Nominative Case<\/h3>\n
The nominative case dictates that the noun is the main subject of the verb in the sentence. This noun answers the question of “who” or “what” did the action. The ending isn’t changed at all.<\/p>\n
Examples of nominative cases of nouns are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- \u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a (boy)<\/li>\n
- \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0430 (boat)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
In the remaining five cases below, you’ll see how the above nouns will change endings.<\/p>\n
Genitive Case<\/h3>\n
The genitive case indicates possession and implies that something belongs or refers to someone or something else.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
\u043b\u043e\u0434\u043aa \u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/strong> (the boy’s boat)<\/p>\n
Notice how we change the ending of the word “boy” from \u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a to \u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/b>. This indicates that the boat belongs to the boy. For sentences in this case, the owner of the object usually follows the object owned.<\/p>\n
Dative Case<\/h3>\n
Nouns used in the dative case signal that they’re the indirect objects of the verb, signifying that something is given or addressed to the object.<\/p>\n
Let’s take this sentence:<\/p>\n
\u043f\u0430\u043f\u0430 \u0434\u0430\u043b \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0443 \u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a\u0443.<\/strong> (The dad gave a boat to the boy.)<\/p>\n
Here, we would change the ending of the word “boy” from \u043a to \u043a\u0443.<\/p>\n
Accusative Case<\/h3>\n
The accusative case indicates that the noun is the direct object of the action. This can easily be confused with the nominative case, but there’s a clear difference.<\/p>\n
For example:<\/p>\n
\u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a \u0432\u0437\u044f\u043b \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0443.<\/strong> (The boy took the boat.)<\/p>\n
In this case, the boy is the subject of the verb, while the boat is the object of the verb. Therefore, the ending of the word “boat” is changed from \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0430<\/strong> to \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043ay<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n
Although word order isn’t always an indicator of cases in Russian, the direct object is typically placed after the verb and focuses on the noun to which a certain action happens\u2014in this case, the boat.<\/p>\n
Instrumental Case<\/h3>\n
The instrumental case shows that an instrument was used as a means to carry out an action. Think of English sentences where we use “with,” like “cut the butter with a knife.”<\/p>\n
However, in Russian, the instrumental case is typically used with the preposition<\/a> \u0441 (with), and there may not be a physical instrument involved at all, like in:<\/p>\n
\u043c\u0430\u043b\u044c\u0447\u0438\u043a<\/strong> \u0438\u0433\u0440\u0430\u0435\u0442 \u0441 \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0433\u043e\u043c. (The boy is playing with a friend.)<\/p>\n
Prepositional Case<\/h3>\n
The prepositional case designates an object, person or place that may be the subject of a speech or thought. The preposition \u043e (about) is always used with the prepositional case. The prepositions \u0432 and \u043d\u0430 can be used in this case as well, but watch out: you may also see them in the accusative.<\/p>\n
Here are some examples of the prepositional case with each of these three prepositions:<\/p>\n\n
![\"multitran\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/2\/multitran.png\")
<\/a><\/h3>\n![\"cooljugator\"](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/2\/cooljugator.png\")
<\/a><\/h3>\n![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/iTunesArtwork@1x.png\")
<\/a><\/div><\/span><\/h3>\n![\"FluentU](\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/InformationAdRussian.jpg\")
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