| Russian grammar and vocabulary. Unit 1 | Grammar Lesson 1
Gender of Nouns: Hard Stem. Personal pronouns он (he), она (she), оно (it). "The" and "a"."To be" in the Present tense | Grammar Lesson 2
Gender of Nouns: Hard and Soft Stems. Exceptions | Grammar Lesson 3
Nominative Plural of Nouns | Grammar Lesson 4
Personal Pronouns я, ты, он, она, оно, мы, вы, они. Ты vs. Вы | Phrasebook Topic 3
Professions | Phrasebook Topic 4
Learn Russian Names: Last Name, First Name and Patronimic | Quiz 5
Check what you have learned from Grammar Lessons 1-4 and Phrasebook Topics 3-4 with this 20 minute quiz. | Test 1
Check what you have learned from Russian Letters and Sound System section and Grammar Lessons 1-4 |
|
|
1.
|
Nominative Plural of Nouns
|
|
|
Это лампа.
Это лампы.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nominative singular is the main form of nouns and adjectives (nouns and
adjectives given in dictionaries are in the nominative singular). You have seen
the nominative singular of nouns in sentences like: Это лампа. - This is a lamp;
Это учебник. - This is a textbook.
From this lesson you will learn how to say: These are lamps; These are textbooks,
i.e. how to make nouns plural. Remember the rules below.
-
To form the nominative plural of most masculine and feminine nouns
replace the nominative singular ending by -ы for hard stems and -и
for soft stems.
|
|
|
|
Hard stem
Singular -> Plural
|
Soft stem
Singular -> Plural
|
|
|
журнал - журналы
|
музей - музеи
|
magazine(-s), museum(-s)
|
|
|
словарь - словари
|
dictionary(-ies)
|
|
лампа - лампы
|
песня - песни
|
lamp(-s), song(s)
|
|
|
дверь - двери
|
door(-s)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
To form the nominative plural of neuter nouns replace the nominative
singular ending by -а for hard stems and -я for soft stems:
|
|
|
|
Hard stem
Singular -> Plural
|
Soft stem
Singular -> Plural
|
|
|
письмо - письма
|
ружьё - ружья
|
letter(-s), gun(-s)
|
|
|
платье - платья
|
dress(-es)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes
-
Hard stem masculine nouns have zero ending (no ending), so we simply add -ы
to form the plural (in other words, we replace zero by -ы):
журналØ -> журналы.
-
A soft stem is a stem that ends in a soft consonant. The letter ь and
the vowel letters я, е, ё, ю, и indicate that the preceding consonant is
soft. If there is no one of these six letters at the end of the stem, we assume
that the stem is hard.
-
When forming the nominative plural of nouns never break the 7-letter spelling
rule: after г, к, х, ж, ш, щ, ч write
-и , not -ы (no matter if the stem is hard
or soft): книга - книги (books), учебник - учебники (textbooks),
стих - стихи (poems), нож - ножи (knives), карандаш -
карандаши (pencils), etc.
-
Some Russian nouns shift their accent (stress) in the plural. Such words are
marked in the dictionaries. Click the following words to listen, pay attention
to the stress shift in the plural:
|
карандаш - карандаши
|
pencil(s)
|
|
словарь - словари
|
dictionarie(s)
|
|
письмо - письма
|
letter(s)
|
|
ружьё - ружья
|
gun(s)
|
|
окно - окна
|
window(s)
|
|
|
|
-
Masculine nouns with stems that end in -ок or -ец lose the
vowels о, е whenever an ending is added. Compare the
singular and plural forms of nouns напиток (a drink), подарок
(a gift), огурец (a cucumber), канадец, (Canadian).
|
напиток - напитки
|
drink(s)
|
|
подарок - подарки
|
gift(s)
|
|
огурец - огурцы
|
cucumber(s)
|
|
канадец - канадцы
|
canadian(s)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Том студент и Иван студент.
|
Инна студентка и Анна студентка.
|
 
|
 
|
|
Том и Иван студенты
.
(A group of male students)
|
Инна и Анна студентки
.
(A group of female students)
|
|
Том, Иван, Инна и Анна студенты.
(A group of male and female students)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Exercises Упражнения
|
|
|
|
Choose the correct ending for the nominative plural of masculine and feminine
nouns
|
|
|
Choose the correct ending for the nominative plural of neuter nouns
|
|
|
Fill in the blanks with the correct plural endings (masculine, feminine,
neuter)
|
|
|
Fill in the blanks with the correct plural forms (masculine nouns with stems in
-ок or -ец )
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back to main
|