The Genitive Case in Russian

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the Genitive Case.

There are many things to learn in this lesson, so to make things easier, I divided it into five parts:

How to put nouns into the Genitive Case;
Pronouns in the Genitive Case;
When and how to use the Genitive Case;
Adjectives in the Genitive Case;
Possessive Pronouns in the Genitive Case.

If you already know any of these topics, you can go straight to the subject you need to learn by clicking on the titles above.

In this lesson, we won't discuss the Genitive Case in the plural because there is already a complete lesson about this subject here at Mighty Languages.

Genitive Case in the Plural

Nouns in the Genitive Case

If you don't know yet what cases are, they are basically special endings that we add to a word to indicate its function in a sentence.

In the Genitive Case, for example:

The word мама becomes мамы.
The word брат becomes брата.
The word платье becomes платья.

There are several situations in which you are going to use the Genitive Case in Russian, but first let's learn what endings you will have to add to nouns when using this case.

Changing, or declining, a noun is actually very simple. You just have to memorize a few rules.

The rules you are about to learn depend a lot on the gender of the noun. If you would like to learn more about gender in Russian, you can check out our complete lesson about it clicking here.

To make things easier, I divided all the rules into four patterns:

1) Letter А

Add А to masculine nouns that end in a consonant:

друг – друга (friend)
брат – брата (brother)
стол – стола (table)
кот – кота (cat)

When neuter nouns end in О, replace О with А:

письмо – письма (letter)
лето – лета (summer)
окно – окна (window)

In this lesson, I use many Russian words as examples. If you come across any word you don't know yet, you can look it up in our online dictionary.

In our dictionary, you will find all the forms of nouns, verbs and adjectives, as well as multiple examples.

2) Letter Я

When masculine nouns end in Й or Ь, replace these letters with Я:

музей – музея (museum)
герой – героя (hero)
учитель – учителя (teacher)
строитель – строителя (builder)

When neuter nouns end in Е, replace Е with Я:

платье – платья (dress)
поле – поля (field)

3) Letter Ы

When nouns end in А, replace А with Ы, regardless of the gender:

мама – мамы (mother)
газета – газеты (newspaper)
папа – папы (dad)

There is one important detail in this situation. You will add И instead of Ы if the last consonant of the word is г, к, х, ж, ч, ш or щ.

For example:

книга – книги (book)
рука – руки (hand)
вилка – вилки (fork)
удача – удачи (luck)
крыша – крыши (roof)

This spelling rule is used in many other situations in Russian, not only in the Genitive Case. Therefore, memorizing these 7 letters will be very useful.

As you practice, you will also notice that it's much easier to pronounce the letter И than the letter Ы after these consonants.

4) Letter И

When feminine nouns end in Ь or Я, replace these letters with И:

кровать – кровати (bed)
ночь – ночи (night)
неделя – недели (week)

And those are all the patterns we have in the Genitive Case.

Pronouns in the Genitive Case

Pronouns (я, ты, мы, etc.) also have special forms in the Genitive Case:

Here are some examples:

У меня есть собака.
(I have a dog)
У нас есть квартира.
(We have an apartment)
Это для тебя.
(This is for you)
Его нет дома.
(He is not at home)
Её не было на работе.
(She wasn’t at work)

It’s important to note that we add the letter Н to the beginning of the pronouns его, её and их when they’re used after prepositions:

У него есть собака.
(He has a dog)
У неё есть машина.
(She has a car)
У них есть дети.
(They have kids)
Этот подарок для неё.
(This gift is for her)
Мы уехали без них.
(We left without them)

In the above examples, у, для and без are all prepositions.

Now let's take a look at when we use the Genitive Case in Russian.

When and how to use the Genitive Case

We use the Genitive Case mainly in 6 situations:

To indicate possession;
To indicate quantity;
After measure words;
To indicate part of something;
After the word нет;
After specific prepositions.

Let's go over each of these situations.

1) To indicate possession

Have you noticed that, in English, when we want to say that someone is the owner of something, we use an apostrophe plus S?

In Russian, we express this idea by using the owner in the Genitive Case.

Here are some examples:

книга мальчика
(the boy's book)
тетрадь Маши
(Masha's notebook)
машина мужа
(the husband's car)

Note that it’s always the possessor that takes the Genitive Case (мальчика, Маши, мужа) and that, unlike in English, the possessor comes after the possessed object.

2) To indicate quantity

Nouns that come after numbers are used in the Genitive Case. For example:

два друга
(two friends)
четыре человека
(four people)
три ручки
(three pens)

After the numbers 2, 3 and 4, we use the Genitive Singular. After the rest of the numbers, we use the Genitive Plural.

Keep in mind that we use the Genitive Singular not only when the numbers 2, 3 and 4 are used on their own, but also when they appear at the end of another number:

22 года
(22 years)
34 студента
(34 students)
42 градуса
(42 degrees)

There are a few exceptions to this rule, though. After the numbers 12, 13 and 14, we use the Genitive Plural:

12 студентов
(12 students)
14 городов
(14 cities)
13 уроков
(13 lessons)

You might find all these rules very confusing, but don’t get frustrated. It’s not necessary to memorize all of them at once. As you learn Russian, you will pick up many of these patterns and be able to use them naturally.

