1. What is the nominative case?
4. Topic quiz

What is the nominative case?

The nominative case in Russian is the only direct case of nouns, which is opposed to other (indirect) cases in meaning and syntactic functions. The nominative case expresses an independent, independent position of a noun in a speech construction (phrase or sentence).

The nominative singular form of nouns is initial form nouns in Russian.

Nouns in nominative case, examples: Snow dropped in November. Paris – capital France. Masha returned from school. Mother, make a pie. shines sun.

How to determine the nominative case?

Nouns in the nominative case answer questions – Who? What?(for example: jumped(who?) kitten is over(what?) talk), and also have special case endings.

Noun endings in the nominative case for different declensions presented in the table.

The use of nouns in the nominative case

In Russian, the nominative case in speech can be dependent or independent.

The independent nominative case can be used as:

• Subject (has a nominative meaning). Examples: The kettle boiled. The door slammed shut.
• The main member of the one-part nominative sentence(with nominative meaning) Examples: Evening. Silence. Twilight.
• Addresses (has a vocative meaning). Examples: Katya, wash the dishes. Children, hand over your notebooks..

The dependent nominative case can be used as:

• Nominal part of compound nominal predicate(has a predictive meaning). Examples: The end is the crown. Dnieper is a river.
• Applications (has the opposite value - the value of the additional message). Examples: He subscribes to a novel-newspaper. Associate Professor Vladislav Vinogradov read the report.

1. What is a genitive case?
4. Topic quiz

What is a genitive case?

Genitive case in Russian - oblique case, expressing the meaning of the definition of the subject (in combination with another noun), as well as subjective or object relations(combined with verbs and verbal nouns). Nouns in the genitive case answer questions – Whom?

What? and combined with suggestions - without, from, to, about, from, with, at, near, near,

Nouns in the genitive case, examples: teacher's diary, mulberry branch, reading a novel, not finding words, cleaning around the house, pouring from a jug.

How to determine the nominative case

To determine the genitive case, put to the noun case questions(Who? What?), and also highlight in the word case ending. The endings of nouns in the genitive case with examples are presented in the table.

Note! Nouns have 2 declensions male with a fixed stress during declension, the stress in the genitive case remains in the same position (examples: t about mouth, sh a rfa, in about age, chl e bca, dogov about ra).

The meaning of nouns in the genitive case

Meaning genitive in Russian depends on the context of use specific word in phrases and sentences:

• subjective meaning (arrival of guests, appearance of the hero, no ideas);
• object value (be afraid of the dark, ask for help, film presentation);
• Determinative value - can indicate belonging, definition or quantity, measure of an object (teacher's advice, wooden gazebo, Pushkin Theatre, bottle of milk).

In sentences, nouns in the genitive case can appear:

• Addition ( He is tired of work );
• Inconsistent definition ( She was given a bouquet colors .);
• circumstance (Lena returned from Moscow) .

There are six cases in Russian, which are used to agree on words in a sentence. If this language did not exist morphological category, then we would not be able to understand a single sentence, since it would not express any specific thought.

Of course, some languages ​​have fewer cases (for example, German has only four cases), and there are others in which the category of case is absent altogether (English). Each case is assigned its own form, and since the Russian language has a lot of word forms, it is very difficult for a foreigner to learn it. difficult task. let's consider instrumental case: questions, endings, prepositions. Let's start with what he says.

What does the instrumental case express?

There are five indirect cases in Russian (all except the nominative). The case we are considering also applies to them. If it is difficult to understand what the instrumental case is used for, then you can imagine the following picture: certain person commits specific action over some object: "I'm playing with dog".

In Russian, it would be logical to put these objects in the instrumental form. Thus, the action that the person performs is transferred to the object. There are also situations when the instrumental case is used to express the subject (person) who performs the action. This phenomenon is observed in passive structures. For example, "built us house".

Lots of linguistic phenomena hard to define without context. To reveal the peculiarity of a word, you need to put it in a specific speech situation- put in the offer. Most often, instrumental forms are clearly presented in the form of an object.

