Dictionary of Spoken Russian/Russian-English/Section 10

§10. DECLENSION OF NOUNS

First Declension. Nouns of the First Declension have the following endings. Our example shows the stem [yam-] "pit."

Sn	[-a]	яма
a	[-u]	яму
g	[-i]	ямы
d	[-je]	яме
i	[-oy]	ямой
l	[-je]	яме
Pn	[-i]	ямы
g	[-]	ям
d	[-am]	ямам
i	[-amji]	ямами
l	[-ax]	ямах

The is has also a longer form in [-oyu]: ямою, рукою or рукой.

Most nouns of this declension are F. A few, denoting persons, are M: судья "judge." All those that denote only male persons are M: дядя "uncle." A few that denote persons are M or F, according to the sex: сирота "orphan": этот сирота "this (male) orphan," эта сирота "this (female) orphan." Adjectives that modify a M noun of this declension in as form have the gs form (as though the noun belonged to declension 2): ns мой дядя "my uncle," gs моего дяди, as он встретил моего дядю "he met my uncle."

Special Features of Spelling. On stems that end in [iy] the ds and ls ending is written -и: армия, stem [armjiy-], dls армии. When the inserted vowel in the gp comes before й and is unstressed, it is written и: гостья "female guest," stem [gostjy-], gp гостий.

Irregularities. Some nouns of this declension which stress the endings in the S forms, nevertheless shift the stress to the stem in the as form; in the dictionary we indicate this by giving the as: голова a голову: this means that the gs is головы, dls голове, is головой.

Quite a few nouns of this declension have irregularities of stress in the np or the gp or both; in all such cases we give the np, gp, and dp; the ip and lp go like the dp: голова, a голову, P головы, голов, головам.

Irregular forms occur especially in the gp; the dictionary cites them: война, gp войн (no vowel insertion); басня, gp -сен (hard [n] instead of soft [nj] at the end of the gp form).

Second Declension. Nouns of the Second Declension have the following endings. As an example we take the stem [fakt-] "fact."

Sn	[-]	факт
g	[-a]	факта
d	[u]	факту
i	[-om]	фактом
l	[-je]	факте
Pn	[-i]	факты
g	[-of]	фактов
d	[-am]	фактам
i	[-amji]	фактами
l	[-ax]	фактах

The as of inanimates is like the ns; the as of animates is like the gs: я знаю этот факт "I know this fact," but, with человек "person, man," я знаю этого человека "I know this person, this man."

All nouns in this declension are M.

Special Features. On stems that end in [iy] the ls ending is written with -и: гений "genius," ls гении.

Stems ending in a soft consonant other than й, and stems ending in ж, ш have the ending [-ey] in the gp: руль, gp рулей; автомобиль, gp автомобилей; нож, gp ножей; карандаш, gp карандашей; but музей, gp музеев; край, gp краёв.

Irregular Forms. Some nouns fail to insert a vowel in the ns form: блеск, рубль. Some insert a vowel other than the usual one: сон, gs сна, np сны, and so on. This appears sufficiently in the ns form given in the dictionary.

Most nouns that denote divisible substances have a second gs form with the ending [-u], used when a part or quantity of the substance is involved: чай "tea," gs чая (as, цвет чая "the color of tea"), but стакан чаю "a glass of tea," дайте мне чаю "give me some tea." Some other nouns have this second gs form in special phrases: берег "shore, bank," gs берега, but с берегу "down from the bank." This is indicated in the dictionary thus: чай /g -ю/.

Some nouns have a second ls form with the ending [-u], always stressed. This form is used after one or both of the prepositions в and на, either always or optionally or in special phrases: лес "wood, forest," ls лесе (о лесе "about the woods"), but в лесу "in the woods." This is indicated by the phrase between slanted lines: лес, P -а, -ов /в лесу/.

Some nouns have the np ending [-а] and stress the P endings; for these we give the np and gp: город, P -а, -ов; адрес (P -а, -ов), optionally regular.

