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Accusative case
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The Accusative case is the second most

common grammatical case in Russian. It
is mainly used to identify a word as being
the object of a verb, such as the word
'him' in the sentence "She likes him". In
English, this is denoted by the objective
case. Other uses of the accusative case
are after some common prepositions,
such as в + acc, 'into', or на + acc, 'onto'.
Usage
As mentioned above, the primary use of
the accusative case is to denote the
object of a verb. The indirect object ('I
write a letter to you ') is denoted by the
dative case. English has a case called the
objective case, so called because it
denotes the object of verbs. However,
words in the English objective case are
largely the same as when they're the
subject of a verb (i.e., in the subjective
case). Thus, English uses word order to
denote what's the subject and object of a
verb: though 'cats' and 'dogs' remain the
same in "cats hate dogs" and "dogs hate
cats", word order denotes which is the
subject and which is the object.

In Russian, there is a very definite case

system which denotes what's what in a
sentence. Since Russians don't have to
rely as much on word order to convey
grammatical information, they can move
words around more freely than in English.
Word order instead denotes emphasis;
whatever is on the end of a sentence is
what's being emphasised. That said,
Russians typically use a 'Subject Object
Verb' construct by default, placing
emphasis on the verb. So you would
often see the sentence "I speak to her" as
Я ей говорю, even though other
permutations like Ей говорю я or Я
говорю ей are grammatically correct.

In practice, though you can use the

'Subject Verb Object' system of English
and still be understood, it pays to be
aware that Russians don't always
construct sentences that way. Thus, a
good understanding of the Russian case
system is essential.

I like dogs - Я люблю собак - English

'SVO' word order; usual Russian word
order
I like dogs - Собак люблю я -
Emphasis on 'I'
I like dogs - Я собак люблю -
Emphasis on 'like'
 I like dogs - Я люблю собак -
Emphasis on 'dogs'; same as English
word order

The other use of the accusative case is

with two major prepositions: в and на.
When followed by the accusative case, в
means 'to' or 'into', as in 'I walked into the
house' (Я шёл в дом), and на means
'onto' or 'toward', as in 'I walked onto the
street' (Я шёл на улицу). However, both
prepositions can also use the
prepositional case: в + prep means 'in' or
'at', as in 'I lived in London' (Я жил в
Лондоне), and на + prep means 'upon' or
'at', as in 'It's on the table' (Оно на
столе). The accusative and prepositional
uses are similar, though generally the
accusative case denotes direction ('I
walked towards the hotel'), while the
prepositional case denotes location ('I
stayed at this hotel').

I walked towards the hotel. - Я шла в

гостиницу. - note the use of the
accusative ending -у
I lived at the hotel. - Я жила в
гостинице. - note the use of the
prepositional ending -е
He walked onto the roof. - Он шёл
на крышу.
He is on the roof. - Он на крыше.

Nouns
The accusative case is a peculiar case in
Russian, as it makes a distinction that
other cases do not. Specifically, if a
masculine word denotes an inanimate
thing ('table', 'chair', etc), then it remains
the same as the nominative. If, however,
a masculine word denotes a person or
animal ('man', 'son', 'cow', etc), then the
case uses the endings of the genitive
case. For plurals in the accusative, no
matter what gender the word, they are
also split: any plural word that's
inanimate is identical to its nominative
plural form, while animate plural words
follow the rules for the genitive plural.
Some examples highlighting this
distinction are as follows:
 This chair is brown. - Этот стул
коричневый. - Nominative of an
inanimate noun
I made a chair. - Я де́лал стул. -
Accusative of the noun
This cat likes me. - Этот кот любит
меня. - Nom. of an animate noun
I like this cat. - Я люблю этого кота.
- Acc. of the noun
These women like me. - Эти
женщины любят меня. - Nom. of
an animate, plural, feminine noun
I like these women. - Я люблю этих
женщин. - Acc. of the noun

So, masculine nouns denoting inanimate

objects in the accusative case are the
same as in the nominative case. If they're
animated nouns, they follow the genitive
rules, which are: add -а, and replace -й
and -ь with -я.

Neuter nouns, regardless of animation,

also keep their nominative forms in the
accusative case.

Feminine words are the only words to

have their own accusative ending: -а
becomes -у, and -я becomes -ю.
Feminine nouns ending in the soft sign -ь
do not change.

To form the plural of an inanimate word,

use the nominative rules: add or replace
with -ы or -и, and neuter nouns change -
o to -а and -e to -я. If the word is
animate, regardless of gender, use the
genitive plural: drop -а and -о, convert or
append ending consonants with -ов, -ев,
or -ей, and replace -я with -ь or -й.

This summary table splits the masculine

and plural forms into two sections, the
left being the inanimate form, the right
being the animate form.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

+a, -я у, ю, ь о, е ы, и, etc ов, ев, etc

Accusative
As nom. As gen. As nom. As nom. As gen.

Examples:

Dogs hate cats. - Собаки

ненавидят котов.
 Cats hate dogs. - Коты ненавидят
собак.
I drove to the museum. - Я поехал в
музей.

Adjectives
Adjectives change to fit the noun they
modify, taking on their noun's gender,
number, and case. This also includes
animation: adjectives modifying
inanimate masculine nouns keep their
nominative form (ый, ий, and ой), while
animate masculine adjectives take on
their genitive form (ого and его).

Neuter adjectives also keep their

nominative form (ое and ее).
Feminine adjectives in the accusative
case have the ending (ую and юю) - this
is easy to remember, as it's the two
endings of feminine nouns in the
accusative.

Plural adjectives take on their nominative

form (ые and ие) when modifying
inanimate nouns, and their genitive form
(ых and их) when modifying animate
nouns, as you might have guessed.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Accusative ый, ий, ой ого, его ую, юю ое, ее ые, ие ых, их

As nom. As gen. As nom. As nom. As gen.

