Nominative case of Russian nouns Russian grammar --> Russian cases --> Nominative Case

The nominative case is a set of word forms (in singular and plural) the basic function of which is to mark the subject of the sentence.

Uses of the Nominative

1. To mark the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Студент говорит. - The student is speaking.

The word студент (student) is the subject of the sentence. It is in nominative case form and indicates the doer of the action.

Студент устал. - The student is tired.

The word студент (student) is the subject of the sentence. It is in nominative case form and indicates the subject of the state.

2. The nominative case form may also be used as a predicative. Look at the following constructions:

Он студент. - He is a student.
Том - доктор. - Tom is a doctor.
Меня зовут Мария. – My name is Maria. (literally: They call me Maria)

The underlined words are not the subject of the sentence, but they are in nominative case form and used as predicative.

3. In apposition, i.e. for a specific proper name or a title following a common noun.

Этот ресторан находится рядом с гостиницей "Москва". - This restaurant is near the hotel "Moskva".

The word Москва (Moscow) is in the nominative case and indicates the name of the hotel.

Formation

Nominative case endings

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

Gender Singular Plural
Masculine Ø -ы/-и
Feminine -a/-я -ы/-и
Neuter -о/-е -а/-я

Nominative singular

Nominative singular forms are normally given in the dictionary. They usually serve to determine the gender and the declension type of a noun.

We recommend you to visit the page Gender of Russian nouns, if you wish to get more info about Russian nouns in Nominative singular.

Nominative plural

Plural forms are made by adding an ending (generally, for masculine) or by changing the ending. The above table represents only regular endings, but certain Russian nouns form their plural forms in a particular manner.

If you wish to learn more details about nominative plural forms, we recommend you to visit the page Plural forms of Russian nouns (Nominative Plural)


See also

- Russian Cases
- Russian Nouns Declension

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