| nom. | gen. | dat. | acc. | inst. | prep. |
In this post, we’ll be learning how to form adjectives in the accusative case. If you don’t know how adjectives function, please check out the nominative case of adjectives before reading onward.
| Purpose |
Adjectives are used to describe.
They answer the question какой? in the nominative. In the accusative, they answer the same question, but differently. Observe:
| какой? [what? what kind of?] |
| – | m. | f. | n. | pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | –ой? | –ая? | –ое? | –ие? |
| acc. | –ой? –ого? | –ую – | –ой? –ого? | –ие? –их? |
Confused? Let’s look below to see how these questions get answered.
| –Какая это еда? –Острая еда. -What kind of food is this? -Spicy food. |
| –Какую еду ты ешь? –Острую еду. -What kind of food do you eat? -Spicy food. |
There are many more examples below.
| Formation |
| – | Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | Plur. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | -ый | -ая | -ое | -ые |
| acc. | –ый –ого | –ую | –ое –ого | –ые –ых |
As you probably observed from the table above, there aren’t many changes – many coincide with the nominative case.
If you’re wondering why some genders have two endings, the answer is simple.
| In the accusative case only, there is a differentiation between living [man, person, boy] and non-living things [house, floor, screen]. |
Confused? See below for a clearer understanding.
| Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|
| Это интересный журнал. This is an interesting magazine. [какой журнал?] | Я читаю интересный журнал. I read an interesting magazine. [какой журнал?] |
| Это вкусная еда. This is tasty food. [какая еда?] | Я готовлю вкусную еду. I cook tasty food. [какую еду?] |
| Вот длинное письмо. Here is a long letter. [какое письмо?] | Я пишу длинное письмо. I write a long letter. [какое письмо?] |
| Вот интересные журналы. Here are interesting magazines. [какие журналы?] | Я читаю интересные журналы. I read interesting magazines. [какие журналы?] |
…
And now, what if we are referring to living beings [animate nouns]? This affects masculine, neuter [very rare – not shown in table] and plural nouns.
| These endings in the tables below refer to animate nouns only! |
| Good news! These animate endings coincide with those of the genitive. 🙂 Use them as a preview to mastering adjectives in the genitive case. |
| Вот вежливый парень. Here’s a polite guy. [какой парень?] | Я знаю вежливого парня. I know a polite guy. [какого парня?] |
| Вот вежливые парни. Here are [some] polite guys. [какие парни?] | Я знаю вежливых парней. I know [some] polite guys. [каких парней?] |
More example sentences for you to master these endings.
| В университете я изучаю европейскую литературу. I study European literature at the university. |
| Миша пишет грубые комментарии. Misha is writing rude comments. |
| София любит харизматического парня. Sofia is in love with a charismatic man. |
| Они держат красное ведро. They’re holding a red bucket. |
| Она покупает свежий хлеб на рынке. She buys fresh produce at the market. |
| Soft Adjectives |
Soft adjectives are far scarcer than hard adjectives in Russian. There are some 40 or so in existence.
| – | Masc. | Fem. | Neut. | Plur. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| nom. | -ий | -яя | -ее | -ие |
| acc. | –ий –его | –юю | –ее –его | –ие –их |
As usual, some examples for clarity.
| Вот утренний репортаж. Here’s the morning report. [какой репортаж?] | Папа слушает утренний репортаж. Dad is listening to the morning report. [какой репортаж?] |
| Вот утренняя газета. Here’s the morning newspaper. [какая газета?] | Папа читает утреннюю газету. Dad is reading the morning newspaper. [какую газету?] |
| Вот синее кальцо. Here’s a [dark] blue ring. [какое кальцо?] | Папа покупает синее кальцо. Dad is buying a [dark] blue ring. [какое кальцо?] |
| Вот синие чашки. Here are [dark] blue cups. [какие чашки?] | Папа держит синие чашки. Dad is holding [dark] blue cups. [какие чашки?] |
And some examples involving animate nouns.
| Кирилл искренний парень. Kirill is a sincere guy. [какой парень?] | Я знаю искреннего парня. I know a sincere guy. [какого парня?] |
| Кирилл и Фёдор искренние парни. Kirill and Fedor are sincere guys. [какие парни?] | Я знаю искренних парней. I know [some] sincere guys. [каких парней?] |
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Some examples utilizing soft adjectives. As you can see, it was tricky for me to come up with examples.
| Есть ли кто-нибудь, кто не любит вечерние прогулки? Is there anyone who doesn’t like evening walks? |
| Анна купит для себя вечернее платье. Anna will buy for herself an evening gown. |
| Я предпочитаю утреннюю пробежку. I prefer a morning jog. |
| Я предпочитаю летние месяцы. I prefer summer months. |
| Ты можешь назвать осенний месяц? Can you name a fall month? |
Want to test yourself? Take the accompanying quizzes.
And there it is – [just about] everything you need to know about adjectives in the accusative case!
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