Instrumental Case: Basics – Nouns and Personal Pronouns

Every case has a moment when it stops being a rule and starts being a habit. For the instrumental, that moment comes early — because you almost certainly already say со мной and с тобо́й without thinking about it.

The instrumental case answers кем? чем? (with whom? with what?). It covers two everyday uses: the person you're with, and the thing you're doing something with.

This is the fifth stop in the case series, after the genitive, accusative, prepositional and dative. For the big picture, there's Russian Cases: The Logic Behind the System. Here we'll take the two meanings one at a time, and then build the forms.

С + instrumental: who you're with

The most everyday job of this case is simply naming the person you're with. Russian marks that with the preposition с (with) and puts the person into the instrumental:

• Пойдём со мной! — Come with me!
• Я с тобо́й. — I'm with you.
• Поговори́ с ним. — Talk to him.
• Он пришёл с ней. — He came with her.
• Она́ живёт с на́ми. — She lives with us.
• Я хочу́ пойти́ с ва́ми. — I want to go with you.
• Мы бы́ли там с ни́ми. — We were there with them.

The same thing happens with names and ordinary nouns:

• Я живу́ с бра́том. — I live with my brother.
• Она́ говори́т с колле́гой. — She's talking to a colleague.
• Мы гуля́ли с соба́кой. — We were walking the dog.

And it isn't only for people. Anything that comes along with something else works the same way — which is why this is also the case you order lunch in:

• ко́фе с молоко́м — coffee with milk
• чай с лимо́ном — tea with lemon
• бутербро́д с сы́ром — a cheese sandwich
• пи́цца с гриба́ми — pizza with mushrooms

С picks up an extra vowel and becomes со when the next word begins with с, з, ш or ж followed by another consonant:

• со сли́вками — with cream
• со шко́лой — with the school
• со звездо́й — with a star
• со свои́м бра́том — with his brother

Notice which word does the deciding: с бра́том, but со свои́м бра́том. The preposition looks at whatever comes immediately after it, not at the noun.

Three more forms take со as well, and they're worth learning as vocabulary — you'll use them constantly:

• со мной — with me
• со все́ми — with everyone
• со льдом — with ice

You've met this in the other cases already. The same ‑о turns up wherever the preposition needs it:

• со мной — with me (instrumental)
• ко мне — to me (dative)
• обо мне — about me (prepositional)

Мы с тобо́й: "you and I", not "we and you"

Here's a construction that catches out almost every English speaker. Мы с Ма́шей looks like "we, plus Masha" — three people minimum. It isn't. It means exactly two: Masha and I.

• Мы с тобо́й гото́вы. — You and I are ready.
• Мы с бра́том живём в Москве́. — My brother and I live in Moscow.
• Мы с ней давно́ знако́мы. — She and I have known each other for a long time.

Russian counts the whole group first (мы), then names the other member of it. English lists both people separately. So if you really do mean three, you just keep going: мы с Ива́ном и Ма́шей — Ivan, Masha and I.

Notice that the preposition с also works with the genitive, and then it means "from": с рабо́ты — from work, с рабо́той — with the work. Same preposition, different case, different meaning. Full breakdown here: Из vs С vs От.

Personal pronouns in the instrumental

You've just met most of these in action, so here they are properly. Learn this table cold — you'll reach for it every day.

Notice the н‑ in the third column: им → с ним, ей → с ней, и́ми → с ни́ми. You saw the same thing in the dative with к нему́. It happens after prepositions in every case, purely for ease of pronunciation.

Ей is both dative and instrumental — one form, two jobs.

Им covers two forms as well, and the verb tells you which one you're looking at:

• Я говорю́ им. — I'm talking to them. (dative, plural)
• Я горжу́сь им. — I'm proud of him. (instrumental, singular)

The whole plural row mirrors the dative: нам → на́ми, вам → ва́ми, им → и́ми. If the dative endings are solid, add ‑и and you have these.

You'll also come across мно́ю, тобо́ю, е́ю in songs, poetry and formal writing. Same meaning as the short forms. In speech, use the short ones.

Чем?: the tool you use

The name does the work here. Instrumental — an instrument, a tool. That's the core of this use: it marks whatever you're using to get something done. Писа́ть ру́чкой — to write with a pen. Меша́ть ло́жкой — to stir with a spoon. Ре́зать ножо́м — to cut with a knife. The pen, the spoon and the knife all take the same ending, and none of them needs a preposition.

• Я пишу́ ру́чкой. — I write with a pen.
• Он ре́жет хлеб ножо́м. — He cuts bread with a knife.
• Она́ откры́ла дверь ключо́м. — She opened the door with a key.
• Мы еди́м па́лочками. — We eat with chopsticks.
• Я плачу́ ка́ртой. — I pay by card.
• Ба́бушка мо́ет посу́ду рука́ми. — Grandma washes the dishes by hand.

English is doing you a favour here. Both meanings of this case come out in English as the same word, with — with my sister, with a knife. So many times you'd say with in English, you already know Russian wants the instrumental. The only thing left to decide is whether с goes in front of it.

And that decision is simple. Someone or something that comes along takes с. Something you use doesn't.

• Я ем с сестро́й. — I'm eating with my sister.
• Я ем ви́лкой. — I'm eating with a fork.

Both are with in English, both are instrumental in Russian, and the preposition is the only difference. Put с in front of the fork and you get Я ем с ви́лкой — you and the fork, having dinner together.

