Noun Irregularities 1. The Genitive II. There is a small group of nouns, mostly referring to food, which use the suffix -y for the Genitive Singular. Not all nouns referring to food take this Genitive II ending, so you will have to memorize those that do.
The Genitive II (-y) NomSg Genitive Gloss сахар сахар-у sugar рис рис-у rice табак табак-у tobacco сыр сыр-у cheese чай ча-ю tea шоколад шоколад-у chocolate
2. The Prepositional II. The second Prepositional case is marked by an (always) accented ending -y. However, this ending is not used with all the prepositions requiring the Prepositional case but only with the prepositions на and в. It is not used with the preposition o or any other preposition governing the Prepositional case. So one would say я видел его в саду 'I saw him in the garden' but мы говорили о саде 'we talked about the garden'.
Prepositional II (accented -y) NomSg Prep II Gloss пол на полу on the floor сад в саду in the garden лес в лесу in the woods угол на/в углу on/in the corner мост на мосту on the bridge Дон на Дону on the Don Крым в Крыму in the Crimea край на краю on the edge ряд на ряду in a line год в прошлом году last year порт в порту in port
3. Masculine Plurals on -a. The ending -a was originally a Dual Number ending, marking two objects when all Russian nouns had Singular, Dual, and Plural forms. For that reason, almost all masculine nouns which come in pairs (eyes, horns, banks of rivers) use this ending. Now, however, it is not only a wide-spread Nominative Plural ending, it is often attached to new words entering the language, so it is productive. Here are a few common nouns that it is used with.
Nominative Plural on -a NomSg Plural Gloss дом дома houses поезд поезда trains дом дома addresses город города cities цвет цвета flowers лес леса forests вечер вечера evenings берег берега coasts, banks голос голоса voices рог рога horns глаз глаза eyes номер номера (journal) issues доктор доктора doctors профессор профессора professors учитель учителя teachers
4. Masculine Nouns with Plurals in -ья. Nouns which take -ья as an ending are, fortuntely, few in number. Remember, however, that if a noun takes this ending in the Nominative Plural and the ending is accented, the Genitive Plural will be -ей (remove the soft sign); if the ending is not accented, the Genitive Plural ending will be -ьев.
Plurals on -ья NomSg NomPl Gloss Genitive брат братья brothers братьев стул стулья chairs стульев лист листья leaves листьев перо перья feathers перьев дерево деревья trees деревьев звено звенья links звеньев
муж мужья husbands мужей друг друзья friends друзей сын сыновья sons сыновей
5. Masculine Nouns with the Singular Suffix -ин. There is also a subregular set of nouns with a singular suffix that disappears in the plural. Moreover, the Nominative Plural ending for these nouns is -e and the Genitive Plural ending is zero, i. e. no ending at all.
Nouns with Singular on -ин Singular NomPl GenPl Gloss англичанин англичане англичан Englishman гражданин граждане граждан citizen северянин северяне северян northener южанин южане южан southerner киевлянин киевляне киевлян Kievite
Otherwise, these nouns decline normally in the singular and plural.
6. Russian Family Names. Finally, you must keep in mind that Russian family names decline slightly different from other nouns in that they take mixtures of noun and adjective endings.
Russian Family Names on -ов & -ин Case Masculine Feminine Plural Именительный Горбачёв Горбачёва Горбачёвы Винительный Горбачёва Горбачёву Горбачёвых Родительный Горбачёва Горбачёвой Горбачёвых Дательный Горбачёву Горбачёвой Горбачёвым Предложный Горбачёве Горбачёвой Горбачёвых Творительный Горбачёвым Горбачёвой Горбачёвыми Notice the following. In the masculine, all the endings are noun endings except in the Instrumental. In the Feminine, all the endings are adjectival except for the Nominative and Accusative. In the Plural, all endings are adjectival except the Nominative.
