Nouns are the main component of our speech. Of the many possible words, we always choose the most suitable for us in style and coloring. The way a person builds his speech can tell a lot about his personality and mindset to the interlocutor. Therefore, it is very important to be able to correctly and clearly express your thoughts. To do this, you need to know the basics of the grammar of the Russian language and be able to apply them in real life while communicating with people. In this article, we analyze a category such as the number of nouns.
A noun in the Russian language can be used in the form of one of two possible forms - in the singular or in the plural. A number is one of the main characteristics of a part of speech called a noun. But there are Russian nouns that can be used in speech only in the singular or only in the plural. Let's figure it out in order.
Singular nouns
With singular nouns, in general, everything is clear and understandable even without grammatical rules: they denote one thing or person, that is, any animate and inanimate objects (for example, pen, book, house, cat). Such nouns in the singular have their gender (feminine, masculine or middle; sometimes common), and also, regardless of the number, are inclined to cases.
Plural Nouns
The same nouns can be used in the plural (pens, books, houses, cats). These are nouns denoting several items. Very often in the Russian language there are nouns having the form of only the plural. You can read about them below.
Plural nouns that often make mistakes
More than one full-fledged article could be written about the most common mistakes in everyday speech in Russian, but here we focus only on the misuse of nouns. Plural nouns and the correct formation of forms are often questioned.
Be sure to pay attention to the spelling of the following words in the genitive case: boots - boots, boots - felt boots, boots - boot, soldiers - soldiers, places, places, apples - apples.
And mistakes in the use of these words in the genitive can be heard very often in grocery stores: tangerines - tangerines, nectarines - nectarines, tomatoes - tomatoes, oranges - oranges. Nouns having the form of only the plural are somewhat different from the data in terms of declension by cases.
Plural Formation: Features
Sometimes in the formation of the plural form for a certain category of nouns there are some difficulties. In the Russian language, there are no rules per se that determine which ending is required for the plural of nouns that we need to apply at a particular moment. Therefore, it can be quite difficult to use the word correctly. Let's look at special cases regarding the plural of nouns. It’s better to just memorize them, so as not to make mistakes and not to doubt the correct use of words.
First of all, these are masculine nouns (with a zero ending in the singular), with the endings -s, -i, most often denoting professions. For example, a trainer - trainers (not a trainer!), A contract - contracts, an accountant - accountants, a lecturer - lecturers, cream - creams, and so on.
The next group is the same nouns as in the previous one, but with the endings -a: professor - professors, doctor - doctors, director - directors, anchor - anchors and so on.
Nouns always used in the singular
In the Russian language there are many nouns that do not vary in numbers and are always used exclusively in the form of a singular. Consider the groups into which we can conditionally divide such nouns:
- indicating different feelings, characteristics of the state and human qualities (tenderness, anger, anger, hatred, lust, addiction, security, weakness, kindness);
- designating signs of the subject (grayness, blueness, redness, thinness, fullness, density);
- material (oil, gold, steel, tin, silver, nickel, sugar, sour cream, oil, pearls);
- denoting several of some identical objects in the aggregate (dishes, foliage, children, animals);
- designating objects that exist in all nature in a single copy (the Sun, Earth, sky, Moon); the same group includes geographical names (Argentina, Stockholm, Moscow, Irtysh, Novosibirsk, Crimea, Ob).
Plural nouns only
Only in the plural the following nouns exist in Russian:
- denoting all kinds of substances (blush, perfume, ink, yeast);
- designating objects in a pair (jeans, rakes, rollers, trousers, leggings, pants, leggings, glasses, sledges, skids);
- designating games or some processes (checkers, napkins, hide and seek, blind man's blind, catch-up, elections);
- denoting natural phenomena or time periods (day, vacation, twilight, weekdays);
- which are geographical or astronomical names (Sochi, Alps, Kuril Islands, Libra).
So, to summarize: in Russian there are two forms of nouns - the only and the plural. Most words have both forms, but there are also nouns that have the form of the plural only, and, of course, those that are used only in the singular.