Уро́к 8
8.3 Grammar: Adjectives get the Accusative Case, too!
Люби́мая Грамма́тика
Let’s switch gears for a second and return to one of the first cases you learned. What do you know so far about the Accusative case? Recall that masculine animate and feminine (ending in -а / -я) nouns decline. It turns out that the adjectives that modify these nouns also decline for Accusative case. Read the following dialog, paying specific attention to the adjectives. The first dialog shows feminine nouns and adjectives declining for Accusative case. The second and third dialogs show examples with masculine and neuter nouns and adjectives. What rule(s) can you deduce about adjectives in the Accusative case from these examples?
| -Вы слу́шаете му́зыку? | Do you listen to music? |
| -Да, я люблю́ му́зыку! | Yes, I love music! |
| -Каку́ю му́зыку вы лю́бите? | What kind do you like? |
| -Я люблю́ класси́ческую и совреме́нную му́зыку. А вы? | I like classical and modern. And you? |
| -Я не люблю́ му́зыку. Я люблю́ чита́ть. Я люблю́ литерату́ру. | I don’t like music. I love to read. I love literature. |
| -Каку́ю литерату́ру? | What kind of literature? |
| -Я люблю́ ру́сскую и францу́зскую литерату́ру. | I love Russian and French literature. |
| Вы лю́бите фи́льмы? | Do you like movies? |
| Да, я ча́сто смотрю́ фи́льмы. Сего́дня я смотрю́ о́чень интере́сный ру́сский фильм “12”. А вы? | Yes, I often watch movies. Today I am watching a very interesting Russian film “12”. And you? |
| Я не люблю́ фи́льмы, но я смотрю́ о́чень интере́сный америка́нский сериа́л “Игра́ престо́лов”. Вы зна́ете э́тот сериа́л? | I don’t like movies, but I watch a very interesting American show “Game of Thrones.” Do you know this show? |
| Вы лю́бите пи́во? | Do you like beer? |
| Да, люблю́, но то́лько холо́дное пи́во. Тёплое пи́во я не люблю́. | Yes, I do, but only cold beer. I don’t like warm beer. |
General Take-Away
Adjectives in the Accusative Case act a lot like the nouns they describe. Feminine adjectives must ‘decline’ for Accusative Case. The endings for feminine adjectives are -ую / -юю.
Adjectives describing inanimate masculine and neuter nouns, like the nouns they describe, do not undergo any change of endings in the Accusative Case. They do not decline, but an adjective that describes an animate masculine noun will. We’ll see more about this later.
The Rules
Adjectives describing feminine nouns that end in -ая in the Nominative Case change to -ую in the Accusative Case. These are hard-stem adjectives.
Adjectives describing feminine nouns ending in -яя in the Nominative Case become -юю in the Accusative Case. These are soft-stem adjectives.
Наприме́р
Hard stem:
- но́вая »» но́вую
- хоро́шая »» хоро́шую
- интере́сная »» интере́сную
Soft stem:
- дома́шняя »» дома́шнюю
