How to use the genitive case in Russian?

The chart below illustrates the general rules for forming genitive singular nouns:

Singular masculine genitive nouns are also sometimes formed using the endings -у / -ю, instead. These endings are used only in spoken Russian and only in some specific situations, like talking about the amount of something or in certain idiomatic phrases. To read more about these endings, check out our instructions for when and how to use the -у / -ю genitive endings in Russian at the downloads section at the bottom of this page.

The chart below illustrates how to put plural nouns into the genitive case. Note that sometimes an ending is dropped rather than added!

In Russian, we use a genitive adjectiveNo definition set for adjectiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. to describe a genitive noun. Adjectives in Russian agree in gender, number, and case with the nouns or pronouns they describe.

The chart below summarizes the adjective endings in Russian. Notice that they’re not the same as the noun endings!

Now it’s time to talk about what happens to the pronouns in the genitive case. Russian personal pronouns change by case. In the genitive case, they have the following forms:

In Russian, the owner or possessor of something else is always genitive. This means that, in Russian, we use genitive case for the possessor in possessive noun phrases (e.g. “John’s book”) and for the possessor in “have” sentences (e.g. “John has a book.”)

In Russian, as in English, a “possessor” can be a noun that literally owns something, but “having” and “possessing” can also be more abstract. We also use a possessive phrase when there are other relationships between nouns, for example:

• Part and whole:

  крыша сарая

  KRYsha saRAya

  the roof of the barn

• A thing and its qualities:

  глубина моря

  gloobiNA MOrya

  the depth of the sea

• A container and its contents:

  бутылка воды

  booTYLka vaDY

  a bottle of water

• An action and its object:

  открытие галереи

  atKRYtiye galiRYEi

  the opening of the gallery

• A thing and its namesake:

  улица Пушкина

  OOlitsa POOSHkina

  Pushkin Street

• A person who does a job and the person the job is done for:

  юрист мужа

  yuREEST MOOzha

  husband's lawyer

• A place with a function and person who uses it:

  школа танцев

  SHKOla TANtsef

  dancing school

Want to see more examples and discussion of this use of the genitive? Check out our article on the genitive case of possession in Russian!

We also frequently use the genitive case to mark a noun that is absent.

We mostly use the genitive case of absence with the negative versions of the verb быть[byt](to be / to have):

• нет

  nyet

  isn't / do not have

• не было

  NYE byla

  wasn't / didn't have

• не будет

  nye BOOdit

  won't be / have

You’ll use the genitive after these expressions if you are saying that:

• Something doesn’t exist

  negative wordgenitive case

  Раньше в этом городе не было хороших ресторанов.

  RANshe v Etam GOradye NEbyla khaROshikh ristaRAnaf.

  There were not good restaurants in this city before.

• Someone doesn’t have something

  negative wordgenitive case

  У меня нет большого дома , новой машины и современных гаджетов.

  oo miNYA nyet balSHOva DOma, NOvay maSHYny ee savriMYEnykh GAdzhytaf.

  I do not have a big house, new car, or modern gadgets.

  lit. A big house, new car, or modern gadgets are not very near me.

There are also a few other negated verbs that express similar meanings and also take genitive objectsNo definition set for objectsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum..

In Russian, we use the genitive after quantity words, for example:

We also often use the genitive case after cardinal numbers as well, as below:

In Russian, there are many prepositions which trigger the genitive case. This means that when you use these prepositions, their object will be in the genitive. Here are some examples in the context:

To learn more, have a look at our article on genitive prepositions in Russian, or download the list of genitive prepositions at the bottom of this page!

Because the genitive is associated with quantity, possession, and prepositions, we often use it to express times and dates. For example:

To get a full picture of when you should use this case to express the time or the date check out our posts on how to say the date in Russian and how to give the time of day in Russian.

When we compare two objects, use the genitive case for the noun that comes after the comparative form of the adjective.

Some Russian verbs, like добиваться[dabiVATsya](to achieve, to succeed) or бояться[baYATsya](to be afraid of) require their objectNo definition set for objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. to be in the genitive case:

You can download a list of common Russian verbs that take a genitive object from the bottom of this page!

In Russian, the “partitive” genitive is applied to the direct object of a verb that usually takes the accusative caseNo definition set for accusative caseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. as a way to imply that the action applied to only “some” or “part” of the direct object. You’ll most often hear this in spoken language when someone is expressing that they want just some of something, not the whole thing. You still should use the accusative if you refer to “the whole” amount and not just a part of it. For example: