The Six Cases (Падежи)
Russian nouns change their ending to show their job in the sentence. There are six cases. You do not need all of them at once: the nominative (the dictionary form), the accusative (the thing you act on) and the genitive ("of", "no", and after numbers) carry most of everyday speech. Prepositions decide the case too: в Москве (in Moscow) but в Москву (to Moscow).
Measured in spoken Russian
49% of nouns and pronouns people say are NOT in the dictionary (nominative) form. Cases: nominative 51%, accusative 18%, genitive 13%, dative 6.7%, prepositional 5.5%, instrumental 5.0%.
The six cases in one line each
- Nominative (кто? что?): the subject, the dictionary form. Мама дома.
- Accusative (кого? что?): the direct object, and "to" a place after в / на. Я вижу маму. Я иду в школу.
- Genitive (кого? чего?): "of", "there is no", after numbers 2+ and after у. Нет времени. У мамы.
- Dative (кому? чему?): "to whom", and the person in мне надо, мне нравится. Позвони маме.
- Instrumental (кем? чем?): "with", and "as" after быть / стать. С мамой. Он стал врачом.
- Prepositional (о ком? где?): after в / на for "where", and after о for "about". В школе. О маме.
Feminine nouns in -а show the cases best
Learn the cases on one feminine noun first. мама, маму, мамы, маме, мамой, маме: every case has its own ending except two.
Где мама?
Where is mom?
nominative
Я люблю маму.
I love mom.
accusative
Это дом мамы.
This is mom's house.
genitive
Я позвоню маме.
I'll call mom.
dative
Masculine things do not change in the accusative
A masculine noun for a thing keeps its dictionary form as an object: Я вижу дом (I see a house). A masculine noun for a person or animal takes the genitive ending: Я вижу брата (I see my brother).
У меня есть телефон.
I have a phone.
Ты знаешь Ивана?
Do you know Ivan?
a person: Иван → Ивана
Where or where to: the case after в and на
After в and на, the prepositional means "where" (in, at) and the accusative means "where to" (into, to). This one pair covers a lot of real speech.
Я в машине.
I'm in the car.
where: prepositional
Садись в машину.
Get in the car.
where to: accusative
Examples
У меня нет денег.
I have no money.
нет + genitive
Я иду на работу.
I'm going to work.
на + accusative
Я на работе.
I'm at work.
на + prepositional
Я с тобой.
I'm with you.
с + instrumental
| Case | мама (fem. -а) | стол (masc. thing) | брат (masc. person) | окно (neut. -о) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | мама | стол | брат | окно |
| Accusative | маму | стол | брата | окно |
| Genitive | мамы | стола | брата | окна |
| Dative | маме | столу | брату | окну |
| Instrumental | мамой | столом | братом | окном |
| Prepositional | маме | столе | брате | окне |
Common mistakes
- ✗ Я вижу мама. → ✓ Я вижу маму. (a feminine object takes -у)
- ✗ Я иду в школе. → ✓ Я иду в школу. (going somewhere: accusative)
- ✗ У меня нет деньги. → ✓ У меня нет денег. (нет takes the genitive)
- ✗ Я вижу брат. → ✓ Я вижу брата. (a male person as object takes -а)
Lookup tips
- Start with three cases: nominative, accusative, genitive. Add the others as they come up.
- Learn short chunks, not tables: у меня, нет времени, в школе, с тобой, мне надо.
- An unknown ending? Look at the word before it. A preposition or a number usually explains the case.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to learn all six cases to speak?
No. Nominative, accusative and genitive cover most of what people say. Learn the others as fixed chunks (мне надо, с тобой, в школе) and the pattern comes later.
Why does the noun change after a number?
After 2, 3 and 4 a noun takes the genitive singular (два часа), and after 5 and up the genitive plural (пять часов). Only 1 keeps the nominative (один час).
What is the hardest case?
The genitive plural, because its endings vary (часов, минут, денег). Learn the common ones as words: лет, людей, денег, часов.