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How to use the accusative case in Russian?

By: Alisa Vereshchagin, Aleks Novikov Tue Sep 23 2025
Russian
Adjectives, Cases, Nouns

The Russian accusative is most commonly used to identify the of a sentence. However, this case can also be used in some time phrases, after some prepositions, to express a direction of movement, and more.

In this post, we will go over how to put Russian pronouns, nouns, and adjectives in the accusative case, then we’ll introduce you to the major uses of the accusative case. From there, we’ll direct you to further resources to learn even more! Read on to find out how you can use the accusative case in Russian!

How to form the accusative case in Russian?

To form the accusative case of a noun or adjective in Russian, you’ll need to replace the ending it has in the nominative case (dictionary form) with a special accusative ending, just like forming any case in Russian.

However, the accusative case is special in Russian because the endings you use for nouns and adjectives depend, at least partly, on whether the noun is animate or inanimate. An animate noun denotes a person or an animal, whereas an inanimate noun is a nonliving object.

Tip

Have a look at our post on animate and inanimate nouns in Russian to see a more in-depth discussion of this difference!

Let’s look at the following charts that illustrate how to form the accusative case of pronouns, nouns, adjectives, and numbers in Russian.

How to form the accusative of nouns in Russian?

The charts below illustrate how to form the accusative of Russian nouns.

Singular Nouns
Gender
Animacy
Rule

masculine

animate

ends consonant → add a

inanimate

no change

feminine

all

no change

neuter

all

no change

Plural Nouns
Gender
Animacy
Rule

masculine

animate

-ов

-ев
(singular )

-ей

(singular )

inanimate

no change

feminine

animate


( is removed!)


(singular )

-ей
(singular )

inanimate

no change

neuter

all

no change

As you can see, putting Russian nouns in the accusative case is a bit trickier than in other cases, as you will have to pay attention to the gender and number of the noun, as well as whether it is animate or inanimate. While animate nouns have a special accusative form, the accusative form of inanimate nouns will match the nominative (dictionary) form.

Tip

Do you recognize some of the endings in the tables above? As it turns out, the accusative form of a noun will usually look identical to either the nominative or genitive case. Only feminine singular nouns have an accusative form that is unique! Check out the pattern:

Accusative Form
Identical to…

Feminine singular

🚫 (it's unique!)

Other animate masculine and feminine nouns

Genitive case

Other inanimate nouns & all neuter nouns

Nominative case

As with virtually any other Russian case, there are irregularities and exceptions in formation of some nouns in accusative too, for example:

  • Feminine animate nouns ending in -ка will end with -ок/-ек in accusative plural:

    Nominative Singular
    Accusative Plural
    English

    кошка

    KOSHka

    кошек

    KOshek

    cat(s)

    студентка

    KOSHka

    студенток

    stooDYENtak

    female student(s)

  • Some masculine nouns ending in -ец will lose -е- before -ц- in accusative plural:

    Nominative Singular
    Accusative Plural
    English

    немец

    NYEmits

    немцев

    NYEMtsef

    German(s)

    леденец

    lidiNYETS

    леденцы

    lidinTSY

    hard candy/candies

  • Some animate nouns have accusative plural forms that just have to be memorized. Luckily these are the same irregular forms they have in the genitive case, so you only need to learn them once!

    Nominative Singular
    Accusative Plural
    English

    брат

    brat

    братьев

    BRATyef

    brother(s)

    друг

    drook

    друзей

    drooZYEY

    friend(s)

    мать

    mat

    матерей

    matiRYEY

    mother(s)

    дочь

    doch

    дочерей

    dachiRYEY

    daughter(s)

    сын

    syn

    сыновей

    synaVYEY

    son(s)

    сосед

    saSYET

    соседей

    saSYEdyey

    neighbor(s)

    семья

    simYA

    семей

    siMYEY

    family / families

    сестра

    sistRA

    сестёр

    sisTYOR

    sister(s)

How to form the accusative of adjectives in Russian?

The forms of accusative adjectives also have animate and inanimate forms — which one you use will depend on whether the noun you describe is animate or inanimate. Notice the difference in the endings here:

  • красивых актрис

    kraSEEvykh aktREES

    beautiful actresses

    actresses are animate
  • красивые книги

    kraSEEvye KNEEgi

    beautiful books

    books are inanimate

The charts below break down how to form adjectives in the accusative case. Notice that, usually, if a noun looks the same in the nominative and accusative, the adjective that describes it also will not change.

