Russian Classroom-Russian Pronouns

Learn RussianRussian Pronouns

These are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the subject of a sentence. (Known as the nominative case.)

ЯI

ТыYou (informal)

ОнHe, It (m)

ОнаShe, It (f)

ОноIt (n)

МыWe

ВыYou (formal, or plural)

ОниThey

Вы is used as the formal singular “you”, and the plural “you” (slang: “yous” or “you all”) when talking to more than one person. Here are the Russian pronouns that can be used as the object of a sentence. (Known as the accusative case)

МеняMe

ТебяYou (informal)

Его – (“yevo”) – Him, It (m,n)

ЕёHer, It (f)

НасUs

ВасYou (formal, or plural)

ИхThem

You should be familiar with using different pronouns for the subject and object of a sentence (“me” instead of “I”). Just remember that unlike English,Russian uses an extra version of the word “you”. You should memorise these pronouns.

Nouns and Gender

Russian nouns have three genders: Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. You can see which gender the noun is by looking at the ending in the nominative case. Masculine nouns end in consonants or й
EXAMPLES:
адрес – address брат – brother взрослый – adult
Feminine nouns end in а, я, or ия
EXAMPLES:
книга – book аллея – avenue биология – biology
Neuter nouns end in е, о, or ие
EXAMPLES:
животное – animal лето – summer курение – smoking
There are a few masculine nouns that end in –a/я, such as мужчина (man), дедушка(grandfather), дядя (uncle), or diminutive forms of masculine proper names, like Вася,Андрюша, and so on. Neuter nouns ending in о, е or и that are direct imports from foreign languages, such asкино, кафе or такси, do not decline (do not change the endings). Russian Classes

Personal Pronouns

These are Russian personal pronouns: я (I) ты (you – singular) он (he) она (she) оно (it) мы (we) вы (you – plural), Вы (you – singular formal) они (they)
In Russian, as in many other languages, ты is generally used among people who know each other very well. Otherwise, it is more appropriate to use formal вы. It is commonly capitalized in formal writing when used as a polite address “Вы“. In Russian language, the personal pronoun determines the form of the verb in the present tense:
EXAMPLES: 
Я делаю/строю (I am doing/building) Ты делаешь/строишь (You are doing/building) Он/она/оно делает/строит (He/she/it is doing/building) Мы делаем/строим (We are doing/building) Вы делаете/строите (You are doing/building) Они делают/строят (They are doing/building)

Possessive Pronouns

Personal Pronouns Possessive pronouns Translation
я мой (Masculine) моя (Feminine) моё (Neuter) мои (Plural) my/mine
ты твой (Masculine) твоя (Feminine) твоё (Neuter) твои (Plural) yours
он его his
она её her/hers
оно его its
мы наш (Masculine) наша (Feminine) наше (Neuter) наши (Plural) our/ours
вы ваш (Masculine) ваша (Feminine) ваше (Neuter) ваши (Plural) your/yours
они их their/theirs
Это ваша квартира.
EXAMPLES: 
Это мой дом (masculine singular). – It is my house. Это ваша квартира (feminine singular). – It is your(plural) apartment Russian Classes

Possessive construction «У меня есть» (I have)

The idea of possession is very often expressed in Russian with the help of the construction “У меня есть (I have)”.
у меня (есть) у тебя (есть) у него (есть) у неё (есть) у него (есть)
I have you have he has she has it has
у нас (есть) у вас, у Вас (есть) у них (есть)
we have you (plural and formal) have they have
Affirmative Preposition у + pronoun in the Genitive case + есть+ noun in the Nominal case. The verb естьcan be omitted.
EXAMPLES: 
У него есть машина. – He has a car. У меня есть брат. – I have a brother. У неё серые глаза. – She has grey eyes.
Negative Preposition у + a pronoun in the Genitive case + нет + noun in the Genitive case.
EXAMPLES: 
У меня нет времени. – I have no time. У нас нет денег. – We have no money. У вас нет компьютера́. – You don’t have a computer.
Interrogative Preposition у + a pronoun in the Genitive case + есть* + noun in the Nominal case. The verbесть can be omitted.
EXAMPLES: 
У тебя есть друзья? – Do you have friends? У них есть билеты? – Do they have tickets?

