A Beginner-Friendly Guide To The Russian Genitive Case

As you learn Russian you've probably come across its six cases, including Russian genitive case. And you're probably freaking out a bit about them!

The cases can sound intimidating. But they're not as scary as they seem.

To keep things simple, you can consider the Russian cases as grammatical categories or situations which affect noun endings (nouns are names of things like objects, countries or places).

Cases can be a challenge for beginners. But trust me, you’ll get the hang of them before you know it, especially if you read and listen to plenty of Russian, in addition to checking out the grammar rules.

In this post, I'll focus on the Russian genitive case, including what it is, how it changes noun endings, and when to use it.

By the end of the article, you'll feel more confident about this case. My main tip is not to expect perfect mastery straight away, but to take things step by step, with plenty of immersion in Russian and practice.

By the way, if you want to learn Russian fast and have fun, my top recommendation is Russian Uncovered which teaches you through StoryLearning®. If you’re ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.

What Are Russian Cases?

A case is a special grammatical category of a word which reflects the function it performs.

In Russian, there are six cases. These are the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional cases.

The nominative case is the “original”, so to speak. It doesn’t change the word form. So you really only have five to worry about. Good news!

Basically, depending on what question is answered by the word in question, you can figure out which case applies. Then, you need to modify its ending accordingly.

For example, consider the following phrases:

• Много поездов [mnoh-ga poyezdov] (a lot of trains)

-> Because the noun (trains) answers the question “a lot of what?”, the genitive case applies, and the ending -ов is added to the word поезд.

• Ехать поездом [ye-khat’ poyezdom] (to go by train)

-> In this case, the noun answers the question “go how?” or “using what?”, the instrumental case applies, and the ending -ом is added.

So how does the Russian genitive case affect nouns?

How To Identify And Apply The Russian Genitive Case

So, what happens to a noun when it is in the genitive case? In short, the ending of the word changes.

How so? The changes are pretty simple. Essentially, you have to add one of the following endings:

• -а, -я, -и, -ы (singular)
• -ов, -ев, -ей, -ай (plural)

If the word ends in a vowel, you'll need to replace it. If it ends in a consonant, you just add the appropriate ending.

Singular Noun Endings

Have a look at this table to see what happens to various singular noun endings in the genitive case:

As you can see, there is a pattern.

• Masculine nouns which end in a hard consonant, and neuter nouns that end in -o, you add -a.
• Masculine nouns which end in -й or -ь, and neuter nouns which end in -е or -ие, you add -я.
• Feminine nouns which end in -я or -ь, you add -и.
• Feminine nouns which end in -a, you add -ы.

Note that there are three important exceptions to this pattern:

• For feminine nouns with к, г, х, ж, or ш at the end, add -и instead of -ы
• Examples: девочка (girl) becomes девочки, and книга (book) becomes книги
• For masculine nouns ending in ч or щ, add -а instead of -я
• Examples: ключ (key) becomes ключа, and товарищ (friend) becomes товарища
• For masculine nouns ending in а or я, follow the same pattern you use for feminine nouns with the same ending.
• Example: папа (dad) becomes папы

Plural Noun Endings

As for plural nouns, have a look at this table:

The rules for changing plural nouns into the genitive form are as follows:

• Masculine nouns ending in a consonant, add -oв. (Except for nouns like брат and лист, for these, add -ьев.)
• Masculine nouns ending in -й, add -ев, For one-syllable nouns (like край and чай), add -ёв.
• Feminine nouns ending in -ь and masculine nouns ending in -ь, ж, ч, ш, or щ, add -ей.
• Neuter nouns ending in -e, add -й.
• Neuter nouns ending in -o and masculine or feminine nouns ending in -а or -я, simply drop the ending.

So, now that you know how to change the form of a noun into its genitive form, let’s look at the situations in which you need to do this.

When Do You Use The Russian Genitive Case?

The genitive case in Russian is most commonly used to indicate possession or origin. In other words, it indicates to whom or what something belongs, to whom or what something relates, or where something or someone is from.

In English, we communicate these things using the word “from” or “of”, or an apostrophe followed by “s”. It answers the questions “whose?”, “of what?”, and “from where?”

Some basic examples include the following:

• Президент России [prezidyent rosiyi] (the president of Russia)

-> The word “Russia” answers the question “of what?”, and so it uses the genitive case. In the word Россия, this means the -я is replaced with an -и.

• Это машина его отца [ehtuh mashina yevo otsa] (this is his father’s car)

-> The word “father” answers the question “whose?”, so it requires the genitive case. The word отец takes on the genitive form отца.

There are a few more situations to remember. Don’t worry if you don’t get them all right away, these will take some time and practice.

For now, I’ll go over them and provide you with some basic Russian genitive case examples.

Prepositions You Use With The Russian Genitive Case

You generally use the genitive case with the following prepositions.

Keep in mind that there are exceptions depending on the structure and function of the phrase. But you don’t need to worry about those for now.

