Cases

In Russian nouns, adjectives, pronouns and possessive pronouns change their forms and/or endings depending on what role they play in the sentence. The different forms of these words, and/or their endings, are called cases. There are a total of six cases in the Russian language.

Download the 6 Russian Case Sheets:

Case Overview and Explanations

Below you will find explanations for each case, please keep in mind the goal of this lesson is to introduce the cases of Russian nouns so this is not a thorough study of the grammar.

Now, let's look at an example of how the word брат changes depending on the case.

дать брату (to give to a brother) - dative case
с братом (with brother) - instrumental case
много братьев (a lot of brothers) - genitive case

Yes, the word брат changes its form based on how it is used, that's an example of word brat in different cases. There are six cases in Russian: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and prepositional. Below is an overvew of them, please click on the name of each case to learn how to use and identify it.

1. The nominative case answers the questions "who?" or "what?". It is the standard form of words found in dictionaries. The subject of the sentence.

Брат читает brother is reading.

брат --> брат (no change)

2. The accusative case designates the direct object of an action.

Я читаю газету I read the newspaper
Я встретил друга I met the friend

газета --> газету (the ending -а becomes -у)
друг --> друга (the ending -а is added)

3. The dative case designates that something is given or addressed to the person (indirect object).

Я иду к врачу I go to the doctor
Я даю это другу I give it to the friend

врач --> врачу (the ending -у is added)
друг --> другу

4. The instrumental case is used to denote an instrument that helps to make something, often used with "c" preposition indicating with something or with someone.

С Богом всё возможно With God all things are possible

Я пишy карандашом I write with a pencil

карандаш --> карандашом (the ending -ом is added)

5. The genitive case is used to show that something (somebody) belongs or refers to something (somebody). It can be translated by "of" in English.

Слово Бога the word of God
Бог --> Бога (adding an -a to the consonant)

цвет машины the color of the car
машина --> машины (the ending -a becomes -ы)

6. The prepositional case 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

лето --> лете (the ending -о becomes -е)
стол --> столе (the ending -е is added)

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.

Don't worry if this doesn't sink in right away, focus on using the phrases that you do understand, and speaking them regularly, these technical explanations will start making sence in time. There was a time when we were babies and only could say "ga-ga-gu-gu" but in time we started saying words, phrases and sentences. We did not do this by studying grammar but by listening, thinking and repeating. Focus on interacting with the natives, perhaps trying to listen and then repeating what they say. Be patient with yourself, as language usually takes years to learn. Continue putting to use what you learn, including any new phrases, by speaking these and you will see improvement in due time (Galatians 6:9).