3.5 Ауди́рование – Adjectives

Adjectives in Russian

Directions:

Adjectives are words that describe nouns, sure. For Russian, they are also the words that answer the question Како́й?, which can be translated as ‘Which?’ or ‘What one?’, or ‘What kind (of)?’

Look, read, and listen to the following. You know most of these nouns. Now, let’s learn to describe them. Notice that the endings of the adjectives CHANGE, depending on the gender of the noun.

Each gender listed here has something ‘big’. NOTICE the various endings (spellings) for ‘big’:

• большо́й стол
• больша́я ру́чка
• большо́е окно́
  ————-
• больши́е чи́псы

Masculine

Masculine adjectives can be spelled -ый, -ий, or -о́й, depending on stress and final stem letter (a.k.a. “The 7 – Letter Rule”).

	Э́то хоро́ший рестора́н.
	Э́то ста́рый музе́й.
	Э́то интере́сный челове́к.
	Э́то большо́й го́род.

Feminine

Feminine adjectives can be spelled -ая or -яя, depending on hardness or softness of stem.

	Э́то люби́мая кни́га.
	Э́то краси́вая маши́на.
	Э́то больша́я страна́.

Neuter

Neuter adjectives can be spelled -ое or -ее, depending on stress and spelling rules.

	Э́то большо́е окно́.
	Э́то дома́шнее пи́во.
	Э́то краси́вое пла́тье.

Plural

Plural adjectives can be spelled -ые or -ие, depending on spelling of the stem (a.k.a. ‘The 7 – Letter Rule’)

	Э́то америка́нские джи́нсы.
	Э́то карто́фельные чи́псы.
	Они́ интере́сные лю́ди.