We also use the Genitive Case after quantifiers. Here are the most common of them:

много (a lot/many)
мало (little/few)
несколько (several/a few)
сколько (how many/how much)
немного (a little/some)
достаточно (enough)
больше (more)
меньше (less)

Let’s take a look at a few examples:

много воды
(a lot of water)
мало соли
(little salt)
сколько сахара
(how much sugar)
мало детей
(few kids)
сколько часов
(how many hours)
несколько студентов
(a few students)

Probably you noticed that the endings of the nouns in the last three examples (детей, часов, студентов) are a little bit different from the ones we’ve just learned. That's because these nouns are plural and we need to use other endings in the Genitive Plural.

3) After measure words

We also use the Genitive Case after measure words, such as:

чашка (cup)
тарелка (plate)
бутылка (bottle)
кусок (slice)
литр (liter)

For example:

чашка чая
(a cup of tea)
литр молока
(a liter of milk)

4) To indicate part of something

In English, when we are talking about an indefinite quantity or about part of something, we usually add the word some before the noun.

In Russian, however, you don't need to add any word. Using the noun in the Genitive Case is enough.

For example:

Он попил молока.
(He drank some milk)
Она поела торта.
(She ate some cake)

5) After the word НЕТ

We use the Genitive Case with the word нет to say that something or someone doesn’t exist or is not in a particular place:

Дома нет воды.
(There is no water in the house)
Здесь нет света.
(There is no light here)
В деревне нет школы.
(There is no school in the village)
В холодильнике нет молока.
(There is no milk in the fridge)
Собаки здесь нет.
(The dog isn’t here)
Папы нет дома.
(Dad isn’t at home)

We also use the Genitive Case with the phrases не было and не будет:

Дома не было воды.
(There was no water in the house)
Дома не будет воды.
(There will be no water in the house)
Папы не было дома.
(Dad wasn’t at home)
Виктора не будет в офисе завтра
(Victor won’t be in the office tomorrow)

6) After specific prepositions

After certain prepositions, you always have to use the Genitive Case.

This part may also seem complicated, but keep in mind that you don't have to memorize all the prepositions at once. Instead, try to learn them slowly as you practice your Russian.

The most common prepositions used with the Genitive Case are:

без (without)
для (for)
кроме (except)
вместо (instead of)
из (from)
с (from)
от (from)
у (by)
вокруг (around)
напротив (opposite)
внутри (inside)
до (before)
после (after)
около (near)
возле (near)

Here are some examples:

после урока
(after the lesson)
из магазина
(from the shop)
без телефона
(without the phone)
напротив дома
(opposite the house)
около реки
(near the river)
у окна
(by the window)

And those are the main situations in which you use the Genitive Case. Now, let's take a look at the genitive endings of adjectives.

Adjectives in the Genitive Case

Russian adjectives also change when used in the Genitive Case:

для нового дома
(for the new house)
после трудного дня
(after a difficult day)
возле новой школы
(near the new school)

Note that the ending of the adjective depends on the gender of the noun it describes.

Adjectives with masculine nouns

1) Replace the endings ЫЙ and ОЙ with ОГО:

новый телефон – нового телефона
(a new phone)
большой дом – большого дома
(a big house)
молодой человек – молодого человека
(a young person)

2) Replace the ending ИЙ with ЕГО:

синий карандаш – синего карандаша
(a blue pencil)
хороший брат – хорошего брата
(a good brother)
горячий шоколад – горячего шоколада
(hot chocolate)

Note that when the last consonant of the adjective is К or Х, the adjective takes the ending ОГО instead of ЕГО:

русский человек – русского человека
(a Russian person)
тихий вечер – тихого вечера
(a quiet evening)
маленький ребёнок – маленького ребёнка
(a little child)

Adjectives with neuter nouns

Neuter adjectives take the same endings as masculine adjectives.

1) Replace the ending ОЕ with ОГО:

новое платье – нового платья
(a new dress)
большое окно – большого окна
(a big window)
тихое море – тихого моря
(a quiet sea)

2) Replace the ending ЕЕ with ЕГО:

хорошее лето – хорошего лета
(a good summer)
синее небо – синего неба
(a blue sky)
летнее платье – летнего платья
(a summer dress)

Adjectives with feminine nouns

1) Replace the ending АЯ with ОЙ:

новая квартира – новой квартиры
(a new apartment)
русская девушка – русской девушки
(a Russian girl)
большая комната – большой комнаты
(a big room)

Note that when the last consonant of the adjective is ч, ш, щ, ж and ц and the last syllable is not stressed, the adjective takes the ending ЕЙ instead of ОЙ:

свежая капуста – свежей капусты
(a fresh cabbage)
горячая вода – горячей воды
(hot water)
хорошая сумка – хорошей сумки
(a good purse)

2) Replace the ending ЯЯ with ЕЙ:

зимняя ночь – зимней ночи
(a winter night)
синяя футболка – синей футболки
(a blue T-shirt)
поздняя попытка – поздней попытки
(a late try)

Possessive Pronouns in the Genitive Case

Here are the possessive pronouns in the Genitive Case in Russian:

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
my	моего	моей	моего	моих
your	твоего	твоей	твоего	твоих
his	его	его	его	его
her	её	её	её	её
our	нашего	нашей	нашего	наших
your	вашего	вашей	вашего	ваших
their	их	их	их	их