Nouns in Russian change their forms depending on cases. A case indicates the role of a noun in the sentence (subject, object, addressee, instrument, place, etc.).
There are six cases in Russian:
- Nominative
- Genitive
- Dative
- Accusative
- Instrumental
- Prepositional
In this lesson, we’ll start with the Accusative case.
When you make an order, you need to use nouns in the Accusative case, as it indicates the object of the action. The letter ‘-а’ at the end of a feminine noun changes to a ‘-у’ ending, while other nouns don’t change.
Feminine nouns | Masculine, neuter, plural |
а → у | don’t change |
кола → Колу, пожалуйста. паста → Я буду пасту. вода → Можно воду*? *Note: here you need to change the accent, too. | чай → Можно чай? сок → Сок, пожалуйста. печенье → Я буду печенье. конфеты → Можно конфеты? |
NOTE! This is a basic rule and it applies only to inanimate objects. In the following lessons, we will learn a more detailed version of it.
Listen to the audio to hear the correct answers