Genitive Case: Basics - Nouns and Personal Pronouns

The Russian genitive case is one of the most important and most frequently used cases in Russian grammar. It is used to express possession, absence, quantity, numbers, and many “of” relationships. In this guide, you’ll learn the main uses of the Russian genitive case, personal pronouns in the genitive, how to form the genitive singular and genitive plural, and and I'll also share some tricks which might help you to use it more confidently in Russian.

If you are new to Russian cases in general, or to the genitive case in particular, I recommend starting with this article: Russian Cases: The Logic Behind the System. It explains the logic behind the genitive case and all the other Russian cases in much more detail.

The construction "у меня есть" (I have)

To talk about possession in Russian, we use an indirect construction. This is called an indirect construction because the possessor is not the subject of the sentence.
In English, we make the possessor the subject: “I have a book.” In Russian, the sentence is built differently: the idea of possession is expressed through preposition у (at, by) + genitive instead.

Compare the literal and actual translations in the table below:

Russian does not literally say “I have something.” It says something closer to “There is something at my place / with me.”

The basic pattern for possession in Russian is 

preposition у* + genitive (the possessor) + есть (there is/are) + nominative (the possessed item).

*The preposition у originally expresses location near something or at someone’s place. After this preposition, we always use the genitive case.

Personal pronouns

To talk about possession with all personal pronouns, you need to learn them in the genitive case. Notice that in the third person (он, она, оно, они) the letter н is added before the personal pronoun when the pronoun follows the preposition у in the genitive case. This happens after other prepositions as well, and not only in the genitive. This change developed to make pronunciation easier.

In the same way we can also talk about possession in the past or the future. For this Russian uses the verb быть (to be). 

• У меня был кот. - I had a cat.
• У тебя была ручка. - You had a pen.
• У них будет книга. - They will have a book.
• У него будут деньги. - He will have money.

Notice that the verb is not conjugated according to the person who has something, but according to the grammatical subject of the sentence - the thing that is possessed.

Absence

To talk about absence in Russian, a similar indirect construction is used, but the noun for the thing that is missing appears in the genitive case:

• У меня нет кота. - I don't have a cat.
• У тебя нет ручки. - You don't have a pen.
• У них нет книги. - They don't have a book.
• У него нет денег. - He doesn't have money.

Now let’s look at nouns in the genitive case. Let’s start with the singular.

Genitive singular: step by step

To decline a noun, the first thing you need to know is its gender.

Nouns that end in a consonant (zero ending) or in -й are usually masculine. Feminine nouns usually end in -а or -я. If a noun ends in -ь, it can be either masculine or feminine, so you need to learn its gender together with the noun. Neuter nouns usually end in -о, -е, or -ё.

The next step is to determine whether the noun has a hard or a soft stem. Remember that a stem never changes its hardness or softness. If it is hard, you choose a hard ending; if it is soft, you choose a soft one.

You can see the genitive endings in the examples in the table below:

* In the word книга, the stem is hard, so you might expect the ending -ы. However, because of the seven-letter spelling rule that after г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ we write -и, not -ы, the genitive form is книги. This rule applies throughout Russian.

** In the word солнце, the stem is soft, but after ц, ж, ш, щ, ч we write -а, not -я, so the genitive form is солнца. Similar spelling rules also apply widely in Russian, although it doesn't have a name.

Basically, there are only two pairs of endings in the genitive singular:

You may notice that for feminine and neuter nouns the genitive singular form is the same as the nominative plural form of nouns. This can make learning easier, although neuter nouns often like to shift the stress in the plural.

I also recommend to my students choosing an anchor example that they can always come back to when they need to form the genitive singular. I suggest these two:

• кот - кота
• собака - собаки

Exceptions

1. Remember that masculine nouns with feminine endings are declined according to their ending. For example:
   • папа - папы (dad)
   • дедушка - дедушки (grandfather)
   • дядя - дяди (uncle)
   • Миша - Миши (short name from Михаил)
2. Some important exceptions to remember:
   • отец - отца (father)
   • мать - матери (mother)
   • дочь - дочери
   • время - времени (time) - neuter gender
   • деньги - денег (money)

Fugitive vowels

This is also where many learners first encounter fugitive vowel (they are also called fleeting vowels). These are usually the vowels о and е, which disappear in plural and every case, including the genitive singular.

There is no easy way to predict all such words in advance, but over time you start developing a feel for them. Here are some common examples:

• сон - сна (a sleep, dream)
• рот - рта (mouth)
• звонок - звонка (call)
• день - дня (day)
• отец - отца (father)
• певец - певца - (singer)

I know this may feel overwhelming at first, but many of these rules, exceptions, and patterns are shared across Russian grammar as a whole. The deeper you go into the system, the more at home you will feel.