Russian Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate who something belongs to. They may replace a person’s name in the sentence, “Ivan’s Book”. Words like “My, Your, Our, His, Her” in English. Please note that the genders indicated in the following tables refer to the gender of the noun that these pronouns modify. (ie the noun owned). For example in the phrase “My book”, you would use the 1st person (my) and feminise gender (book is feminine) (Моя). Don’t confuse this with the pronouns “his” and “her” (Его and Её).

Singular possessive pronouns.

1st Person 2nd Person
Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English My, Mine Your, Yours
Nominative Case Мой Моя Моё Мои Твой Твоя Твоё Твои
Accusative Case (animate) Мой Моего Мою Моё Мои Моих Твой Твоего Твою Твоё Твои Твоих
Genitive Case Моего Моей Моего Моих Твоего Твоей Твоего Твоих
Dative Case Моему Моей Моему Моим Твоему Твоей Твоему Твоим
Instrumental Case Моим Моей Моим Моими Твоим Твоей Твоим Твоими
Prepositional Case Моём Моей Моём Моих Твоём Твоей Твоём Твоих
3rd Person : Always use Его (m.n) (his, its) or Её (f) (her) regardless of the case of the noun modified. Russian Courses Plural possessive pronouns.
1st Person 2nd Person
Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English Our Your, Yours
Nominative Case Наш Наша Наше Наши Ваш Ваша Ваше Ваши
Accusative Case (animate) Наш Нашего Нашу Наше Наши Наших Ваш Вашего Вашу Ваше Ваши Ваших
Genitive Case Нашего Нашей Нашего Наших Вашего Вашей Вашего Ваших
Dative Case Нашему Нашей Нашему Нашим Вашему Вашей Вашему Вашим
Instrumental Case Нашим Нашей Нашим Нашими Вашим Вашей Вашим Вашими
Prepositional Case Нашем Нашей Нашем Наших Вашем Вашей Вашем Ваших
3rd Person : Always use Их regardless of the gender and case of the noun modified.

Reflexive possessive pronoun свой

Apart from using possessive pronouns, to express the idea of possession Russians use the reflexive possessive pronoun свой. Depending on the context, it can mean “my”, “your”, “her”, “his” etc. It is used instead of possessive pronouns and refers back to the subject of the sentence. The form depends on the gender and number of the object.
masculine feminine  neuter  plural
Nominative  свой  своя́  своё  свои́
Genitive  своего́  свое́й  своего́  свои́х
Dative  своему́  свое́й  своему́  свои́м
Accusative  своего́  свою́  своего́  свои́х
Instrumental  свои́м  свое́й  свои́м  свои́ми
Prepositional  своём  свое́й  своём  свои́х
EXAMPLES: 
Я потерял свои заметки. – I  lost my notes. Он потерял свои заметки. – He lost his notes. Мы потеряли свои заметки. – We lost our notes. Заметки on monikossa, joten oikea muoto on свои.
Talking about 1st or 2d person, you can use the possessive pronouns, but it is more natural to use свой:
EXAMPLES:
Я люблю свой дом / Я люблю мой дом – I love my home. Вы расскажете о своей поездке? / Вы расскажете о вашей поездке? – Will you tell about your trip?
Talking about 3d person, be sure to choose the right pronoun:
EXAMPLES:
Она продала свою квартиру – reflexive possessive pronoun – She sold her (own) apartment. Она продала её квартиру – possessive pronoun – She sold her (someone else’s) apartment.
Note: When talking about body parts, Russians most often omit possessive pronouns.
EXAMPLES:
Он сломал руку. – He broke his arm. Она открыла глаза – She opened her eyes.

