Often in a normal conversation, during a discussion of certain familiar people, we bow their names, not really thinking about whether they are inclined at all. And if in a friendly conversation this is not so important, then, for example, in business documentation, it is simply necessary to pay attention to such nuances. There are certain rules for the declension of surnames in Russian.
In order not to get confused, it is worth recalling the school program of the Russian language, including the study of cases Take the standard Russian surname Sidorov as an example and decline it both in masculine and feminine:
Nominative (who?) - Sidorov (m.), Sidorova (f.);
Genitive (whom?) - Sidorova (m.), Sidorova (f.);
Dative (to whom?) - Sidorov (m.), Sidorova (f.);
Accusative (whom?) - Sidorova (m.), Sidorov (f.);
Creative (by whom?) - Sidorov (m.), Sidorova (f.);
Prepositional (about whom?) - about Sidorov (m.), About Sidorova (f.).
Surnames like the one mentioned above are the easiest to persuade. But there are surnames in which there is no suffix, for example, Kosheva, Lanova, Tolstoy, Broneva.
The rules for declining surnames of this type are the same as adjectives, that is, it will be correct to write like this: Lanovoi, Lanovoi, Lanovoi, Lanovoi, Lanovoi, about Lanovoi. In the feminine gender, the surname will sound like Lanovaya, Tolstaya, Bronevaya, etc. As
adjectives, surnames ending in -sky, -tsky, -skoy, -tskoy, -ev, -in, -yn, -ov .
If among your friends there is a person by the name of Smooth, Cheremny, Maly, etc., then remember that this is the name of a frozen form that does not bow. Also, the rules for declining surnames prohibit declining surnames of foreign origin ending in -i, -i, -s, -e. Not inclined and those that end in -ago, -ago. Simply put, typical surnames of Russian origin should be declined as adjectives, and atypical and foreign as nouns.
However, there are surnames ending in –o. For example, Shevchenko, Prikhodko, Gusko, Makarenko. In this case, the declension rules for male surnames, as well as female with such an ending, state that such surnames are not inclined in either the singular or the
plural. Also, female surnames ending in -th, -th or
consonant are not inclined
. These are
zero endings, and such surnames can be inclined only if they belong to a man. For example: “Give it to Vladimir Vlasyuk” and “Pass it on to Natalya Vlasyuk”, or “Call Sergey Matskevich” and “Invite Veronika Matskevich”.
If the male surname ends with –a or –I (Skovoroda, Golovnya, Mayboroda), then the declension rules of the surnames allow you to change the endings. For example, Vasya Soroka, Vasya Soroki, Vasya Soroka, Vasya Soroka, etc. Foreign surnames that end in a vowel (Dumas, Hugo, Stradivarius, Rossini) cannot be persuaded. Also, the rules for the declension of surnames do not allow them to be changed if they are dissonant, cause inappropriate associations or are consonant with a geographical name or personal name. For example, surnames such as Varenik, Gordey, Donets, Goose, in any case remain unchanged, regardless of whether they belong to a man or woman.