Russian noun declension: a table for every noun type

Gender: read it from the ending

Gender from the ending

Read gender off the nominative singular ending: a consonant → masculine (стол, дом), -а/-я → feminine (книга, неделя), -о/-е → neuter (окно, море). This covers the vast majority of nouns; nouns in -ь are the exception.

• новый стол, большая книга, синее море — a new table (m), a big book (f), a blue sea (n)

Nouns in -ь: masculine or feminine

A noun ending in soft sign -ь can be masculine (день, словарь, гость) or feminine (ночь, дверь, тетрадь) — the ending alone does not tell you. Two clues: nouns in -ость, and every noun with ь after ж, ш, ч, щ (ночь, мышь), are feminine. Learn the gender of the rest with the word.

• новый словарь — a new dictionary (m)
• тёмная ночь — a dark night (f)

Masculine nouns: стол, музей, студент

студент names a person, so its accusative is the genitive: студента, студентов.

Masculine nouns: стол, музей, конь

Masculine nouns ending in a consonant (стол), -й (музей) or soft -ь (конь). Genitive -а/-я, prepositional -е. Accusative singular follows animacy: inanimate = nominative (стол), animate = genitive (коня).

• стол, стола, столу, стол, столом, о столе — table through the six singular cases

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Neuter nouns: окно, поле

Neuter nouns in -о and -е

Neuter nouns in -о/-е. Nominative = accusative (окно, окно). Nominative plural is -а/-я and often stressed differently (о́кна). The -мя subtype (имя, время) inserts -ен-: имени, времени.

• окно, окна, окну, окно, окном, об окне — window through the six singular cases
• Сколько сейчас времени? — What time is it now?

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Nouns in -а and -я: книга, неделя

Nouns in -а and -я

Feminine (and some masculine, e.g. папа, дядя) nouns in -а/-я. Watch the paired accusative -у/-ю vs instrumental -ой/-ей, and the genitive -ы (hard) / -и (soft, and after к, г, х, ж, ш, ч, щ): книги, not книгы.

• мама, мамы, маме, маму, мамой, о маме — mum through the six singular cases

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Feminine nouns in -ь: тетрадь

Feminine nouns in -ь

Feminine nouns ending in -ь. Genitive, dative and prepositional singular all end in -и; the instrumental is the distinctive -ью (ночью). Do not confuse with masculine soft -ь nouns (конь), which belong to the 2nd declension.

• ночь, ночи, ночи, ночь, ночью, о ночи — night through the six singular cases

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Forming the plural

The plural in -ы / -и

Hard masculine and feminine nouns form the nominative plural in -ы (стол → столы, газета → газеты); soft stems and nouns in -я/-ь take -и (музей → музеи, неделя → недели, дверь → двери).

• На улице стоят машины. — There are cars in the street.
• В городе есть музеи. — There are museums in the city.

The neuter plural in -а / -я

Neuter nouns swap their singular ending for -а (окно → окна, слово → слова) or -я for soft stems (море → моря, поле → поля). Stress often shifts between singular and plural (окно́ → о́кна).

• Все окна открыты. — All the windows are open.
• Это трудные слова. — These are difficult words.

и, not ы, after к, г, х, ж, ш, щ, ч

Spelling rule 1: ы is never written after к, г, х or the sibilants ж, ш, щ, ч — write и instead. So stems in these letters form the plural in -и regardless of hardness: книга → книги, ручка → ручки, нож → ножи, карандаш → карандаши.

• У меня новые книги. — I have new books.
• Где мои карандаши? — Where are my pencils?

The genitive plural

The genitive plural: -ов, -ей or no ending

Genitive plural, the hardest slot: masculine hard stems take -ов (столов), stems in -й take -ев (музеев), stems in -ь or a sibilant take -ей (словарей, ключей), and so do neuter soft stems such as поле, море (полей, морей); neuter nouns in -ие end in -ий (здание → зданий). Feminine -а and neuter -о take a ZERO ending, often with an inserted vowel (книг, окон, девочек); -я nouns usually take a zero ending too, written with ь (недель), or with й after a vowel (лекция → лекций). Feminine nouns in -ь take -ей (ночей, тетрадей).

• В классе двадцать студентов. — There are twenty students in the class.
• У неё нет книг. — She has no books.

Vowels that come and go: отец → отца, окно → окон

Many nouns have a 'fleeting' о or е that appears in the nominative singular but drops when an ending is added: отец → отца, день → дня, сон → сна. The reverse happens in the zero-ending genitive plural, where the vowel is inserted: окно → окон, сестра → сестёр.

• Мой отец — врач; я жду отца. — My father is a doctor; I'm waiting for my father.
• В доме много окон. — There are many windows in the house.

Nouns that never change

кофе, метро, такси: nouns that never change

Borrowed nouns ending in -о, -е, -и, -у (метро, кафе, такси, меню) and many foreign names do NOT decline — the same form serves all six cases. Agreement still shows the case on any adjective: в новом кафе, о моём пальто.

• Я еду на метро. — I am going by metro.
• Мы сидели в уютном кафе. — We were sitting in a cosy café.

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questions

How many noun declensions does Russian have?

Three, in the numbering Russian schools use: the 1st holds nouns in -а/-я (книга, неделя, and a few masculine ones such as папа), the 2nd masculine nouns ending in a consonant, -й or -ь (стол, музей) and neuter nouns in -о/-е (окно, поле), the 3rd feminine nouns in -ь (тетрадь). Some textbooks number them differently, so these charts name each type by its gender and ending.

Is a Russian noun in -ь masculine or feminine?

It can be either — словарь and день are masculine, тетрадь and ночь feminine — so learn the gender with the word. Nouns in -ость are feminine, and so are nouns with ь after ж, ш, ч or щ (ночь, мышь).

Why is the genitive plural of окно 'окон'?

Neuter nouns in -о and feminine nouns in -а take no ending in the genitive plural, and when the stem then ends in two consonants a vowel is often inserted between them: окно → окон, сестра → сестёр, ручка → ручек. Not always, though (карта → карт, место → мест), and книга → книг needs none.

more charts

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