When to use the genitive case with quantity words and numbers in Russian?

In Russian, you will most often use the genitive case for a noun that comes after a quantity word (e.g. “a lot of”), a measurement (e.g. “a cup of”), or a number (e.g. “three”). That means that if you want to translate phrases like “a couple of friends,” “a few cups of tea or coffee” or “several pieces of cake” into Russian, you’ll need to use a lot of genitive caseNo definition set for genitive 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.!

This use of the genitive in Russian is called the genitive of quantity. In this post, we’ll go through how and when you’ll use the genitive with different kinds of quantity words, first with quantifiers (words like “a lot” or “a few”), then with measurements (e.g. “a cup” or “a kilogram”), and lastly with numbers. By the end of this post, you’ll be an expert in answering the question сколько?[SKOLka](how many/much?)!

The genitive is always used in Russian with the following words indicating quantity:

Here are some examples of how it works:

As you may have noticed from the examples, the words in the genitive (nouns, adjectives, pronouns, etc.) may come either before or after the words of quantity, as the word order in Russian is far less strict than in English.

Now, how do you decide if you need the genitive singular or plural? Here, you may actually follow English in most cases and use plural for count nouns (things you can count, e.g. eggs, phones, people, bags) and singular for uncountable nouns (things you cannot count — usually they do not have plural forms, e.g. milk, knowledge, traffic, etc).

Of course, it would be too easy if there weren’t a few differences. Below are a few differences between Russian and English:

For example:

Since the genitive case is commonly used with quantities in Russian, it is also used with words that refer to a specific amount of something (e.g. a pound, a kilo, a piece) or to a container with something (e.g. a bottle, a spoon, a pack, a box).

Here are some examples:

The talk about the use of the genitive case with quantities would be incomplete without saying that it is also used with cardinal numerals, such as “three,” “twenty-five,” or “four hundred nineteen.” Here is the rule:

• Use the genitive singular after 2, 3, 4, and all numerals ending with 2, 3, and 4.

• Use the genitive plural with numbers 5-19, and all others that end with those digits.

For example:

You can find more details in our post on Russian cardinal numerals.

We need the genitive case of quantity in Russian:

• With quantifiers, like сколько[SKOLka](how much/many), много[MNOga](much/many), мало[MAla](little/few).

• With measurements, like “kilo” and words meaning “a container” of/with something.

• With numbers.

So now you know exactly why there are six examples of the genitive case in the phrase “a couple of friends, a few cups of tea or coffee, and several pieces of cake”:

If you’re ready to practice, try downloading the genitive of quantity activity sheet below! Happy learning!