Russian personal pronouns: What are they and how to use them?

By: Olga Maroz Tue Sep 23 2025

Pronouns

In Russian, personal pronouns are words like “it” or “you” or “they” that are used to replace a in a sentence. The Russian personal pronouns are:

я[ya](I)
ты[ty](you)
он[on](he)
она[anA](she)
оно[aNO](it)
мы[my](we)
вы[vy](you)
они[aNEE](they)

As in English, the Russian personal pronoun you use will depend on the , , and of the noun you’re replacing. However, Russian personal pronouns also come in different cases, meaning they change their form depending on how they function in the sentence.

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In this post, we’ll take you through the rules about when to use each pronoun in Russian and go over the rules for how to put them in different forms. Ready to have a look? Let’s do it!

What are the Russian personal pronouns?

There are eight personal pronouns in Russian and there are three persons in Russian: first (to talk about the speaker), second (to talk about the person being addressed), and third (to talk about someone else).

Number	Word	Translation	Person
Singular	я[ya]	I	1st
	ты[ty] / вы[vy]	you (informal / formal)	2nd
	он[on]	he; it	3rd
	она[aNA]	she; it
	оно[aNO]	it
Plural	мы[my]	we	1st
	вы[vy]	you	2nd
	они[aNEE]	they	3rd

Like in English, Russian personal pronouns are used to replace a or , in order to avoid repetition. For example:

Мите 10 лет. Он уже большой парень!
MEEtye DYEsyat lyet. On ooZHE balSHOY PAryen!
Mitya is 10 years old. He is already a big guy!
Где дети? - Они завтракают.
gdye DYEti? - aNEE ZAFtrakayut.
Where are the children? - They are having breakfast.

When to use ты vs. вы?

The Russian pronouns ты[ty] and вы[vy] are both translated using the English pronoun as “you.” So what is the difference?

We use the pronoun вы[vy] in two cases:
- to address a group of people (plural “you”)
- in formal settings, to address one or more people (formal “you”)
The pronoun ты[ty] is used only to address one person you know really well. Someone like a friend, close relative, or a child.

Compare the use of the informal and formal “you”:

Доченька, ты знаешь этого человека?
DOchinka, ty ZNAish Etava chilaVYEka?
Baby daughter, do you know this person?
Господин Смирнов, вы знаете этого человека?
gaspaDEEN smirNOF vy ZNAiti Etava chilaVYEka?
Mr. Smirnov, do you know this person?

Important

The pronouns of the second person ты[ty] and вы[vy] can denote both a specific person and an unknown person. For example:

Indicating specific person	Indicating unknown person
Ты идёшь с нами в парк? Ty iDYOSH s NAmi v park? Are you coming to the park with us? Вы хотите посмотреть фильм? Vy khaTEEti pasmatRYET film? Do you want to watch a movie?	Идёшь ты по городу, а тут такое! iDYOSH ty pa GOradoo a toot taLOye! You are walking around the city, and here it is! Много ли вы знаете о радиации? MNOga li vy ZNAiti a radiAtsii? How much do you know about radiation?

When to use он vs. она vs. оно in Russian?

Only third person personal pronouns in the singular form have a category of gender:

Masculine	он[on]
Feminine	она[aNA]
Neuter	оно[aNO]

It’s important to remember that, unlike in English, inanimate objects have a gender in Russian, so if you want to use a pronoun instead of a noun, you need to determine the gender of the noun first. For example:

Noun	Gender	Pronoun
дом[dom](house)	masculine	он[on](he)
мама[MAma](mom)	feminine	она[aNA](she)
машина[maSHYna](car)	feminine	она[aNA](she)
президент[priziDYENT](president)	masculine / feminine	он/она[on/aNA](he/she)
яблоко[YABlaka](apple)	neuter	оно[aNO](it)
время[VRYEmya](time)	neuter	оно[aNO](it)

The plural for all genders is они[aNEE](they).

президенты, дома, мамы, машины, яблоки → они

priziDYENty, daMA, MAmy, maSHYny, YABlaki → aNEE

presidents, houses, mothers, apples → they

Important

Usually the pronoun оно[aNO] replaces nouns. However, there is a small list of neuter animate nouns in Russian that can be replaced by the pronoun оно[aNO]:

животное[zhyVOTnaye](an animal)
чадо[CHAda](a child) → old-fashioned
насекомое[nasiKOmaye](an insect)
чудовище[chooDOvishchye](a monster)

For example:

Не трогай больное животное, оно может быть опасно!

ni TROgay balNOye zhyVOTnaye, aNO MOzhyt byt aPASnym!