Singular Adjectives
Gender
Animacy
Rule

masculine

animate

-ый-ого

-ий-его

-ой-ого

inanimate

no change

feminine

all

-ая-ую

-яя-юю

neuter

all

no change

Plural Adjectives
Gender
Animacy
Rule

masculine

animate

-ые-ых

-ие-их

inanimate

no change

feminine

animate

-ые-ых

-ие-их

inanimate

no change

neuter

all

no change

What are the accusative forms of pronouns in Russian?

Here are the accusative forms of the Russian personal pronouns:

Accusative case pronouns
Nominative
Accusative
English

я

ya

меня

miNYA

me

ты

ty

тебя

tiBYA

you
(sg., informal)

он

on

его

yiVO

him

она

aNA

её

yiYO

her

оно

aNO

его

yiVO

it

мы

my

нас

nas

us

вы

vy

вас

vas

you
(pl. / formal)

они

aNEE

их

eekh

them

To learn more Russian accusative pronouns, have a look at this chart of Russian possessive and demonstrative pronouns in accusative.

How to use accusative numbers in Russian?

Like adjectives, accusative numbers in Russian often have animate and inanimate forms and the form you use will depend on the noun you are quantifying. For example:

  • Он купил три красивые розы.

    on kooPEEL tree kraSEEvyye ROzy

    He bought three beautiful roses.

    roses are inanimate
  • Они наняли трёх новых преподавателей.

    oNEE NAnyalee tryokh NOvykh preepadaVAteelyey

    They hired three new instructors.

    instructors are animate

Download our table of Russian cardinal numbers to see all of their different accusative forms.

Important

Recall that the form of a noun that follows a number in Russian is not always what you would expect. For example, all numbers ending in 1 (e.g. 21, 121,...) are followed by the singular form of the noun.

One rule is of particular note for using accusative numbers: When you use an accusative number that ends in 2, 3, or 4 before an inanimate noun, the noun and any adjectives that describe it may appear to be in the “wrong” case! Check out our post on Russian cardinal numbers for an in-depth discussion of this.

When to use the accusative case in Russian?

Now that you know how to put pronouns, nouns, and adjectives into the accusative case, let’s look more closely at when you should use the accusative case. Below we outline the most common uses of this case.

To indicate the direct object of a verb

In Russian, we use the accusative case to mark the direct object of a verb. The direct object is the noun that the action is done to.

accusative case

Он купил машину.

on kooPEEL maSHYnoo.

He bought a car.

Я ем персик.

ya yem PYERsik.

I am eating a peach.

This looks just like the nominative form, but it is still accusative!

Notice the difference between when you would use nominative vs. accusative case:

  • nominative case

    Большие города - это не моё.

    balSHEEye garaDA Eta nee maYO

    Big cities are not my thing.

  • accusative case

    Мой друг любит большие города.

    MOY DROOk LYUbeet balSHEEye garaDA

    My friend loves big cities.

Here is another example:

  • nominative case

    Потенциальные инвесторы заинтересованы в нашей фирме.

    patentseeALnyye invyestaRY zaynteereeSOvany v NAshyey FEErmye

    Potential investors are interested in our firm.

  • accusative case

    Компания ищет потенциальных инвесторов.

    kamPAneeya EEshchyet patentseeALnykh inVYEstaraf

    The company is looking for potential investors.

Tip

To say your name and ask what someone else’s name is, you also need the accusative case, because the sentence literally means “They call me / you / them / him” + name. For example:

accusative case

Меня зовут Саша.

meNYA zaVOOT SAsha.

My name is Sasha

lit. They call me Sasha.

Моего двоюродного брата зовут Саша.

maeeVO dvayuradnaVA BRAta zaVOOT SAsha

My cousin’s name is Sasha.

lit. They call my cousin Sasha.

Моих родителей зовут Вова и Люба.

maEEKH raDEEteelyey zaVOOT VOva ee LYUba

My parent’s names are Vova and Lyuba.

lit. They call my parents Vova and Lyuba.

With verbs of motion indicating motion toward something

If a verb of motion indicates movement toward someone or something, the noun that describes the destination will be in the accusative. This usually happens if the verb of motion is followed by the prepositions в[f](to, into) or на[na](on, onto, toward).

accusative case

Автобус направляется в столицу.

afTOboos napravLYAyetsa f staLEEtsoo.

The bus is heading toward the capital.

Я иду на остановку.

ya iDOO na astaNOFkoo.

