Here are the main uses of the Genitive case in Russian:
1. Construction of possession “У + Genitive + (есть)”
1. У брата есть машина.
My brother has a car.
2. У Наташи сегодня день рождения.
It’s Natasha’s birthday today. (literally: Natasha has a birthday today)
2. Negation with ‘нет’ (to negate possession or indicate absence)
1. У меня нет сестры .
I don’t have a sister.
2. В комнате нет стула.
There is no chair in the room.
3. Qualification of a noun (‘of’)
1. Это машина брата .
This is my brother’s car.
2. Он хорошо знает историю Москвы.
He knows the history of Moscow very well.
3. Это популярный магазин одежды.
This is a popular clothes store.
4. After prepositions ‘из’, ‘с’ (from)
1. Джон из Англии .
John is from England.
2. Обычно я езжу с работы на метро.
I usually travel from work on the subway.
The table below shows how to create the Genitive case forms of the nouns. Note that the table includes rules only for singular nouns. The Genitive case of the plural nouns will be reviewed in the next Unit.
GENITIVE CASE (SINGULAR) | ||
Gender | Nominative → Genitive | Examples |
Masculine -а/-я | consonant → add -а й or ь → replace with -я | брат → брата чай → чая слова́рь → словаря́ |
Neuter -а/-я | -о → replace with -а -е → replace with -я | молоко → молока море → моря |
Feminine -ы/-и | -а → replace with -ы -а after к, г, х, ч, ж, ш, щ → replace with -и -я or ь → replace with -и | машина → машины книга → книги семья → семьи |
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