Quantity and Numbers

In Russian, numbers also affect the form of the noun. After 2, 3, and 4, nouns usually appear in a genitive singular form. After 5 and higher, they usually appear in the genitive plural. The form depends on the final numeral element, not just on the digit itself. See examples in the table:

We also use the genitive case after words expressing quantity. With countable nouns, we usually use the genitive plural. With uncountable nouns, we use the genitive singular.

• много котов (many cats)
• немного людей (a few people)
• несколько слов (several words)
• мало времени (little time)
• сколько воды (how much water)

In these expressions, the noun is governed by the quantity word, which is why it appears in the genitive case. Now let us look at one of the most difficult parts of Russian declension: the genitive plural.

Genitive plural - step by step

Unlike the other cases, the genitive plural depends strongly on the gender and ending of the noun. That is why we need to discuss different groups separately (fortunately feminine and neuter nouns follow similar patterns).

For the genitive plural, I will give each example together with its nominative plural form. This is useful because many irregularities appear when the nominative plural is formed, and these forms then serve as the basis for the genitive plural. You will also find this approach in many Russian textbooks.

Masculine

1. Nouns that end in a consonant and have a zero ending (∅) usually take the ending -ов in the genitive plural.
   • сто́л - столы́ - столо́в (table - tables - of tables)
   • враг - враги́ - враго́в (enemy - enemies - of enemies)
2. Nouns that end in -ий or -ей usually take -ев.
   • санато́рий - санато́рии - санато́риев (health resort - health resorts - of health resorts)
   • музе́й - музе́и - музе́ев (museum - museums - of museums)
3. Nouns that end in -ц with the stress on the stem also usually take -ев.
   • ме́сяц - ме́сяцы - ме́сяцев (month - months - of months)
4. However, nouns that end in -ц with the stress on the ending usually take -ов. This often happens when a fugitive vowel disappears.
   • певе́ц - певцы́ - певцо́в (singer - singers - of singers)
5. Nouns that end in -ь, -ж, -ч, -ш, -щ usually take -ей, and this ending is always stressed.
   • слова́рь - словари́ - слова́рей (dictionary - dictionaries - of dictionaries)
   • нож - ножи́ - ноже́й (knife - knives - of knives)
   • каранда́ш - карандаши́ - карандаше́й (pencil - pencils - of pencils)
   • врач - врачи́ - враче́й (doctor - doctors - of doctors)
   • плащ - плащи́ - плаще́й (coat - coats - of coats)

Exceptions

First of all, remember that masculine nouns with feminine-type endings decline like feminine nouns. Come back to these examples after reading the section on feminine nouns:

• дедушка - дедушки - дедушек
• папа - папы - пап
• дядя - дяди - дядей
• мужчина - мужчины - мужчин

Some genitive plural forms are identical to the nominative singular:

• глаз - глаза - глаз
• ботинок - ботинки - ботинок (boot)
• солдат - солдаты - солдат (soldier)

More exceptions to remember:

• стул - стулья - стульев
• лист - листья - листьев (leaf)
• брат - братья - братьев
• друг - друзья - друзей
• сын - сыновья - сыновей
• ребёнок - дети - детей
• сосед - соседи - соседей (neighbour)

As I mentioned above, the genitive plural is often based on the nominative plural. That is why I recommend learning the nominative plural form first.

Feminine

1. Nouns that end in -а usually lose this ending in the genitive plural and take a zero ending (∅). If this creates a cluster of two or more consonants at the end of the word, Russian often inserts a vowel to make pronunciation easier. This is a general pattern in Russian.
   • ма́ма - ма́мы - мам (mom - moms - of moms)
   • подру́га - подру́ги - подру́г (female friend - female friends - of female friends)
     1. If the inserted vowel is in an unstressed position, it is usually е after с, ж, ш, ч, щ, ц, or when ь appears before the final consonant. If the inserted vowel is stressed, it is usually ё.
        • сестра́ - сёстры - сестёр (sister - sisters - of sisters)
          • *ё is always stressed in Russian
        • бо́чка - бо́чки - бо́чек (barrel - barrels - of barrels)
        • ло́жка - ло́жки - ло́жек (spoon - spoons - of spoons)
     2. In other cases, the inserted vowel is usually о.
        • оши́бка - оши́бки - оши́бок (mistake - mistakes - of mistakes)
2. Nouns that end in -ия usually take -ий in the genitive plural.
   • аудито́рия - аудито́рии - аудито́рий (auditorium - auditoriums - of auditoriums)
3. Nouns that end in -ь or -ья usually take -ей in the genitive plural.
   • тетра́дь - тетра́ди - тетра́дей (notebook - notebooks - of notebooks)
   • дверь - две́ри - двере́й (door - doors - of doors)
   • семья́ - се́мьи - семе́й (family - families - of families)
4. Most feminine nouns ending in -ня form the genitive plural with -ен, but some common nouns use -ень or -онь instead. These forms often need to be learned individually.
   • пе́сня - пе́сни - пе́сен (song - songs - of songs)
   • ви́шня - ви́шни - ви́шен (cherry - cherries - of cherries)
   • спа́льня - спа́льни - спа́лен (bedroom - bedrooms - of bedrooms)
   • дере́вня - дере́вни - дере́вень (village - villages - of villages)
   • ку́хня - ку́хни - ку́хонь (kitchen - kitchens - of kitchens)

