выпил is past tense воды is genitive Note that "some" is dropped because the genitive case indicates that he drank only part of the water.
"My brother is older than your sister" Мой брат старше твоей сестры
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