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Normal Adjectives - Hard (“-ый”, “-ой”, “-ий” (but not “-ний”))

Hard Adjectives are by far the most common. Just substitute “-ый” for “-ой”, or “-ий” where
needed. (other table entries remain the same).
Feminin
Masculine Neuter Plural
e
Nominative Case -ый -ая -ое -ые
-ый 
-ые 
Accusative Case -ого -ую -ое
-ых (anim.)
(anim.)
Genitive Case -ого -ой -ого -ых
Dative Case -ому -ой -ому -ым
Instrumental Case -ым -ой -ым -ыми
Prepositional
-ом -ой -ом -ых
Case

For example, the word "новый" (new) ends in the letters -ый so we use the forms above.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural


Nominative Case новый новая новое новые
новый 
новые 
Accusative Case нового новую новое
новых (anim.)
(anim.)
Genitive Case нового новой нового новых
новом
Dative Case новому новой новым
у
Instrumental Case новым новой новым новыми
Prepositional
новом новой новом новых
Case

Normal Adjectives - Soft (“-ний”)

The soft form or normal adjectives is less common. It's for adjectives ending in “-ний”.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural


Nominative Case -ий -яя -ее -ие
-ий 
-ие 
Accusative Case -его -юю -ее
-их (anim.)
(anim.)
Genitive Case -его -ей -его -их
Dative Case -ему -ей -ему -им
Instrumental Case -им -ей (or -ею) -им -ими
Prepositional
-ем -ей -ем -их
Case

You will notice that the soft adjectives simply use the soft form of the first added vowel. ("ы"
becomes "и", "а" becomes "я", "о" becomes "е","у" becomes "ю"). Otherwise the hard and soft
forms are basically the same.

Remember that "его", and "ого", the "г" is pronounced like the english letter "v"

For example, the word "синий" (dark blue) ends in the letters -ий so we use the forular above.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural


Nominative Case синий синяя синее синие
синий 
синие 
Accusative Case синего синюю синее
синих (anim.)
(anim.)
Genitive Case синего синей синего синих
синем
Dative Case синему синей синим
у
Instrumental Case синим синей синим синими
Prepositional
синем синей синем синих
Case

Short Adjectives

The second main type of Russian adjectives are the ‘short form’. We don’t really have this form in
English, but we do use adjectives the same way.

The short form is generally used to make a statement about something. In English it normally
follows the word “is” or “are”. For example, “You are beautiful”, “He is busy”. Notice that the
adjective is not followed by a noun. The use of the short form is generally limited to such simple
sentences.

It is important to note that not all adjectives can have a short form, (but most do). One notable
example is русский (Russian).

Cases are not relevant when using short adjectives, as you only need the nominative case when
making such statements. The adjective should still agree in gender with the noun. Masculine
nouns just use the stem of the adjective in the short form. Feminine adds “а”. Neuter adds “о”.
Plural adds “ы” or “и”. If the adjective is masculine and the stem ends in two consonants, then
add a vowel (“о”, “е” or “ё”) so that the word is easier to read.

Masculine Feminin Neuter Plural


e
Short
- -а -о -ы or -и
Adjectives

For Example.

Feminin
Masculine Neuter Plural
e
Short
красив красива красиво красивы
Adjectives

http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/adjectives.php

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