I am walking towards the (bus) stop.

The accusative case is therefore also used to answer the question куда?[kooDA](to where?).

In some expressions of time

The accusative case is often used to express when something happens, how often it happens, or how long an action happens. Here we’ll introduce a few common time expressions that use the accusative case in Russian, but for a full discussion, check out our post on the accusative case for time expressions in Russian!

  • When using the preposition в[v](at, on), which indicates “at which day/time” something is being done, you will often (though not always!) use the accusative case. Here are some common expressions:

    • в полдень

      f POLdyen

      at noon

    • в полночь

      f POLnach

      at midnight

    • в эту минуту

      v Etoo miNOOtoo

      at that minute

    • в тот момент

      f tot maMYENT

      at that moment

    • в этот день

      v Etat dyen

      on that day

    • в это время

      v Eta VRYEmya

      at that time

    • в среду

      v SRYEdoo

      on Wednesday

  • We also use the accusative to say how often something happens:

    accusative case

    Мы ходим к стоматологу два раза в год.

    my KHOdim k stamaTOlagoo dva RAza v got.

    We visit the dentist twice a year.

    Мои родители каждую неделю приезжают к нам в гости.

    maEE raDEEtili KAZHdooyu niDYElyu priiZHAyut k nam v GOSti.

    My parents visit us every week.

  • Expressions of duration, which say how long something happened for, will also often be in the accusative:

    accusative case

    Саша всю весну страдала от аллергии.

    SAsha fsyu visNOO straDAla at alirGEEi.

    Sasha suffered from an allergy all spring.

    Я уже третий день не ем дома.

    ya ooZHE TRYEtiy dyen ni yem DOma.

    I haven’t eaten at home for three days already.

With some prepositions

The accusative case follows some uses of certain prepositions. We’ve seen some cases above where the accusative is used after the prepositions в/во[f/va] and на[na], however several other prepositions that can commonly be followed by the accusative. Here is a list:

  • в/во

    f/va

    to, at, on

  • на

    na

    to, for

  • включая

    fklyuCHAya

    including

  • исключая

    isklyuCHAya

    except, excluding

  • спустя

    spoosTYA

    later

  • про

    pra

    about

  • сквозь

    skvos

    through

  • через

    CHEris

    through, within

  • по

    pa

    up to, until

  • с/со

    a/ab

    against

  • за

    za

    beyond, before, on behalf of

  • под

    pat

    under

Important

Some of these prepositions can be followed by other cases as well. Whether you use the accusative after them depends partly on how the preposition is being used.

For a fuller description of when to use the accusative case after different Russian prepositions, with examples, check out our downloadable accusative prepositions table at the bottom of the page!

To give a reason for something

We commonly use the accusative to give a reason for some action. Often these reasons are introduced by the preposition за[za], which in this case means “for.”

accusative case

Спасибо за помощь.

spaSEEba za POmashch.

Thank you for the help.

Она любит футбол за его непредсказуемость.

aNA LYUbit footBOL za yiVO nipritskaZOOimast.

She loves soccer for its unpredictability.

Here are some common phrases that introduce accusative reasons:

  • спасибо за

    spaSEEba za

    thank you for

  • благодарить за

    blagadaREET za

    to thank for

  • наказать за

    nakaZAT za

    to punish for

  • ненавидеть за

    ninaVEEdit za

    to hate for

  • любить за

    lyuBEET za

    love for

To describe a distance covered

A noun that describes the distance someone covers without using numbers will also be in the accusative case.

accusative case

Я вчера пробежал марафон.

ya fchiRA prabiZHAL maraFON.

I ran a marathon yesterday.

Современные самолёты могут пролетать огромные расстояния.

savriMYEnyie samaLYOty MOgoot praliTAT agROMnyie rastaYAnia.

Modern planes can fly enormous distances.

In conclusion

In this post, we discussed how to form and use the accusative case in Russian. Here are the important takeaways:

  • The form of the accusative case in Russian often depends not only on gender and number, but also on the animacy of the noun (living or nonliving).

  • For all nouns, except feminine singular ones, the accusative will “match” the form we see used in another case.

  • The accusative is mostly used in the following cases:

    • For direct objects

    • For the goal towards which someone is moving

    • In certain time expressions

    • After accusative prepositions (when used for certain purposes)

    • To give the reason for something

    • To describe the distance covered in travel

Think you’ve got it? Try our Russian accusative case activities below. Or, if you’d like a great study resource, try out our downloadable accusative case tables!

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