There are several sets of nouns which exhibit stem changes throughout their declensions. Among these are the р-stem nouns, с-stem nouns, and н-stem nouns. Some examples are given below in partial declension, while more complete declensions are given in the Appendix.
1. Two important feminine nouns are found in the р-stem declension: мать (mother) and дочь (daughter).
мать (nom. sing.), матери (gen. sing.)
дочь (nom. sing.), дочери (gen. sing.)
2. Among the с-stem nouns is the neuter noun небо (sky).
небо (nom. sing.), небеса (nom. pl.)
3. Two important neuter nouns are found in the н-stem declension: имя (name) and время (time)
имя (nom. sing.), имени (gen. sing.)
время (nom. sing.), времени (gen. sing.)
E. Proper NamesProper names in Russian are declined. Last names may end in an adjectival ending, which decline as adjectives, or they may end in -ов (-ев) or -ин. The latter forms exhibit a mixed declension. The masculine singular is declined like a noun, except for the instrumental, which is declined like an adjective. The feminine singular is declined like a pronoun. In the plural, the nominative is declined like a short-form adjective, while the remaining forms are declined like long-form adjectives.
Russian names ending in -ых, -их, -аго, and -ово are invariable. Last names ending in -а/-я follow the feminine noun pattern, regardless of the gender of the person to whom the name refers. Sample paradigms of declined names are given in the Appendix.
Footnotes
1. The symbol
-Ш refers to a zero-ending; all nouns consist of a stem plus ending, and technically all endings are vocalic. Thus, masculine nouns in the nominative, ending in a consonant, actually exhibit a zero-ending. In the genitive plural of the feminine noun
сторона, the nominative singular ending
-а is replaced by the zero-ending:
сторон_. ↑ 2. Often when a zero-ending is required, a consonant cluster results, such as the
-вк in
перестановк; a vowel is inserted to break the cluster. ↑ 3. Notice that the masculine accusative singular and masculine nominative singular are identical for masculine
inanimate nouns. However, masculine
animate nouns in the accusative coincide with the genitive. Many mathematical terms ending in
-тель, which appear to be inanimate, actually act as animate nouns. For instance, in the phrase
Возьмём делитель, the direct object
делитель appears in the animate accusative rather than the inanimate accusative
делитель. ↑ 4. In the accusative
plural, the forms of
inanimate nouns of
all genders coincide with those of the nominative plural, while the forms of
animate nouns coincide with the genitive plural. ↑
The AdjectiveThe adjective in Russian may occur in both a long form and a short form. It also expresses the positive, comparative, and superlative degrees. Moreover, the long-form adjective is declined; it agrees with the corresponding noun in gender, number, and case.
A.Adjectives can be used in the attributive position, as in новая книга, "the new book," or the predicate position, as in книга новая, "the book is new." 1 Thus, an adjective used attributively occurs next to the noun it modifies without a linking verb, while an adjective used predicatively is separated from the noun it modifies by a linking verb. In the latter case, the predicate adjective refers back to the subject of the clause, which is in fact the noun the adjective modifies. The long form of an adjective is used in either an attributive or predicative position.
The long-form adjective is declined into all six cases, and both types of adjective express the three genders in the singular, while there is no gender distinction in the plural. The difference in form between the two types of adjective is in the form of the ending; the short form exhibits a simple ending, while the long form exhibits a compound ending. 2 In the above example, the short-form adjective ending is -а (simple), and the long-form ending is -ая (compound).
Adjectives may in some instances stand alone and act as nouns, although they still decline as long-form adjectives: кривая, "a curve," is a feminine noun; подынтегральный, "an integrand," is a masculine noun.
1. The long form of the adjective. The adjectives сложный, "complicated," and дуговой 3, "arc," are declined into all the cases in singular and plural, and in the three genders.
сложный вопрос → a complicated question (m.)
сложная задача → a complicated problem (f.)
сложное решение → a complicated solution (n.)
a. сложный; stem: сложн-
SingularPluralm. f. n. nom. сложный сложная сложное сложные
gen. сложного сложной сложного сложных
dat. сложному сложной сложному сложным
acc. сложный сложную сложное сложные
instr. сложным сложной сложным сложными
loc. сложном сложной сложном сложных
b. дуговой; stem: дугов-
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