Common endings by gender and case, singular forms
Change endings based on role in sentence. Gender and animacy live here.
Match the noun's case, gender, and number. The noun is the source of truth.
Conjugate by person and number. No cases, no gender (except past tense). Aspect lives here only.
| Case | Singular ending | Example, солда́т (soldier) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativesubject / dictionary form | (none) -й -ь | солда́т |
| Accusativedirect object / target | (none, inanim) -а (anim) | солда́та |
| Genitiveof / belongs to / absence | -а -я | солда́та |
| Dativeto / for / recipient | -у -ю | солда́ту |
| Instrumentalwith / by means of | -ом -ем | солда́том |
| Prepositionalabout / at / in (after prep) | -е -и (soft) | солда́те |
Soft stem variant (e.g. учи́тель): -я / -ю / -е / -ем / -е follows the same pattern, just softened.
| Case | Singular ending | Example, ка́рта (map) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativesubject / dictionary form | -а -я | ка́рта |
| Accusativedirect object / target | -у -ю | ка́рту |
| Genitiveof / belongs to / absence | -ы -и | ка́рты |
| Dativeto / for / recipient | -е -и (soft/ь) | ка́рте |
| Instrumentalwith / by means of | -ой -ей | ка́ртой |
| Prepositionalabout / at / in (after prep) | -е -и (soft/ь) | ка́рте |
Feminine -ь nouns (e.g. ночь): genitive, dative, prepositional all take -и. Instrumental takes -ью.
| Case | Singular ending | Example, сло́во (word) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominativesubject / dictionary form | -о -е | сло́во |
| Accusativedirect object / target | -о / -е (= nominative always) | сло́во |
| Genitiveof / belongs to / absence | -а -я | сло́ва |
| Dativeto / for / recipient | -у -ю | сло́ву |
| Instrumentalwith / by means of | -ом -ем | сло́вом |
| Prepositionalabout / at / in (after prep) | -е -и (soft) | сло́ве |
Neuter accusative always equals nominative, animate/inanimate distinction does not apply.
Neuter accusative = nominative always. Masc/neuter dative and genitive share the same vowel (-а/-у hard, -я/-ю soft). Less unique information than the tables suggest.
After г к х ж ш щ ч, write и not ы. Looks irregular, is actually phonetic. Affects genitive and plural frequently.
Hard stems take -а, -у, -ом, -е. Soft stems take -я, -ю, -ем, -е. Same pattern, just one step softer. The stem tells you which column to use.
You don't memorize endings independently. You learn the gender once, then the ending is predictable. Gender = the key that unlocks the right row.
Whatever case, gender, and number the noun takes, the adjective matches. The noun decides, adjective agrees. Aspect lives on verbs only -- nouns never have it.
друг → друзья́, челове́к → лю́ди, ребёнок → де́ти. Small list, high frequency -- worth memorizing explicitly.