Instrumental endings: singular nouns

Masculine and neuter

Masculine nouns take ‑ом, ‑ем or ‑ём. Hard stem keeps a hard ending, soft stem keeps a soft one — the usual о/е swap, with ё when the ending is stressed.

Neuter nouns already end in ‑о, ‑е or ‑ё — the vowel you need is sitting there — so you only add ‑м:

After ж, ш, ч, щ, ц the о/е choice isn't about the stem at all — it's about stress. Stressed ending takes о, unstressed takes е:

• нож → ножо́м (knife)
• врач → врачо́м (doctor)
• муж → му́жем (husband)
• ме́сяц → ме́сяцем (month)
• това́рищ → това́рищем (comrade, mate)

This one is a spelling rule and nothing more. When the ending is stressed you can hear the о and you write what you hear. When it isn't, Russian reduces the vowel — so in speech nobody can tell which letter you chose.

Feminine

Same situation: hard stays hard, soft stays soft — with ‑ей when the ending is unstressed and ‑ёй when it's stressed.

And the same stress rule after ж, ш, ч, щ, ц: столи́ца → столи́цей, but душа́ → душо́й.

That last row is the one ending that doesn't follow any of the patterns above. Feminine nouns ending in ‑ь take ‑ью:

• ночь → но́чью (night)
• дверь → две́рью (door)
• пло́щадь → пло́щадью (square)
• жизнь → жи́знью (life)
• о́сень → о́сенью (autumn)

Exceptions

• мать → ма́терью
• дочь → до́черью
• и́мя → и́менем
• вре́мя → вре́менем

As usual, borrowed neuter nouns don't change at all: метро́, пальто́, такси́, кино́.

Instrumental endings: plural nouns

Here you can stop sorting by gender. Everything takes ‑ами or ‑ями — hard stem, hard ending; soft stem, soft ending.

Two forms to learn as vocabulary rather than as grammar:

• лю́ди → людьми́ (people)
• де́ти → детьми́ (children)

Verbs that take the instrumental

Some Russian verbs simply require this case, with no preposition and no English rule to predict them. Learn each verb together with its questions (кем? чем?).

Talking about hobbies and interests

Three verbs cover most of what you'd want to say about free time:

Other common verbs

Most of these end in ‑ся. Reflexive verbs can't take a direct object, so it needs another case to attach its noun to. For this particular group, that case is the instrumental.

Рабо́тать, быть, стать: what someone is or becomes

Compare these:

• Он врач. — He's a doctor.
• Он рабо́тает врачо́м. — He works as a doctor.
• Он был врачо́м. — He was a doctor.
• Он бу́дет врачо́м. — He will be a doctor.
• Он стал врачо́м. — He became a doctor.
• Он хоте́л быть врачо́м. — He wanted to be a doctor.

Only the first sentence keeps врач unchanged, and it's the one with no verb in it. Russian doesn't use "to be" in the present tense, so Он врач is two words standing side by side, and nothing is asking врач to change the case.

As soon as a verb turns up, the noun after it follows that verb, and this isn't only about jobs — the same thing happens with any word naming what someone or something is. Рабо́тать, быть and стать all take the instrumental, exactly the way горди́ться and по́льзоваться do in the tables above:

• Я был ребёнком. — I was a child.
• Она́ была́ студе́нткой. — She was a student.
• Мы бы́ли друзья́ми. — We were friends.
• Москва́ ста́ла столи́цей. — Moscow became the capital.
• Я хочу́ стать ма́мой. — I want to become a mother.
• Я хочу́ рабо́тать перево́дчиком. — I want to work as a translator.

У́тром, ле́том, но́чью: instrumental time words

Look at these words:

• у́тром — in the morning
• днём — in the afternoon
• ве́чером — in the evening
• но́чью — at night
• весно́й — in spring
• ле́том — in summer
• о́сенью — in autumn
• зимо́й — in winter

Now look at the endings, with the tables above still fresh:

• у́тром, ве́чером, ле́том — ‑ом and ‑ем, masculine and neuter
• днём — ‑ём, stressed
• весно́й, зимо́й — ‑ой, feminine
• но́чью, о́сенью — ‑ью, feminine ending in ‑ь

Every ending in that list is one you've just learned. These are ordinary instrumental forms that turned into adverbs long ago, so completely that nobody hears the grammar in them any more — you picked them up as vocabulary in your first weeks of Russian without knowing they were a case at all.

• У́тром я пью ко́фе. — In the morning I drink coffee.
• Ле́том мы е́здим на мо́ре. — In summer we go to the seaside.

Keep this list somewhere you can find it. When you're not sure which ending a word needs, these eight give you a worked example of almost every form in the case.

Russian uses the instrumental for stretches of time as well, and those are worth listening out for:

• Мы разгова́ривали часа́ми. — We talked for hours.
• Она́ рабо́тает це́лыми дня́ми. — She works all day, every day.
• В шко́ле мы года́ми у́чим англи́йский. — At school we spend years learning English.

The main idea is simple. English gives you a signal Russian doesn't: any time you'd say with, the instrumental is coming. All that's left is whether с goes in front — с for anything that comes along, your brother or the milk in your coffee, and nothing at all for the thing you're using.

The Exercises tab at the top of the page is there whenever you want to try the endings yourself. And if you'd rather practise them out loud with someone, you can book a lesson with me here — со мной, appropriately enough.