What is the declension of nouns? Case in Russian

Not only school students and students of linguistic disciplines are wondering what is the declension of nouns. After all, literate speech and spelling are not the whims of teachers and not the privilege of philologists. On the question of what is the declension of nouns in Russian, you can answer in different ways, because this word has several though similar, but still different values. Let's start with a short excursion into etymology.

What is the declension of nouns?

To begin with, let us examine what the term is for the term. The word "declination" is a calque from the Latin declinatio, which means "deviation". This is not surprising, because inflection is a kind of anomaly in comparison with the basic form of the noun. However, the category "declination" means not only the process of word transformation itself. This is also a certain type of nouns, similar to vary in the same model. In Russian, there are three main declensions, but there are words that do not belong to any of the categories.

How do the nouns change?

The parts of speech that interest us, with a few exceptions, tend in number and in case. With the first criterion, everything is very simple - it shows the number of marked items. The number can be single and multiple. In the first case we are dealing with nouns, which denote only one thing. For example: a garden, hearth. The plural number includes words that point to several objects (gardens, foci). There are exceptions.

So, in Russian there is a place with a noun, which have the form of only a single number (the so-called singularia tantum). Example - milk, glory. Similarly, there are nouns that have only a plural form (which are called pluralia tantum). In this case, the following words can be cited as an example: darkness, scissors.

What is the declension of nouns with cases?

Now consider another possible change in the parts of speech that are of interest to us. To decline by case - this means to adapt the noun to use it with other words. This category also shows the syntactic role of the declined parts of speech in the sentence. In most cases, declining by case means changing the ending of a word. However, this ability belongs not only to this kind of transformation of nouns.

The term "case" comes from the Latin cadere - to fall. Allocate direct and indirect cases. The first of these is a "normal" version of the word. This is certainly a nominative, and in some cases an accusative case. The second is a "deviation" from the norm. This category includes all the remaining variants of declension of nouns.

What are the cases?

In total in the Russian case there are 6 possible variants of changing nouns for linking them with other words. The first of them is the nominative case. As mentioned above, this is the "correct", natural form of the word, in Latin it is called the nominative. The genitive case, called the genitive, indicates belonging to someone or something, the dative (dative) - the object to which the action is directed. Accusative is similar to the first, nominative, however, has its own peculiarity. It is used after transitive verbs to denote a direct complement. In Latin it is called an accusative. The instrumental case (or instrumentation) most often indicates a method, an instrument of action. In addition, it is used after such verbs: to direct, engage, own. And, finally, the last, prepositional case is a prepositional. He points to the place, time, subject of speech or thought, is used only with prepositions.

We have considered all variants of declension in the Russian language. There can be differences with other languages. So, for example, in English, nouns have only two cases. The first of these, the general one, is the customary way of using words. The second, possessive, indicates, first, only on animate nouns, which necessarily mean a living being. Secondly, the subject must belong to some thing, a sign or quality. The possessive case is formed with the help of a special ending - "s". In other languages, there are other features.

How to decline nouns with cases?

This is easy to do. It is enough to know the so-called case questions, which allow us to identify the Russian cases. The table below contains all the necessary data.

It should be pointed out that this information applies to all nouns of both singular and plural. Almost all words of the part of speech that we are considering tend to lean. But there are exceptions.

What nouns do not bow?

In Russian there are many words that have a foreign origin (for example, highways, blinds). Some of them do not change either by case or by number. In addition, they belong to the category of so-called indeclinable nouns. The surnames that end in -o, -yh (-ih) also remain unchanged. This category includes complex words (for example, deputy director).

What are declensions of nouns?

As indicated above, the term we are describing indicates not only the process of change and its path, but also the generalized types of words that have the same modification models. In Russian there are three declensions of nouns. To determine to which of them the specific word belongs, the grammatical gender and the ending in the nominative singular number help. You can visually see the current declination and their characteristics in the table below.

Are there exceptions to the rule?

Not all nouns fall under the description of any type of declination mentioned above. There are 4 exceptions. The first of these is the words that we have previously disregarded. The second exception is nouns, similar to adjectives. And they tend to the same as the latter. Such words are also called adjective declensions nouns. For example: a passer-by, a bathroom. The third curiosity is a different noun. Their feature is that in different cases they have endings that do not belong to one of the three types of declension. These include the words: path, burden, seed, udder, time and others. And, finally, the fourth exception is nouns, inclined as pronouns (draws).

How do words with the "half" component lean?

Such nouns have their own characteristics. In these words, the component "half" in indirect cases, except for the accusative case, changes to "semi-". The second half, that is, the noun, changes according to general rules. Do not incline complex words with the "half" component, in which the main part indicates an animate object, for example: half a horse, a half-horse.

Now, after considering all aspects of the topic in the smallest detail, you should take stock. Declination of nouns is a complex linguistic category, which means some specific model of word transformation, as well as the process of changing them by case and number. The basic rules of correct and competent declension should be known to children from the school's bench. And, of course, do not forget them, becoming adults, even if their profession is not connected with philology.