Table Of Contents
- Accusative: The Case Of The Object
- Accusative Prepositions
- Accusative Inflection Is A Question Of Life And Death
Accusative: The Case Of The Object
The main parts of sentence are the subject, the predicate (verb) and the object. The subject tells who is taking action. The predicate tells what is happening. The object, which always is in accusative case, tells the target of action.
ЕддардEdward is reading a book about the history of great houses.
The object is typically a noun phrase, where possible adjectives are also in accusative. A noun phrase consists of a substantive, pronoun or numeral and adjectives which qualify the main word.
The brothers of Night Watch wear black clothes.
In addition, some prepositions use accusative.
Accusative Prepositions
Many prepositions of location (в, на, под, о) can take two cases. When answering the "Where something is?" the following noun is in prepositional. When answering "To where something is going?" they use accusative.
Preposition | Meaning | Example | In English |
---|---|---|---|
в + accusative | into, to inside | Он
ушёл
с
соба́кой
во
тьму́. |
He took the dog outside to the dark. |
за + accusative | for, per |
Сила
и
че́сть!
За
орду́! Он
собира́л
два
ведро́
я́год
за
ва́хту.
|
Strength and honor! For The Horde! He collected two buckets of berries per trip. |
на + accusative | onto, to top of | По́сле
плавения
Арья
вы́лезла
на́
бе́рег. |
After a swim Arya climbed (out of water) to the beach. |
о + accusative | against | Он
ударился
голово́й
о
столб. |
He bumped his head against a post. ![]() |
по + accusative | up to, as far as (location) | Рыбак
бы́л
по
колено
в
воде́. |
Fisherman was knee deep in water. |
под + accusative | to under | Засунь
гра́дусник
по́д
мы́шку. |
Put the thermometer under your arm. ![]() |
про + accusative | about | Я
зна́ю
всё
про
э́ту
ситуа́цию. |
I know all about the situation. ![]() |
с + accusative | about one | ||
через + accusative | through | Ко́шка
не́
заметил
никаки́х
мышей,
когда́
оно́
ходи́л
че́рез
коню́шню. |
The cat didn't notice any mice while walking through the stables. |
через + accusative | after some time | Че́рез
два
го́да
её
котята
нача́л
лови́ть
мышей. |
After two years its kittens will start to catch mice. |
Accusative Inflection Is A Question Of Life And Death
The accusative form depends on whether the noun is aninmate like "mule" or "policeman" or inanimate like "stone" or "emptiness". For masculine and plural, the accusative form is like genetive for animate nouns and like nominative for inanimante nouns.
Singular accusative neuters are always like nominative ones.
Singular accusative feminine nouns have dedicated, perfectly regular inflection.
The same rules apply both to nouns and adjectives qualifying them.
Gender | Accusative | Example | In Russian |
---|---|---|---|
Animate Masculine | Like genitive | Остерега́йся
э́того
челове́ка. |
Watch out for that man. ![]() |
Inanimate Masculine | Like nominative | Вспомни
про́шлый
го́д. |
Remember last year. ![]() |
Animate & Inanimate Feminine | а -> у я -> ю яя -> юю ь -> ь |
Она́
ударилась
но́вую
маши́ну
о
си́нюю
две́рь. |
She bumped the new car against the blue door. |
Animate & Inanimate Neuter | Like nominative | Он
объясни́л
мне
де́ло. |
He explained the matter (inanimate) to me. ![]() |
Ры́царь
уби́л
ужа́сный
чудо́вище. |
The knight killed the horrible monster (animate). | ||
Animate Plural | Like genitive | Внача́ле
он
имити́ровал
знамени́тых
худо́жников. |
In the beginning he imitated famous artists (masc.). |
Терпе́ть
не́
могу́
таки́х
девушек. |
I hate girls (fem.) like that. ![]() |
||
Их
до́чь
говори́т,
что́
ви́дит
чудовищ. |
Their daughter claims to see monsters (n.). ![]() |
||
Inanimate Plural | Like nominative | Я
люблю́
ма́ленькие
го́рода. |
I like small towns (masc.). ![]() |
Он
продаёт
маши́ны. |
He sells cars (fem.). ![]() |
||
Запомни
мои́
слова́. |
Keep my words (n.) in mind. ![]() |