Instrumental endings

Every language has distinctive features that separate one linguistic phenomenon from another. And since the concept of "case" refers to morphology, the main way of expressing it is inflection, or the more familiar word for us - ending. With the help of endings, we can easily separate one case from another. It should be noted that the category of case is present only in nominal parts speech (noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun). The name in the instrumental case is expressed in different ways. The instrumental endings depend on the type of declension:

1st declension: -oy and -oy, -ey and -ey ( foot - foot; her - her).

2nd declension: -om, -em (window, sea).

3rd declension: -yu (salt).

Knowing how to distribute words by type of declension and what endings the instrumental has, you will never confuse it with any other.

Case prepositions

Prepositions are another parameter by which one or another case can be calculated. And they play a significant role in determining the forms of cases. The use of prepositions with a noun plays an explanatory function about the location of an object in space and about how it interacts with things around it or how they interact with it. The case we are considering using prepositions does not specify the location of objects, it most likely expresses the relationship of the object with environment. There are not so many prepositions that are used with the instrumental case, and it will not be difficult to learn them. This case is used with prepositions such as: with, before, under, behind, over(living with parents, facing a choice, hiding under the table, come after me, trouble loomed over the hero).

Instrumental Questions

The instrumental case, like any other, has its own questions, with the help of which we can determine it. Since remembering the questions of cases is not so difficult, it is with the help of them that we most often determine in which case a particular word is expressed. The case we are interested in answers questions by whom? how? (I work (by whom?) as a carpenter; I am fond of (by what?) literature). If it is difficult for you to remember the question of the instrumental case, then mentally say the question: "I create by whom? What?", You can do the same with any case. Then all your doubts will immediately be dispelled. Now let's consider the instrumental case further, we already know the questions.

When is the question "by whom?", and when - "by what?"

Even from the course of natural history, we all know perfectly well that the environment around us is divided into living and inanimate nature. We see the same in natural language. Nouns are also divided into words that express living and inanimate objects. In any case there is a question, which is answered by a "living" object, and which one is answered by a "non-living" one. So, in the instrumental case there are two questions: "by whom?" and "what?" The question "by whom?" is used exclusively for words that denote living objects, and the question "what?" - only inanimate. Usually in each case, the question that comes first is for a living object, and the second is for an inanimate one. And even schoolchildren do not have any special difficulties in using the question.

Semantic meanings

By semantics is meant the meaning that a single word or any other linguistic phenomenon can convey. Nominal parts of speech can express great amount semantic meanings, and instrumental makes them more distinct. This is its main purpose. What can the instrumental case express? Numbers, gender and other morphological indicators. Let's take a look at the most common semantic meanings instrumental case:

• Object (the food was prepared by the chef).
• Subject (children went with us).
• Device (work with your hands, twist with a screwdriver).
• Time (beautiful day).
• Means (draw with a pencil).
• Path (fly over the city).
• The standard of comparison (wolf howl).
• Cause (to have a sore throat).
• Characteristics (beautiful soul).

Accusative answers the questions "whom? what?" and is used in sentences and phrases only with verbs and its forms (participle and participle). The most common function of this case in Russian is the expression direct object actions: read a book, draw a picture and so on. What else can the accusative case mean, and how to distinguish it from the genitive? Read the article below!

What does fall mean?

The case that will be discussed in the article may have completely different meanings. For example:

• Accusative time will mark the time already committed action- Meet every Tuesday.
• The accusative quantity should be used to indicate the cost, when there is a reference to the quantitative side of the verbal action - "to cost a hundred rubles."
• A noun in the accusative case of measures will indicate a measure of time or space - "run three kilometers."
• The accusative object will call the object to which the action is directed - "throw the ball."
• The accusative of the result will designate an object that will be the result of some action - “sew a T-shirt”.

In order to determine the case in front of you without error, you need to know the questions of the accusative case (whom? what?). Substitute the word “blame” or “see”, and you will immediately understand everything. For example, I blame (who?) my grandmother, I see (what?) a cutlet.

Case meanings

This form of the word has two main meanings: objective and subjective.

