الدرس الثانى
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The Cases of Russian Nouns
In Russian language the nouns change
their forms and get different endings. These forms (and their endings) are
called cases. The case of a noun shows what role a noun plays in the sentence.
Look at an example of how the word поезд
changes depending on the case:
много поездов (a lot of trains) - the
genitive
ехать поездом (to go by train) - the
instrumental
There are six cases in Russian:
nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional.
1.
The nominative answers the questions
"who?" or "what?". It is an initial form. All dictionaries give nouns in the
nominative.
Студент читает
The student is reading.
2.
The genitive is used to show that
something (somebody) belongs or refers to something (somebody). It can be
translated by "of" in English.
берег реки
the bank of the river
3.
The dative designates that something is
given or addressed to the person (object).
Я иду к врачу
I go to the doctor
Я даю это другу
I give it to the friend
4.
The accusative designates the object of
an action.
Я читаю газету
I read the newspaper
Я встретил друга
I met the friend
5.
The instrumental is used to denote an
instrument that helps to make something.
Я пишу карандашом
I write with a pencil
6.
The prepositional is used to designate a
place, or a person (object) that is an object of speech and thought. This case
is always used with a preposition.
Она мечтает о лете
She dreams about the summer
Цветы стоят на столе
The flowers are on the table
Very often the case of a noun is
connected with a preposition which stands before it. The nouns, adjectives,
pronouns and numerals may have different case forms in the sentence. Thus, to
understand Russian speech and speak Russian correctly, it is necessary to learn
how to use cases in Russian. You with ru4arab will learn more about cases in
further lessons.