Third Declension. Nouns of the Third Declension have the following endings; all except ns, np, and gp are the same as in the Second Declension. As an example we take the stem [bljud-] "dish."

Sn	[-o]	блюдо
g	[-a]	блюда
d	[u]	блюду
i	[-om]	блюдом
l	[-je]	блюде
Pn	[-a]	блюда
g	[-]	блюд
d	[-am]	блюдам
i	[-amji]	блюдами
l	[-ax]	блюдах

Note that the ns ending when unstressed sounds like the gs and np: [bljuda]; the difference appears under stress: окно "window," gs окна. Similarly after soft consonants: ns поле "field" [polja] sounds just like gs поля, but ns ружьё [ružyo] "gun" differs from gsружья [-žya]. After soft consonants and ж, ц, ш, the ns ending [-o], being written е, looks like the ls, though the two differ in sound: ns поле, сердце [polja, sjerca], but ls в поле, в сердце [f polji, f sjerci]: compare ns лицо, ls на лице.

The nouns of this declension are N, except for some few special types: домище, M "huge house," домишко M "mean little house," серко M "gray horse," подмастерье "apprentice," and some family names, which are optionally indeclinable: Шевченко. The a forms are like the n: Он встретил Шевченко "he met Shevchenko."

Special Features. On stems ending in [-iy] the ls ending is written with и: знание "knowledge," ls знании.

Stems ending in consonant plus [y] optionally have ls [-i]. In the gp these have the inserted vowel spelled и when it is unstressed: предместье, ls предместьи or предместье, gp предместий.

Stems ending in a soft consonant other than [y] or [šč] have the ending [-ey] in the gp: поле, gp полей. Note especially that in this declension stems in [šč] do not take the ending [-ey] in the gp: кладбище, gp кладбйщ.

Irregular Forms. Irregularities are indicated as in the other declensions. In many nouns the P forms have different stress from the S: слово, P словa; письмо, P письма. When, in addition, there is some irregularity in the gp, we give also the dp form: окно, P окна, окон, окнам.

Fourth Declension. Nouns of the Fourth Declension have the following endings. Our example is the stem [kravatj-] "bedstead, bed."

Sn	[-]	кровать
g	[-i]	кровати
d	[-i]	кровати
i	[-yu]	кроватью
l	[-i]	кровати
Pn	[-i]	кровати
g	[-ey]	кроватей
d	[-am]	кроватям
i	[-amji]	кроватями
l	[-ax]	кроватях

The ns is written with the sign ь even after ж, ч, ш, щ, where it is superfluous: вещь "thing"; this distinguishes these nouns in spelling from those of the second declension. All the stems end in a soft consonant or in [š, ž].

The nouns of this declension have the as like the ns. All are F, except for a few irregular N words with ns in -я: имя "name"; also, there is one M, путь "way, road"; it has is [-om]: путём.

Irregular Forms. Some of the ns forms lack an inserted vowel: жизнь; these also insert no vowel in the is: жизнью [žiznjyu]. Only a few insert [o] in the ns and is: рожь, gdls ржи, is рожью.

Some nouns which do not stress the S endings have a second locative form with stress on the ending [-i], used like the second locative forms of the second declension: грязь "dirt," gdls грязи, but в грязи "in the dirt, all covered with dirt." The dictionary indicates this by giving the phrase between slant lines: грязь /в грязи/.

Two nouns, [matj'rj-] "mother" and [doč'rj-] "daughter," drop the last syllable in the ns: мать, gdls матери, is матерью.

The few N nouns drop the last syllable and take the ending [-a] in the ns: [imjonj-] "name," ns имя, gdls имени; they have is [-om]: именем, and a P stem with hard [n] and stress on the endings: np имена, gp имён, dp именам; similarly the old-fashioned word дитя "child," gdls дитяти, is дитятею, no P forms.