1. The object value may appear next to transitive verb (buy a cat), next to the predicate ( sorry, apparently, it is necessary, it hurts, sorry for the dog) and in one-part sentences expressing the required object ( reward for the brave).
2. Subjective meaning can be expressed only in a sentence (not in a phrase). Such a meaning can have an accusative case, located at the beginning of a sentence that tells us about the state of the person ( the guys were inspired by the award). The subjective meaning expresses the case in sentences like "The child is chilly." This meaning is also expressed by sentences that do not have a clear subject of action ( killed a man).

Case endings

Questions of the accusative case determine its endings. So, what should be the endings of these forms of words?

• Nouns in singular: horse, land, mother, pig, field, mouse, path, banner.
• Accusative plural (the number plays big role in the formulation of the correct ending) numbers: horses, edge, mothers, pigs, fields, mice, paths, banners.
• Adjectives and participles in the singular have the following endings: oval and oval, oval, oval; soft and soft, soft, soft; hare and hare, hare, hare.

Accusative prepositions

This case can be combined with large quantity prepositions, both simple and derivative. If the word is combined with simple prepositions (in, for, under, on, with), then it has a definitive meaning. Moreover, this definition can be different - in place, time, property, reason, purpose, and so on. Paired with mere pretext the word in the case we are considering can also have an objective meaning ( vote for a deputy, go for mushrooms). The word can also fulfill the function of replenishment necessary information (passed for a talker).

In the whole sentence, the form of the word in the accusative case, paired with a simple preposition, performs other functions. For example, a case can indicate a predicative feature ( bravery medal). The accusative can even extend the sentence ( a kilometer from the village - a lake; in New Year miracles happen). Paired with the prepositions "for" and "under" the word can express the meaning of approximation ( he is in his forties, she is in her fifties).

Also, words in the form of the accusative case can also be combined with derivative prepositions ( in spite of, in spite of, after a day).

How to distinguish accusative from genitive: method one

In order not to confuse the cases of the Russian language, you need to remember that each of them has its own question, depending on the meaning of the case. By asking a universal question and finding a match for it, you can easily understand the word in which case is in front of your eyes. The genitive case more often denotes belonging, the "whole-part" relationship, a sign of an object in relation to some other object, an object of influence, and so on.

For this form of the word, the questions “there is no one?”, “there is nothing?” Are fixed. The accusative case will answer the questions “I see whom?”, “I see what?”. It is very difficult to determine the form of a word only by its meaning or ending. It is too difficult to remember all the meanings of the genitive and accusative case, they have many nuances. And the endings of nouns in these forms can even coincide!

Difficulties can especially often arise in determining the case of an animate noun. If the question is "who?" does not help you cope with the task, then imagine an inanimate noun in place of an animate noun. Ask a question for the genitive "no what?" and for the accusative "see what?". If the word being defined has the same form as in the nominative case, then it is in the accusative.

How to distinguish the accusative case from the genitive: the second way

• If the noun in front of you is inanimate, just ask right question (I buy (what?) flower pots; I don’t see (what?) planters). In the second case, the word is in the genitive case.
• If you see animate noun 2 masculine declensions, put in its place any word of the 1st declension and watch the ending ( I see a boar - I see a fox: ending y - genitive); ( no boar - no fox: ending ы - accusative).
• If you see an animate noun in the plural, then simply replace it with an inanimate noun ( love people - love (what) letters- accusative; I love the kindness of people - I love the kindness of letters- parental).

Remember that in Russian there are many indeclinable nouns (coffee, pot and so on) that look the same in any case. In this case, all the above tips may not work. Always check the correctness of determining the case with a key question, and there will be no errors.

The genitive case is necessary in Russian to express different relationships between the phenomena of the world: it can be the definition of an object through another object (a house made of wood); action and its subject (the rustling of leaves), action and its object (building a house), action and its place (walking near the house), absence of an object (no wind).

Any case is determined by the question.

What question does the genitive case of a noun answer?

