"Drink tea or tea?" - the question of the partitiv in Russian

To drink tea or tea? How to speak? Someone will be puzzled by this matter between the case, for a moment, and will forget. And someone is interested in asking friends in social networks or in search of an answer picks through the Internet.

Anyway, there are people who would like to know the truth - in modern language, both variants of the named phrase are permissible? And how all the same it is correct to speak?

Which option is allowed in modern language

Using short phrases such as few (people-to people), a bag (sugar to sugar), a glass (tea-tea), where the dependent words are the masculine nouns of the second declension in the singular and in the genitive case, Russian people of past times chose the genitive case with The ending is y (-y ), with the quantitative value of the real nouns, the meaning of the part of the whole.

In the absence of a quantitative value, the form with the ending -a (-i) was used:

• The will of the people;
• Sweetness of sugar;
• Smell of tea .

According to the observations of linguists, in our days the forms with the ending - at (-yu) are declining, the value of the part of the whole is ignored, and the option of a "glass of tea " is completely usable and even more preferable than a "glass of tea " . The form with the ending -a (-y) having the adjective with a noun is especially reinforced:

• A glass of fragrant tea ;
• A pack of cane sugar.

However, in the word-combinations by type of control (with the dependence of the noun on the verb), the ending of the real nouns -y (-y), as a rule, is preserved:

• To pour soup;
• Pour off the tobacco;
• To drink poison.

Thus, the question of how it is right - to drink tea or tea - is resolved more definitely. But where does this duality of the genitive case come from?

Quantitative-separative case

Some languages (for example, Finnish, Estonian) are characterized by the grammatical case of partives, or the partial case, which serves to designate part of the whole.

In Russian, the partitive also takes place. Some prominent Russian linguists (AA Shakhmatov, VV Vinogradov, VA Bogoroditsky), it is designated as a quantitative-separative case. He is also called the second genitive, since not everyone recognizes the independence of the quantitative-separative case. He serves only nouns abstract and nouns with the meaning of reality. For example:

• The course is in motion;
• Fear - fear;
• Honey - honey;
• Tea and tea .

In the opinion of many, isolating the quantitative-separative case into an independent case does not make sense, because the use of its forms in -y (-y) has sharply decreased. Many of our contemporaries do not see sin when they say: "I want to drink tea." They simply do not break their heads over it. As they say, language develops. But for some reason, others doubt: to drink tea or tea?

How all the same it is correct?

Despite the liberalism of modern linguistics, writing down systemic grammatical errors on the development of language, the latter himself defends his own rules. And this is easy to verify. It is only necessary to give the diminutive form of the noun, considered above, and doubts in the version of their use fall away:

• Bring coffee;
• Put sugar;
• To drink a seagull;
• Pour brandy.

The genitive forms in -a (-y) are simply ridiculous. Similarly, definitely the second genitive is denoted in phraseological units:

• Without year a week;
• Set the pepper;
• What is the spirit;
• To heat up , etc.

So, it's easy to conclude. To drink tea or tea? Of course, tea.