Дружба дружбой, а служба службой.
Don’t mix friendship with business. (saying)
| Purpose |
We just keep going through cases and thankfully there aren’t that many left! We’re now going to look at the instrumental case, which is a relatively easy case to form. And thankfully the instrumental plural is even easier. That will however be in another post. Let’s start already!
| Formation |
The instrumental case is the fifth case in Russian. It answers the questions чем? and кем? Its purpose is to indicate the means by which an action was performed in a sentence. In addition, it has more – click here to learn them.
| Usage |
The purpose of this post is to teach you how to form the case. To learn about its usages, click here.
| Masculine |
| consonant + ом | магазин (store) стол (table) телевизор (television) | магазином – столом – телевизором – |
| –й becomes –ем | трамвай (tram) музей (museum) | трамваем – музеем – |
| –ь becomes –ем | учитель (teacher) писатель (writer) | учителем – писателем – |
| Мы сидим за столом и обедаем. We’re sitting at the table and having lunch. |
| Над телевизором висит картина Кремля. A picture of the Kremlin hangs over the television. |
| Feminine |
| –а becomes –ой | ручка (pen) нога (leg) | ручкой – ногой – |
| –я becomes –ей | неделя (week) | неделей – |
| –ь + ю | жизнь (life) ложь (rain) | жизнью – ложью – |
| Он наслаждается жизнью холостяка. He’s enjoying the bachelor life. |
| Она пишет левой рукой. She writes with her left hand. |
| Neuter |
| –е becomes –ем | море (sea) поле (field) | морем – полем – |
| –о becomes –ом | озеро (lake) небо (sky) | озером – небом – |
| Байкал – это озеро, но кажется морем. Baikal is a lake, but it looks like a sea. |
| За полем был густой лес. There was a thick forest beyond the field. |
| Peculiarities |
Pay attention to these peculiarities – exceptions! They are only slightly irregular.
| путь m. [path] | путём – |
| день m. [day] | днём – |
| словарь m. [dictionary] | словарём – |
| календарь m. [calendar] | календарём – |
| дождь m. [rain] | дождём – |
| ремень m. [belt] | ремнём – |
| огонь m. [fire] | огнём – |
| руль m. [steering wheel] | рулём – |
| статья [article] | статьёй – |
| земля [ground] | землёй – |
| семья [family] | семьёй – |
| Мы с семьёй отмечаем Рождество каждый год. My family and I observe Christmas every year. |
| Не суй нос в чужие дела. Ты играешь с огнём. Don’t poke your nose into other people’s business. You’re playing with fire. |
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And that’s how you decline a noun in the instrumental case. Be on the lookout for many more case-related posts.
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| Last Edit: 12/21/2025. |
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