If we are talking about nouns, it depends on the category of animateness or inanimateness. The genitive case answers the question:

• whom? - animate noun
• what? - inanimate noun

The table contains nouns in the genitive case with prepositions. It is these prepositions that are used with this case of nouns.

Adverbial questions of the genitive case

It is not always convenient to ask case questions. When a noun with a preposition in a sentence denotes time, image, place, purpose of the action, then the genitive case is used, the questions of which will be adverbial:

• where?
• when?
• why?

Determining the meaning of the genitive case on a question

It is most convenient to classify values ​​in a table:

As can be seen from the table, the genitive case of nouns with prepositions has wide range use as a circumstance.

The biggest problem in learning the genitive case

How to:

• among the Turks or among the Turks?
• two hundred grams of sausage or two hundred grams of sausage?
• kilo tangerine or tangerines?
• a pair of shoes or slippers?

If someone from these questions arises dumbfounded, this is normal.

The biggest headache is the genitive form plural.

Of course, you can say: "We have no cases, we do not know cases." But there are times when knowledge is power. For example, there is an exam in Russian.

This topic is the most difficult when studying this case, since an uncountable set of word forms is formed and it can be difficult not to get lost in them.

For ease of assimilation, you can divide the material into groups according to their kind.

Genitive feminine nouns

These nouns usually have zero inflection. But what is determined before the end by the initial form (singular h, im. p.)

It is worth recalling that the words in the nominative case answer the question who? or what? The genitive case answers the question of whom? or what?

• In them. p. -a with hissing. in front of her: barge - barge, theft - theft, puddle - puddles, ski - skis, cloud - clouds (without b).
• In them. -a, -I’m not after hissing .: waffle - waffles, shoe - shoes, blast furnace - domain, poker - poker, nanny - nanny, rod - rod, wedding - weddings, gossip - gossip, sheet - sheet, estate - estates.
• In them. case - iya: lecture - lectures, army - armies, parody - parodies, surname - surnames, excursion - excursions.
• In them. p. - ya or -ya: rook - rook, article - articles, skittle - skittles. But: singers, jumpers, bustlers, naughty, sorceresses, fritters.

• In them. p. - nya: cherry - cherries, bedroom - bedrooms, bell tower - bell tower (here without soft sign); village - villages, kitchen - kitchens, apple tree - apple trees (here with a soft sign).
• In them. p. - b: mother - mothers, daughter - daughters, notebook - notebooks, night - nights, area - squares, bed - beds, bone - bones, lash - lashes, bed - beds, stove - stoves (ending - her).

Nouns in sets. genitive neuter

In such nouns, the genitive form is also in most cases with zero ending, but there are also inflections -ev, -ov.

• In them. p. -o: window - windows, sieve - sieve, mirror - mirrors, ship - ships; village - villages, oar - oars; apple - apples But: awl - shilev, bottom - bottoms, face - faces (ending -ev, -ov).
• In them. p.-e: field - fields, saucer - saucer, towel - towels.
• In them. n. -ie, -e: nesting - nesting, conquest - conquest, food - food, coast - coasts, drug - drugs, land - land. But: dress - dresses, mouth - mouths, lower reaches - lower reaches (ending -ev).

• In them. p. -yo: guns. But: copies, scum.

The genitive case of masculine plural nouns and nouns that are used only in the plural. h.

Masculine words form a lot of word forms of the genitive case that do not obey any rules. For convenience, you can classify them by endings and use the table for this:

Nouns that have the same plural form in the genitive case also vary and do not have a specific rule.

Adjectives and participles in the genitive case

Adjectives and participles are also declined according to cases and have endings depending on the questions that are put to them from nouns.

If we consider only the genitive case, the questions are as follows:

• What? - husband. and avg. kind
• Which? - female kind

For example:

• dawn (what?) scarlet, evening - ending -her, -oh;
• the sea (what?) deep, sparkling - the end of the -th, -his;
• ship (what?) Large, sailing - endings -th, -his.

For adjectives and participles questions of the genitive plural are raised:

• what?
• doing what?
• what did they do?

For example:

Sails (what?) of white, (what are they doing?) turning white, (what are they doing?) opened.