Re: Cases, part 5

I've been focusing on the genitive case because the accusative case is identical to either the nominative or genitive forms for all masculine and neuter nouns. However, the accusative and genitive cases are distinct for feminine nouns. I think I'll still keep going with the genitive case, though, just to be consistent.

According to our lovely chart, feminine nouns end in either "-ы" or "-и." If the feminine noun ends in "-я" or "-ь," then the genitive ending is "-и." If the feminine noun ends in "-a," then the genitive ending is "-ы." Oh, and remember that Spelling Rule #1 applies. (Well, Spelling Rule #2 applies, too, but it's a moot point.)

For homework, give me the following feminine words in the genitive case:

автократия
аспирантка
виза
гласность
замена
книга
мебель
надежда
неделя
ночь
русалка
сирена

For extra credit, explain to me why Spelling Rule #2 is a moot point.

Re: Cases, part 4

On to the neuter case!

According to the chart, neuter singular nouns in the genitive case can end in "-a" or "-я," just like the masculine case. The basic rule is that neuter nouns which end in "-o" change that last vowel to "-a" and nouns which end in "-e" change that last vowel to "-я." However, at this point I must introduce you to two of Russian's Spelling Rules. (There's also a third one, but it doesn't apply in this situation.) This is one of them:

1. Stems terminating in г, к, х, ж, ш, щ are never followed by ы, ю, я, but by и, у, а [respectively].

2. Stems terminating in ц are never followed by и, ю, я, but by ы, у, а [respectively].

In our situation, this means that if we have a noun which end in "-гe," "-кe," "-хe," "-жe," "-шe," "-щe," or "-цe," the "-e" cannot change to "-я," but has to change to "-a."

So. Look at the noun, see if it ends in "-o." If it does, replace that letter with "-a" to form the genitive singular. If the noun ends in "-e," check first to see if the spelling rule applies. If the rule does apply, then change the "-e" to "-a." If the rule doesn't apply, change the "-e" to "-я."

For homework, give me the genitive singular forms of all of these neuter singular nouns:

блюдо
ведро
желание
логовище
мoре
окно
поле
прочитение
стремление
училище
хранилище
яйцо

Re: Cases, part 3

As promised, here are some more posts about forming the accusative case. According to the chart, the accusative form of masculine singular nouns is identical to the nominative form for inanimate objects, and identical to the genitive form for animate objects. Masculine singular nouns in the genitive case end in either "-a" or "-я." If the noun ends in "-ь" or "-й," in the nominative case, that letter is stripped off and replaced with "-я." If the noun ends in any other consonant, then add "-a" to form the genitive case. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, it's that simple.

Here's your homework. Give me the genitive singular forms of all of these masculine nouns in the nominative case:

аспирин
больной
дневник
корабль
круг
настой
огонь
повелитель
случай
читатель