Jan 18, 20202 min read

Uses of the Genitive Case

Updated: Feb 12, 2022

To Denote the Possessor of Something

Собака профессора - Professor’s dog

Улица Чехова - Chekhov Street

Бутылка вина - A bottle of wine

To Express Quantity

1. After много, мало, несколько

Много работы - A lot of work

Мало книг - Few books

2. After numbers

Две книги - Two books

Три сестры - Three sisters

Пять яблок - Five apples

Семь помидоров - Seven tomatoes

Nouns after numbers from 1 to 4 are singular but those after 5 and above are plural.

3. After нет

У меня нет машины - I have no car

Нет компьютеров - There are no computers

After Certain Prepositions

1. Без / Without

Чай без сахара - Tea without sugar

2. Для/ For

Книга для студентов - A book for students

3. Из / From

Я из Москвы - I'm from Moscow

4. Около / Near

Я около банка - I'm near the bank

5. Напротив / Opposite

Напротив дома - Opposite of the house

6. Позади / Behind

Позади здания - Behind the building

The table below summarises the endings and uses of the Genitive Case.

For reference, I’ve included the Nominative Case (also known as a dictionary form) to compare the endings between the two cases.

For singular nouns, there are 2 sets of endings to remember in the Genitive Case:

а/я for masculine and neuter nouns

ы/и for feminine nouns

For plural nouns, there are 2 sets of endings to remember:

ов/ев for masculine nouns

ий/ей for feminine nouns ending in -ия/ь and neuter nouns ending in -ие in the Nominative Case

No ending for feminine nouns ending in -а and neuter nouns ending in -о in the Nominative Case

Adjectives

Test your grammar

Put the words in brackets into the genitive case.

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