Уро́к 1
1.7 Грамма́тика – Plural Nouns
Грамма́тика
Watch the following videos and read over the texts to get into the nitty gritty of the grammar for making a noun plural in Russian.
I. Introduction
OK, you may have a feel for what’s going on here. We’re talking about something plural – how to say ‘catS’ instead of just singular ‘cat’. In Russian, the plural ending is either -ы, -и, or -а/я. The challenge is to determine when do you do what.
II. Plural of Russian Nouns
Nouns are typically pluralized by changing the ending of the singular noun. How the ending changes depends on two things: gender and spelling of the Nominative form of the noun.
- Masculine and Feminine nouns are usually made plural by adding -ы or -и, depending on spelling, to the end of the noun stem.
- Neuter nouns are typically made plural by adding а or я to the noun stem, depending on spelling.
III. Rules by Gender
Masculine Nouns
For masculine nouns:
- If the noun ends in one of these 7 letters: к, г, х, ш, щ, ж, ч, add -и to the stem.
- If it ends in a soft sign ь, or the soft consonant й, drop that final soft letter and add -и to the stem.
- If it ends in any other consonant, add -ы to the stem.
Feminine Nouns
For feminine nouns:
- DROP the feminine -а, -я, or soft sign ь ending
- ADD –и if the final stem consonant is к, г, х, ш, щ, ж, ч or ь (just like the masculine rule above.
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- Note: If a feminine singular noun ends in the soft series vowel -я then, the final stem consonant is soft and the plural ending is -и.
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- ADD –ы for any other final stem consonant (just like the masculine rule).
The 7 Letter Spelling Rule
Did you notice that for these masculine and feminine nouns, if the final consonant of the stem is one of the 7 letters mentioned in the rules above, you always add -и to make the noun plural? This is known as the 7-letter spelling rule and it actually applies EVERYWHERE in Russian. We see it first here on the topic of plurals.
к, г, х, ч, ж, ш, щ
Here are some examples by gender.
Masculine
- каранда́ш – карандаши́ pencil – pencils
- ключ – ключи́ key – keys
- эта́ж – этажи́ floor – floors
Feminine
- ко́шка – ко́шки cat – cats
- бума́га – бума́ги paper – papers
Finally, let’s not forget neuter nouns. The plural endings for these guys is actually different than masculine and feminine. Take a look:
Neuter Nouns
For neuter nouns:
- DROP the neuter ending –о, –е, or –ё.
- ADD -а if the neuter singular ends in the hard series vowel -о.
- ADD -я if the neuter singular ends in the soft series vowel -е or -ё
IV. SOFT ENDINGS and Neuter Nouns
Similar to the 7-letter rule, masculine and feminine nouns will get an –и plural if the singular form has a final soft consonant, indicated by a final –ь or –й for masculine nouns, or a final soft sign –ь or the soft series vowel -я for feminine nouns. Here are some examples by gender.
Masculine
- музе́й – музе́и ‘museum – museums’
- слова́рь – словари́ ‘dictionary – dictionaries’
Feminine
- тетра́дь – тетра́ди notebook – notebooks
- ви́шня – ви́шни cherry – cherries
- семья́ – семьи́ family – families
V. HARD STEM ENDINGS:
For ALL other, non-soft, non-7-letter endings, add –ы after the final, (hard) consonants.
Some examples are given below by gender and this list is not exhaustive. Not all possible stems are given here. Nouns may end in any hard consonant for a plural -ы ending.
Masculine
- компью́тер – компью́теры ‘computer – computers’
- стол – столы́ ‘table – tables’
- клуб – клу́бы ‘club – clubs’
- рестора́н – рестора́ны ‘restaurant – restaurants’
Feminine
- пи́цца – пи́ццы
- ла́мпа – ла́мпы
- актри́са – актри́сы
In conclusion…
There ARE some exceptions and oddities, OF COURSE, but you’ll do well to learn these rules here for now!