Do not touch a sick animal, it can be dangerous!

Other tips for choosing the right Russian pronoun

There are a few more tips for choosing the right Russian personal pronoun, such as…

In Russian we usually say мы с вами[my s VAmi](we with you) or мы с другом[my s DROOgam](we with a friend), instead of saying “you and I” or “my friend and I.”
This happens to all pronouns or nouns in the phrase “someone and I.” For example:
Мы с семьёй любим отдыхать на море.
my s simYOY LYUbim adyKHAT na MOrye.
My family and I love to go to the seaside.
lit. We with family love to rest at the sea.
Also, authors of scientific texts use мы[my] instead of я[ya] as a manifestation of modesty, and because historically individualism in Soviet times was not welcome. For instance:
Мы сказали в начале доклада…
My skaZAli v naCHAlye dakLAda…
We said at the beginning of the report…
Sometimes we use personal pronouns figuratively to express certain emotions, like sympathy or anger. For example:
Как у нас дела?
kak oo nas diLA?
How are you doing?
lit. How are we doing?
→ A doctor might ask a sick child this. The pronoun is the form of мы[my](we) instead of ты[ty].
Ты только на неё посмотри!
ty TOLka na niYO pasmaTREE!
Just look at you!
lit. You only look at her!
→ When addressing a woman directly, the use of “her” instead of “you” implies the woman is doing something wrong. The pronoun here is the accusative form of the pronoun она.

How to decline Russian personal pronouns?

Each Russian personal pronoun can take on a variety of different forms, depending on its . The case indicates what role the noun or the pronoun that replaces the noun plays in the sentence, sort of like the difference between “she” and “her” in English.

The forms of personal pronouns are listed in all six cases below. Follow the links in the table to learn more about when you might want to use each case.

display text(dictionary form)	Header	Header
nominative (dictionary form)	я[ya](I)	ты[ty](you)	он /оно[on/aNO](he/it)	она[aNA](she)	мы[my](we)	вы[vy](you)	они[aNEE](they)
accusative	меня[miNYA]	тебя[tiBYA]	(н)его[(n)iVO]	(н)её[(n)iYO]	нас[nas]	вас[vas]	(н)их[(n)ikh]
genitive	меня[miNYA]	тебя[tiBYA]	(н)его[(n)iVO]	(н)её[(n)iYO]	нас[nas]	вас[vas]	(н)их[(n)ikh]
prepositional	мне[mnye]	тебе[tiBYE]	нём[nyom]	ней[nyey]
dative	мне[mnye]	тебе[tiBYE]	(н)ему[(n)iMOO]	(н)ей[(n)yey]	нам[nam]	вам[vam]	(н)им[(n)im]
instrumental	мной[mnoy]	тобой[taBOY]	(н)им[(n)im]	(н)ей[(n)yey]	нами[NAmi]	вами[VAmi]	(н)ими[(n)Imi]

The pronouns он[on](he), она[aNA](she), and они[aNEE](they) get the letter н[n] in the beginning of their forms in the genitive, accusative, dative, prepositional, and instrumental cases, only when they follow . For example:

С ними всегда весело!
s NEEmi fsigDA VYEsila!
It's always fun with them!
Какой музей! В нём так интересно!
kaKOY mooZYEY! v nyom tak intiRYESna!
What a museum! It's so interesting (to be in it)!

Summary

When using personal pronouns in Russian, keep in mind that we learned that…

In Russian there are eight personal pronouns: я[ya](I), ты[ty](you), он[on](he), она[anA](she), оно[aNO](it), мы[my](we), вы[vy](you), and они[aNEE](they).
- ты[ty] → informal singular “you”
- вы[vy] → plural “you” or formal singular “you”
- Whether you use он[on](he), она[anA](she), оно[aNO](it) depends on the grammatical gender of the noun you replace.
In Russian, we personal pronouns. You need to memorize all forms of personal pronouns in all six cases.

Now you’re ready to try out our Russian personal pronouns exercises! Good luck!

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