Exceptions:

• неде́ля - неде́ли - неде́ль* (week - weeks - of weeks)
• тётя - тёти - тёть* /  тётей (aunt - aunts - of aunts)
  • * In these two examples, the first rule also works, but in its soft version: -а/-я → ∅/-ь.
• мать - ма́тери - матере́й (mother - mothers - of mothers)
• дочь - до́чери - дочере́й (daughter - daughters - of daughters)

Neuter

1. Similarly, nouns that end in -о usually lose this ending in the genitive plural and take a zero ending (∅). If this creates a cluster of two or more consonants at the end of the word, Russian often inserts a vowel to make pronunciation easier.
   • сло́во - слова́ - сло́в (word - words - of words)
   • я́блоко - я́блоки - я́блок (apple - apples - of apples)
     1. It is usually е after с, ж, ш, ч, щ, ц, or when ь appears before the final consonant.
        • письмо́ - пи́сьма - пи́сем (letter - letters - of letters)
     2. In other cases, the inserted vowel is usually о.
        • окно́ - о́кна - о́кон (window - windows - of windows)
2. Nouns that end in -ие usually take -ий in the genitive plural.
   • зда́ние - зда́ния - зда́ний (building - buildings - of buildings)
3. Nouns that end in -е usually take -ей in the genitive plural.
   • мо́ре - моря́ - море́й (sea - seas - of seas)

Exceptions

Nouns that end on -мя besides looking as feminine are neuter and have exceptional declination:

• и́мя - имена́ - имён (name - names - of names)
• вре́мя - времена́ - времён (time - times - of times)

For a clearer overview of these endings, I put one example of each in the table below, with the endings shown alongside them. You can see that some endings overlap across different genders. For example, nouns ending in -ь usually take -ей, and nouns ending in -ия and -ие usually take -ий.

* A vowel is inserted if a consonant cluster appears at the end.

I usually recommend that students learn the first rule for each gender, the common exceptions, and then confidently make mistakes in the less common patterns. -ов and the zero ending (∅) are the most frequent genitive plural patterns, and even native speakers often use them where another ending would be expected.

The anchor examples for the genitive plural are:

• кот - котов
• собака - собак

Plural-only nouns

Some nouns have no singular form, and there are no simple rules for remembering their genitive plural:

• часы - часов (watch - of watch)
• деньги - денег (money - of money)
• очки - очков (glasses - of glasses)
• ножницы - ножниц (scissors - of scissors)
• джинсы - джинсов (jeans - of jeans)
• брюки - брюк (trousers - of trousers)

You probably noticed that in the examples I translate many genitive examples with the preposition “of”. This reflects one of the main uses of the genitive case. English “of” phrases often correspond to the genitive in Russian. It is not a perfect rule, but it is a very helpful starting point and one of the easiest ways to remember when the genitive is used. Below, I list the main uses separately, with examples.

Possession and other meanings expressed by English ’s

• словарь моей сестры - my sister's dictionary (dictionary of my sister)
• машина моего брата - my brother's car
• фамилия студента - the student's last name
• Олег - брат Тани - Oleg is Tanya's brother
• брат жены - wife’s brother

Authorship

• роман Пушкина - the novel by Pushkin (the novel of Pushkin)
• рассказы Чехова - short stories by Chekhov

English phrases with “of”

• портрет Пушкина - a portrait of Pushkin
• карта России - a map of Russia
• Москва - столица России - Moscow is the capital of Russia

Part–whole relationships

• спинка кресла - a chair-back (back of a chair)
• берег моря - a sea shore
• кружка чая - a cup of tea
• коробка конфет - a box of chocolates

Characteristic / attribute

• прогноз погоды - weather forecast (forecast of the weather)
• урок математики - math lesson
• День Рождения - day of birth (Birthday)
• цвет платья - color of the dress

That is all for the basic genitive case. In the second part of this article, I will talk about other uses of the genitive and more grammar patterns connected with it. The genitive case is not simple, but believe me, you have already seen the hardest part.