• Без [bez] (without)
• Для [dlya] (for)
• До [doh] (until, up to, before)
• Из [eez] (out of, from)
• Из-за [eez-za] (because of)
• Из-под [eez-pahd] (from under(neath))
• Кроме [kroh-mye] (except)
• На [nah] (on)
• От [uht] ((away) from)
• С [s] (with, by, or off)
• Со [suh] (with, by, or off)
• У [ooh] (near or by)
• Около [oh-kuhla] (near or by)
• Вокруг [vah-kroog] (around)
• Недалеко от [nyedalekoh uht] (not far from)
• Позади [pahzadee] (behind)
• Напротив [naproh-teev] (across from)
• Посреди [pasrehdee] (in the middle of or among)
• Мимо [mee-mah] (past or by)
• Вдоль [vdol’] (along)

Examples:

• Кофе без сахара [kofye bez sakhara] (coffee without sugar)

-> After без, we use the genitive form of сахар, so we add the ending -а.

• Из-за дождя [eez-za dozhdya] (because of the rain)

-> After из-за, the genitive is used, so the -ь in дождь becomes -я.

Russian Genitive Case: Abstract Or Indefinite Objects

The genitive is also used after the following verbs with nouns designating abstract and indefinite objects.

• Просить [prah-seet’] (to ask)
• Хотеть [khah-tet’] (to want)
• Требовать [treh-bo-vat’] (to demand or require)
• Искать [ees-kat’] (to look for)
• Ждать [zhdat’] (to wait)
• Достигать [dah-stee-gat’] (to attain or achieve)
• Желать [zheh-lat’] (to wish (for))
• Бояться [bo-ya-tsya] (to fear or be afraid (of))

Example:

• Он боится смерти [on ba-eetsa smert’ee] (he is afraid of death)

-> Death is an abstract noun, so when it follows боится (is afraid) it is in the genitive form. Смерть (which answers “of what?”) becomes смерти.

Russian Genitive Case: Non-Possession

The genitive also indicates possession. Likewise, you'll see it after the following negating phrases, which indicate lack of possession:

У … [ooh] – (this word is must be used before a noun or pronoun to indicate who or what has or doesn’t have something. The (pro)noun is then followed by:)

• Нет [nyet] (doesn’t have)
• Не было [nye by-lah] (didn’t have)
• Не будет [nye boo-dyet] (won’t have)

Examples:

• У нее нет машины [ooh neyoh nyet mashiny] (she doesn’t have a car)

-> The sentence describes something that is not possessed by the subject. The object машина takes on the genitive form, and the ending -а becomes -ы.

• У Лены не было собаки [ooh Lyeny nye-bylo sahbakee] (Lena didn’t have a dog)

-> Similarly, the dog is something Lena didn’t have, so the genitive form of собака is used, where -а becomes -и.

Russian Genitive Case: Indefinite Quantities

In addition, you also use the genitive to talk about indefinite quantities, namely after the following:

• много / немного [mnoguh / nyemnoguh] (a lot of / not many or a bit)
• мало / немало [maluh / nyemaluh] (a little / quite a lot)
• несколько [nyeskol’kuh] (a few or several)
• достаточно / недостаточно [dahstatuchna / nyedahstatuchna] (enough / not enough)
• сколько [skol’kah] (how many)

For example:

• Несколько рублей [nyeskol’kah rublei] (a few rubles)

-> Rubles answers the question “of what?” and рубль (plural рубли) takes the genitive ending -ей.

• Он съел немного каши [on syel nemnoguh kashy] (he ate a bit of porridge)

-> Porridge answers “of what?” – каша changes its ending and becomes каши.

Russian Genitive Case With Numerals: Two, Three, Four

Finally, you always use the genitive after the numerals 2, 3, and 4, and compounds which include them (so any number that ends in 2,3,and 4, except for 12, 13, and 14).

• 2 is два [dvah]
• 3 is три [tree]
• 4 is четыре [chetih-ryeh]

(You should know that after 1, you always use the nominative; after 2, 3 and 4 and derivatives, you always use the genitive; and after any other number you use the genitive plural.)

For example:

• Два кота [dvah kahta] (two cats)

-> Following the number 2, the noun is genitive, so the ending -а is added to кот. Compare this to один кот [ahdeen kot] (one cat) or пять котов [pyat’ kahtov] (five cats).

These are all the situations in which you will need to use the genitive case, and its corresponding noun endings.

But don’t worry, you don't have to master all of them right away! Just take your time and approach it step-by-step.

Tips For Beginners To Learn Russian Genitive Case

So, now you know all the essentials about the Russian genitive case!

Again, there’s quite a lot to remember. But please don’t feel overwhelmed! Even relatively advanced students of the Russian language frequently have to consult their notes when it comes to cases.

The best thing you can do is get Russian genitive case practice. How? Use the StoryLearning® method. Make daily contact with the Russian language by reading books in Russian or by listening to Russian. As you listen and read, the genitive case will start to become second nature to you.

When you speak Russian – don’t be afraid to get it wrong. After all, you won’t learn anything if you never make mistakes!

Trust me, native Russian speakers understand how difficult their language is. They will be pleased that you’re making an effort, and most will be happy to correct you.

(Psst! Don’t tell anyone, but even they get it wrong sometimes…)

One thing that will really help you as you begin to learn cases and all the word forms in Russian is to familiarise yourself with the rules of Russian spelling. A lot of exceptions stem from these, and they’re generally useful to know.

That’s all for now! Good luck, and всего хорошего!

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.