Russian case inflections, cheatsheet
This is my personal cheatsheet for Russian case endings.
Nominative plural
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| ends with -к/г/ч/ш/щ/х/ж |
→ |
+и |
| ends with another consonant |
→ |
+ы |
| neuter -о |
→ |
change to -а |
| neuter -e |
→ |
change to -я |
| ends with -ь/й/я |
→ |
change to -и |
Exceptions
| Word |
|
Nominative plural |
| дочь |
→ |
дочери |
| мать |
→ |
матери |
| брат |
→ |
братья |
| муж |
→ |
мужья |
| сын |
→ |
сыновья |
| друг |
→ |
друзья |
| дерево |
→ |
деревья |
| имя |
→ |
имена |
| город |
→ |
города |
| яблоко |
→ |
яблоки |
| профессор |
→ |
профессора |
| директор |
→ |
директора |
Accusative singular
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| neuter |
→ |
no change |
| masculine/feminine -а |
→ |
change to -у |
| masculine/feminine -я |
→ |
change to -ю |
| animate, ends with consonant |
→ |
+а |
| animate, ends with -ь/й |
→ |
change to -я |
Exceptions
I don't know of any exceptions. There are nouns with a removable vowel e.g. ребёнок → ребёнка, but this vowel removal applies across all case endings and otherwise follows the case ending rules.
Accusative plural
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| inanimate |
→ |
same as nominative plural |
| animate |
→ |
same as genitive plural |
Exceptions
None that I know of.
Prepositional singular
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| ends with consonant |
→ |
+е |
| ends with -ий |
→ |
change to -ии |
| ends with -й/а/о |
→ |
change to -е |
| masculine -ь |
→ |
change to -е |
| feminine -ь |
→ |
change to -е |
| ends with -ие/ия |
→ |
change to -ии |
| ends with other letter, then -е/я |
→ |
change last letter to -е |
Exceptions
| Word |
|
Prepositional singular |
| лес |
→ |
в лесу, but о лесе |
| сад |
→ |
в саду, but о саде |
| Крым |
→ |
в Крыму, but о Крыме |
| Клин |
→ |
в Клину, but о Клине |
| мать |
→ |
о матери |
| дочь |
→ |
о дочери |
Prepositional plural
General rules
These are the same as the dative plural endings, except that -м becomes -х.
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| nom. plural ends -ы/а |
→ |
change to -ах |
| nom. plural ends -г/к/х/ч/ш/щ/ц followed by -и/я |
→ |
change -и/я to -ах |
| nom. plural ends -и/я |
→ |
change to -ях |
Exceptions
None that I know of.
Genitive singular
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| masculine, ends in consonant |
→ |
+а |
| neuter -о |
→ |
change to -а |
| masculine, ends in -ь/й |
→ |
change to -я |
| neuter -е |
→ |
change to -я |
| neuter -мя |
→ |
change to -ени |
| feminine -а |
→ |
change to -ы |
| feminine -я/ь |
→ |
change to -и |
| feminine -ка/га/ха/жа/ча/ша/ща |
→ |
change -а to -и |
Exceptions
| Word |
|
Genitive singular |
| дочь |
→ |
дочери |
| мать |
→ |
матери |
Genitive plural
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| -ь |
→ |
сhange to -ей |
| -ж/ч/ш/щ |
→ |
+ей |
| masculine, ends in -ц unstressed |
→ |
+ев |
| masculine, ends in consonant |
→ |
+ов |
| feminine/neuter, consonant group (not -тв/гр/рт) followed by -а/о |
→ |
insert -о- or -е- in consonant group, drop -а/о |
| feminine/neuter, -а/о |
→ |
drop -а/о |
| -ия/ие |
→ |
-ий |
| nom. plural ends -ья unstressed |
→ |
change to -ьев |
| nom. plural ends -ья stressed |
→ |
change to -ей |
| -й |
→ |
-ев |
| -жка/чка/шка/цка/ька |
→ |
change to -жек/чек/шек/чек/ек |
| ends in consonant followed by -ка |
→ |
change to -ок |
| -йка |
→ |
-ек |
| ends in consonant followed by -ня |
→ |
change to -ен |
| ends in consonant followed by -я |
→ |
change to -ь |
| -анин/янин |
→ |
change to -ан/ян |
Exceptions
Dative singular
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| masculine, ends in consonant |
→ |
+у |
| masculine, ends in -ь/й |
→ |
change to -ю |
| neuter, ends in -о |
→ |
change to -у |
| neuter, ends in -е |
→ |
change to -ю |
| masculine/feminine, ends in -а/я |
→ |
same as prepositional singular |
Exceptions
No exceptions that I know of, except for the vowel-dropping nouns.
Dative plural
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| nom. plural ends -ы/а |
→ |
change to -ам |
| nom. plural ends -г/к/х/ч/ш/щ/ц followed by -и/я |
→ |
change -и/я to -ам |
| nom. plural ends -и/я |
→ |
change to -ям |
Exceptions
No exceptions that I know of, except for the vowel-dropping nouns.
Instrumental singular
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| masculine, ends in stressed -ж/ч/ш/щ/ц |
→ |
+ем |
| masculine, ends in consonant |
→ |
+ом |
| neuter -о |
→ |
change to -ом |
| masculine -ь/й |
→ |
change to -ем/ём based on stress |
| neuter -е/ё |
→ |
+м |
| masc/fem, ends in stressed -ж/ч/ш/щ/ц |
→ |
+ей |
| masc/fem, ends in consonant |
→ |
+ой |
| -я |
→ |
change to -ей/ёй based on stress |
| feminine -ь |
→ |
+ю |
Exceptions
| Word |
|
Instrumental singular |
| дочь |
→ |
дочерью |
| мать |
→ |
матерью |
Instrumental plural
General rules
| Case |
|
Inflection |
| nom. plural ends -ы/а |
→ |
change to -ами |
| nom. plural ends -г/к/х/ч/ж/ш/щ/ц followed by -и/я |
→ |
change to -ами |
| nom. plural ends -и/я |
→ |
change to -ями |
Exceptions
| Word |
|
Instrumental plural |
| дети |
→ |
детьми |
| дочери |
→ |
дочерьми |
| лошади |
→ |
лошадьми |
| люди |
→ |
людьми |
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