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Accusative case of Russian nouns

Russian grammar --> Russian cases --> Accusative Case

The accusative case is a set of word forms which usually mark the object of the action, like the English word "letter" in the phrase "he is writing a letter".

Uses of the Accusative

1. To show the object of the action, most often a direct object in the sentence.

The accusative case is usually used after verbs that take direct object (transitive verbs), for example:

знать - to know
читать - to read
видеть - to see
любить - to love, to like
брать - to take
покупать - to buy
давать - to give

2. With prepositions в (into) and на (on to) to express motion to somewhere.

3. In certain expressions describing duration or frequency of an action, for example:

одну неделю - one week
одну минуту - one minute
два раза в неделю - two times a week
один раз в месяц - one time a month

4. After certain prepositions:

через – across, after a period of time
за - for (in return for)
про - about

Formation

Here we provide general rules how to form accusative case forms from nominative singular forms. These rules cover the vast majority of Russian nouns. However, you should be aware that rules described below may have other exceptions.

Guidelines to make accusative case forms

The table below represents regular endings for singular and plural accusative case forms:

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine      inanimate      animate	equal to Nominative equal to Genitive	equal to Nominative equal to Genitive
Feminine      inanimate      animate	-у /-ю / Ø	equal to Nominative equal to Genitive
Neuter      inanimate      animate	equal to Nominative	equal to Nominative equal to Genitive

Accusative singular

Masculine nouns

Masculine nouns obey the declension rule of animate/inanimate referents, that is why accusative singular forms of inanimate nouns are equal to nominative case forms, while accusative plural forms of animate nouns are equal to genitive case forms. You can learn more details how to form genitive singular forms on the page Genitive case of Russian nouns.

Feminine nouns

1. Nouns ending in -а change their ending to -у:

2. Nouns ending in -я change the final -я to -ю:

3. Nouns ending in soft sign (ь) do not change, i.e they have zero ending (Ø):

Neuter nouns

The accusative singular forms of neuter nouns, both animate and inanimate, are equal to nominative case forms.

Accusative plural

Nouns of all three genders obey the declension rule of animate/inanimate referents, that is why accusative plural forms of inanimate nouns are equal to nominative case forms, and accusative singular forms of animate nouns are equal to genitive case forms. You can learn more details how to form nominative plural forms on the page Nominative Plural of Russian nouns and genitive plural forms on the page Genitive case of Russian nouns.

See also

- Russian Cases
- Russian Nouns Declension
- Exercises: Accusative case of Russian nouns

You can find more examples of word forms in accusative singular and accusative plural on the page Russian nouns declension