Examples:

Я люблю этот коричневый стол. - I

like this brown desk.
 Он любит своего доброго брата. -
He loves his kind brother.
Мы слушаем последнюю музыку.
- We are listening to the latest
music.
Анна встретила новую
учительницу. - Anna met the new
teacher.
Они любят Каспийское море. -
They like the Caspian Sea.
Купи, пожалуйста, свежие
фрукты.- Please, buy fresh fruits.
Мужчины уважают этих
талантливых женщин. - Men
respect these talented women.

Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns conjugate as follows:

Nominative Accusative

I/me Я Меня

We/our Мы Нас

You Ты Тебя

You Вы Вас

He/him Он Его

She/her Она Её

It Оно Его

They/them Они Их

Notice that the third-person singular

masculine and neuter pronouns are the
same word, его, and, like the genitive
adjectival ending, it is pronounced ye-
VOH. The third-person personal
pronouns, его, её, and их, are the same
as those in the genitive.

Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns act like adjectives,
changing to suit the noun they modify,
and thus, in the accusative case, make a
distinction between animation. Like
before, masculine and plural pronouns
are split into inanimate forms on the left,
and animate forms on the right.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

My Мой Моего мою Моё Мои Моих

Your (informal/single) Твой Твоего твою Твоё Твои Твоих

Our Наш Нашего нашу Наше Наши Наших

Your (formal/plural) Ваш Вашего вашу Ваше Ваши Ваших

For the third-person, the masculine and

neuter possessive pronouns are the
same as the personal pronouns: его. The
feminine is её, and the third-person plural
is их. These do not decline according to
the gender or number of the modified
noun.

Examples:

I want his cat - Я хочу его кота

I want his cats - Я хочу его котов

Prepositions
As well as the two major prepositions, в
and на, there are a total of ten
prepositions that can call the accusative
case: в, на, за, под, по, с, про, о, сквозь,
and через. Мany of these can also call
other cases to denote other things.

Direction of motion, в, на, за,

& под
Four prepositions refer to the direction of
movement, and generally answer the
directional question, Куда?, "Where (are
you going)?". They can also call either the
instrumental or prepositional case to
answer the location question, Где?,
"Where (are you)?". In depth, these four
are:

В, 'into' - as discussed earlier, this

preposition states that something is
moving into something else, such as 'I
walk into the building'. It can also call
the prepositional case to say you are in
somewhere, such as 'I'm in the theatre'.
На, 'onto' - as discussed earlier, this
denotes onto which something is
moving, such as 'I'm landing onto the
roof'. Like в, if it calls the prepositional,
it states what you are upon: 'I'm on the
roof'.
За, 'behind' - this denotes that you are
moving to the rear of something, as in
'I'm walking behind the building'. If it
calls the instrumental case, it denotes
that you are behind something, as in
'I'm behind the building'.
Под, 'under' - like за, this denotes that
you are moving to the underside of
something. By calling the instrumental
case, it denotes that you are under
something, as in 'I'm under the bridge'.
Под also has three minor, unrelated
 uses for which it calls the accusative
case: to denote something as being
'designated' for something else ('That
bar is designated for celebrities'), to
denote something fake ('artificial
furniture', под обстановку), or to
denote an approximate time ('around
the evening', под вечер)

The remaining six: по, с, про,

о, сквозь, через

The remaining six prepositions operate

as follows:

Про, 'about' - this preposition means

'about', in the same way as о + prep
does. So, 'Let's talk about me!' can be
translated as either, Давайте
говорить обо мне! (о + prep), or,
Давайте говорить про меня! (про +
acc).
С, 'about' - this preposition denotes an
approximate number, as in 'I stayed
there about a week'. When stating
specific numbers, such as "I have five
apples", Russians normally say, У меня
есть пять яблок. To approximate the
quantity, simply reverse the number
and object: "I have about five apples" is
У меня есть яблок пять. However, as
Russian omit the word 'one', to say
'about one', you use с + acc: "I have
about one apple" is У меня есть с
яблоко.
По, 'up to' - this means 'up to' in the
context of the extent of an object's
involvement, relative to some other
object. For example, 'I'm up to my neck
in work' is Я по шею в работе. It is
also used in the same way as по + dat
to denote several verbal objects: "Dad
gave the kids two apples each" - Папа
дал детям по два яблока.
О, 'against' - this means 'against' in a
physical sense, such as 'They hit their
ball against the tree'. О + prep means
'about', in the same way as про + acc.
Сквозь, 'through' - this denotes the
object through which another passes,
as in 'The ball went through the
window!'.
Через, 'through'/'across' - the final
preposition has two main meanings.
The first is synonymous with сквозь +
acc, meaning 'through', and the second
is to move 'across' something, as in 'I
walked through the woods' - Я шёл
через лес. The verbal prefix пере- is
synonymous with this preposition, so
через can be omitted when a verb with
this prefix is used. For example, both
of the following are grammatically
correct: 'I crossed the street' - Я
перешёл через улицу, Я перешёл
улицу.
Most information on Russian accusative
prepositions was derived from here .

Next: Prepositional case

Previous: Nominative case
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Russian language · Русский язык
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Lessons Introduction · Alphabet · Lesson 1 · Lesson 2 · Lesson 3 · Lesson 4 · Lesson 5
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Numbers · Cases (Nom. · Gen. · Dat. · Acc. · Inst. · Prep.) · Adjectives · Prepositions · Verbs (Aspect · Past · Future) ·
Reference
Pronouns (Personal · Possessive · Interrogative) · Cursive

Appendices Appendix · Alphabet · Internet · Cheat Sheet

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