Russian Reflexive Pronouns

Personal Reflexive Pronoun “Себя” (-self) The Russian pronoun “Себя” means self. It is used when the pronoun is the same person or thing as the subject. Example “He talked about himself (Он говорил о себе)”. Himself is a reflexive pronoun.
English Myself, himself, herself.
Nominative Case —-
Accusative Case Себя
Genitive Case Себя
Dative Case Себе
Instrumental Case Себой
Prepositional Case Себе

Reflexive possessive pronoun “Свой”

The Russian pronoun “Свой” means “one’s own”. It replaces the normal possessive pronoun when it refers to the subject. Example “Ivan loves his (own) dog (Иван любит свою собаку)”. Unlike English, in Russian the reflexive is required in the 3rd person. If you were to use the normal possessive pronoun it would indicate the dog belongs to someone else. It is optional in the 1st and 2nd person but normally used if the subject is “Ты”.
Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English My own, his own, her own
Nominative Case Свой Своя Своё Свои
Accusative Case (animate) Свой Своего Свою Своё Свои Своих
Genitive Case Своего Своей Своего Своих
Dative Case Своему Своей Своему Своим
Instrumental Case Своим Своей Своим Своими
Prepositional Case Своём Своей Своём Своих

Emphatic pronoun “Сам”

The Russian pronoun “Сам” is simply used to emphasise something. It translates to “myself, himself, herself” etc. It’s use is optional, it emphasises part of the sentence, rather than changing it’s meaning. Some examples could be: “I did it myself (Я сам сделал)”, “I will phone the president himself”.
Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English Myself, himself, herself
Nominative Case Сам Сама Само Сами
Accusative Case (animate) Сам Самого Саму Само Сами Самих
Genitive Case Самого Самой Самого Самих
Dative Case Самому Самой Самому Самим
Instrumental Case Самим Самой Самим Самими
Prepositional Case Самом Самой Самом Самих

Russian Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are commonly used when you are pointing to something, or indicating what you are talking about with your body. “This” is used to indicate something close by, and “That” is used to indicate something not so close.

This

Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English This
Nominative Case Этот Эта Это Эти
Accusative Case (animate) Этот Этого Эту Это Эти Этих
Genitive Case Этого Этой Этого Этих
Dative Case Этому Этой Этому Этим
Instrumental Case Этим Этой Этим Этими
Prepositional Case Этом Этой Этом Этих

That

Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English That
Nominative Case Тот Та То Те
Accusative Case (animate) Тот Того Ту То Те Тех
Genitive Case Того Той Того Тех
Dative Case Тому Той Тому Тем
Instrumental Case Тем Той Тем Теми
Prepositional Case Том Той Том Тех

Russian Determinative Pronouns

All

Masc. Fem. Neut. Plural
English All, the whole
Nominative Case Весь Вся Всё Все
Accusative Case (animate) Весь Всего Всю Всё Все Всех
Genitive Case Всего Всей Всего Всех
Dative Case Всему Всей Всему Всем
Instrumental Case Всем Всей Всем Всеми
Prepositional Case Всём Всей Всём Всех

Russian Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. “What?” and “Who?” have cases based on there location in the sentence. For example you would use the prepositional to ask “About what?”. Example: “What are you talking about (О чём вы говорите?)”

What?

English What
Nominative Case Что
Accusative Case Что
Genitive Case Чего
Dative Case Чему
Instrumental Case Чем
Prepositional Case Чём

Russian Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. “What?” and “Who?” have cases based on there location in the sentence. For example you would use the prepositional to ask “About what?”. Example: “What are you talking about (О чём вы говорите?)”

What?

English What
Nominative Case Что
Accusative Case Что
Genitive Case Чего
Dative Case Чему
Instrumental Case Чем
Prepositional Case Чём

Who?

English Who
Nominative Case Кто
Accusative Case Кого
Genitive Case Кого
Dative Case Кому
Instrumental Case Кем
Prepositional Case Ком
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