Russian Accusative Case

Summary

The accusative case indicates the sentence's direct object, which answers the question “who or what is the action being done to?” It can also be used with prepositions to indicate an indirect object.

In-depth Explanation

How to Use the Accusative Case

The direct object of a sentence answers the question of "who" or "what" an action is being done to.

In English, the direct object is shown through the order of words. For instance, in the sentence “The author writes the book,” you know the direct object is “the book,” because the action is being done to it. If the nouns were switched, you end up with the nonsensical “The book writes the author.”

In Russian, the word order isn’t as important. Instead, the accusative case is used to indicate the direct object. Here’s the same sentence as in the English example:

Автор пишет книгу. (Avtor pishet knigu.) — The author writes the book.

In the Russian example, the word for "book," книга (kniga), uses the accusative case to show that it’s the direct object of the sentence. Unlike in English, you can place the word in another part of the sentence without changing the meaning:

Книгу пишет автор. (Knigu pishet avtor.) — The author writes the book. (Lit: “The book writes the author”)

Here are some more examples, with the word in the accusative case bolded:

Я люблю музыку. (Ya lyublyu muzyku.) — I love music.
Моя сестра нарисовала прекрасную картину. (Moya sestra narisovala prekrasnuyu kartinu.) — My sister painted a beautiful picture.
Он читает газету каждый день. (On chitayet gazetu kazhdyy den'.) — He reads the newspaper every day.
Она купила две машины. (Ona kupila dve mashiny.) — She bought two cars.
Девушка помахала другу. (Devushka pomakhala drugu.) — The girl waved at a friend.

Other Uses of the Accusative Case

Besides being used for the direct object, the accusative tense is also used with prepositions to indicate the following:

An object to which an action is done (with some verbs followed by “в,” “на”):

Мне нравится смотреть на огонь. (Mne nravitsya smotret’ na ogon’.) — I like to look at the fire.

Она влюбилась в моего друга. (Ona vlyubilas’ v moyego druga.) — She fell in love with my friend.

A moment in time, a day or short period of time when something happens (with “в”):

У меня урок в среду. (U menya urok v sredu.) — I have a class on Wednesday.

Directional movement, both literal and figurative (with “в,” “на,” “сквозь,” “через,” “за,” “под”):

Мой сын поступил в университет. (Moy syn postupil v universitet.) — My son has gotten into a university.

Мы идём на концерт. (My idyom na kontsert.) — We’re going to a concert.

Я прошёл через ворота. (Ya proshyol cherez vorota.) — I’ve passed through the gates.

A topic or theme (with “про”):

Этот фильм — про любовь. (Etot fil’m — pro lyubov’.) — This movie is about love.

Elapsed time: (with “через,” “спустя”):

Мы будем там через десять минут. (My budem tam cherez desyat’ minut.) — We will be there in ten minutes.

Physical contact (with “о”):

Не ударься головой о трубу! (Ne udar’sya golovoy o trubu.) — Don’t hit your head on the pipe!

With the preposition “включая” (“including”):

Пришли все мои друзья, включая него. (Prishli vse moi druzya, vklyuchaya nego.) — All of my friends came, including him.

With the prepositions “несмотря на” and “невзирая на” (“despite”):

Я приехал вовремя несмотря на пробки. (Ya priyekhal vovremya nesmotrya na probki.) — I came on time despite traffic jams.

There are more narrower meanings where the accusative case appears, but these are the most common ones.

How to Form the Accusative Case

The accusative case is unique in two ways:

It’s the only case that shares some of its forms with the “default” case, the nominative.
It’s the only case that, in certain situations, has separate endings for animate and inanimate nouns.

The accusative case is one of the most diverse in the Russian language in terms of endings.

Accusative Case Nouns

With that in mind, here are the noun endings for the accusative case.

Singular:

First declension (feminine and masculine nouns ending in -а, -я): -у, -ю, respectively.
Second declension (singular masculine nouns with no ending):

Animate: -a; -я