Many of us, from our school days, remember what is called declination. But far from everyone will be able to reproduce all the nuances associated with it. But knowing the rules associated with the declension of nouns will help us not to make spelling mistakes in the future.
What is declination
Almost every independent part of speech (with the exception of adverbs and participles) can change according to its own rules. Verbs, changing in faces and numbers, are conjugated, and the nominal parts of speech are declined. What does this mean? Declension is the ability of nouns, adjectives, numerals and participles to vary by:
- Maternity (male, middle, female, except them. N.).
- Numbers (singular and plural).
- To cases.
The Grammar-80, a well-known set of Russian rules, explains in a different way what is called declination. He suggests defining it as a change in the class of words by cases. Which of the terms is closer and what is called declination, everyone is free to choose for himself.
Nouns
Based on the definition of declension in the Russian language, we need to remember what is the case. They call it a grammatical form that connects any noun with the words of other parts of speech. The case shows how exactly the parts of speech are compatible with each other.
For a long time, the case system was subject to change. In the Old Russian language, there were not six cases, as in our time, but seven cases. Another called vocal. Today it has already been abolished, and now there are 6 left.
- Nominative. A special case, since only it is called direct (who? What?), The rest are indirect. In the form of them. pad. Subjects appear in sentences. Another feature of it: it is the initial form for the nominal parts of speech.
- Genitive. This form answers the questions of Who? What? In order not to confuse it with other cases, you can substitute the auxiliary word "no": the cat - to them. n, (no) cat - genus. P.
- Dative. This case is named so because it answers questions. To whom? Why? Declination of words will be easier if you substitute the word "give": to the cat - dates. P.
- Accusative. Pretty controversial form. Has a similar nominative case for inanimate objects - What? True, in relation to living beings they ask the question of Who? The word "blame", substituted for checked by him. n., will help you remember the rules of declension: (blame) cat - wines. P.
- Instrumental. Special case. Answers questions by Who? Than? The test word for him is “create”: cat - tv. pad.
- Prepositional. Question form About whom? About what? For easy memorization, we substitute the word “think”: about a cat - an offer. P.
Number
We remembered the case system that the Russian language is studying. The declination also depends on the category of the number. There are only two of them in our language - the only and the plural. Almost all nouns have both forms. But, as with any rule, there are exceptions. Some words are used only in one single form. An example of those who have only a single number: the sun (well, this is logical, it exists in one copy), milk, foliage, highway (it is foreign).
But the Russian language is so diverse that it has in its arsenal words that are used only in the plural. Example: scissors, trousers, glasses, watches, people.
Declinations in the Russian language can be carried out in the form of units. hours and more. h. For example:
Units h.
I.p. book, books.
R.p. books, books.
D.p. book, books.
V.p. book, books.
T.p. book, books.
P.p. about a book, about books.
First decline
The declination system in the Russian language, as you know, consists of three groups. Each of them has its own characteristics. The first decline has the following special features:
- Words that call some males with the endings a or s : uncle, man, dad, Vanya.
- Nouns that also have endings - a or –i , denoting people and feminine objects: spring, hand, aunt, Anna.
- The same endings (- a / s ) with general nouns (that is, they mean both male and female persons): crybaby, bruise, sleepyhead, slut.
Decline 1 (examples):
I.p. young man, girl, crybaby.
R.p. boys, girls, crybaby.
D.p. boy, girl, crybaby.
V.p. boy, girl, crybaby.
T.p. boys, girls, crybaby.
P.p. about a young man, about a girl, about a crybaby.
Second declension
This group differs from the previous endings and category of the genus. It includes:
- Nouns with an initial form of zero endings and related to the masculine gender: table, stump, ceiling, husband.
- Words husband. kind, but ending in - o or –e : little house.
- Them. noun with endings - about or - of the middle kind: sky, spot, sea, gun.
Declension pattern 2:
I.p. table, happiness.
R.p. backgrounds, happiness.
D.p. table, happiness.
V.p. table, happiness.
T.p. table, happiness.
P.p. about the table, happiness.
Third declension
This group of nouns is the most special. Only feminine words and only with zero endings belong to it: mouse, oven, life, reality.
It is necessary to remember an important rule regarding the third declension: when a word ends with one of hissing sounds, a soft sign (daughter, night, oven) must be written in it. Do not confuse them with nouns of the second declension to hissing (ray, cloak, tick). They belong to the male gender, and therefore do not require writing a soft sign at the end.
Declension pattern 3:
I.p. life is a thing.
R.p. life, things.
D.p. life, things.
V.p. life is a thing.
T.p. life, thing.
P.p. about life, things.
To summarize the above, we were able to put together the declension of nouns. The table shows more and more clearly. Examine it carefully.
Diffused nouns
Now we know what is called declination and what words refer to each of them. But not all the lexical composition of our language obeys these rules. There are nouns that incorporate the endings of both the first and second declensions. They are called divergent.
What are the features of such nouns? Firstly, almost all of them end in –me: time, name, burden, stirrup and others. And the word path also refers to this group.
Secondly, the rules for declension of divergent nouns are such that when these words change in cases in all forms there will be a suffix - en (except for I.p. and V.p.): time, stapes, seed.
Thirdly, in declining these words, we will be able to notice that in the genitive, dative and prepositional cases they took the ending - and from 3 classes, and in the instrumental ending appeared -em, as in 2 declensions.
I.p name, path.
R.p. name, way.
D.p. name, way.
V.p. name, path.
T.p. name, path.
P.p. about the name, about the path.
Declined Nouns
Our speech is rapidly updated with new words of foreign origin. They do not have forms of declination in the Russian language and therefore are called non-declining.
This group includes:
- Foreign words that came to us from other languages in -o, -e, -i, -y : coat, filet, Sochi, kangaroo. In all cases they will have the same shape, so there is simply no point in persuading them. (Go to the coat, go to the kangaroo, go to Sochi.)
- Surnames ending in -co, -ago, s : Yurchenko, Zhivago, Belykh. (To visit Kozarenko, come to the Reds.)
- Words formed by the abbreviation method: USSR, ATS.
Personal endings
The correct spelling of the letters and and e at the end of nouns is associated with this topic. Observing the rules of declension, we were able to identify that the ending e is written in words:
- The first declension (with the exception of the genus. Item): to the river (dat.p.), about mom (pr.p.), on the topic (dat.p.).
- The second declension: about the ray (pr.), About the sea (pr.)
The letter And in the end we write, if this word:
- Third declination: in the steppe (a.s.), by night (dat.p.)
- The first class., Used in the birth. case: by the river.
- In words ending in ia, ia, ia : in a planetarium, by promotion, about an event.
- Different nouns also write: on the way, about time.
Conclusion
After reading these simple rules, you will know what is called declination. Do not confuse it with the inflection of other parts of speech, such as conjugation in verbs.
It is necessary to study it, since our practical literacy depends on theoretical knowledge. From our article we can draw the following conclusions:
- Nouns change not only in cases, but also in numbers.
- But it is worth remembering that not all words of this part of speech have these categories. Some of them cannot bow at all (non-declining) and do not have one of the numerical forms (only plural or singular).
- Each of the declensions has its own peculiarities, so you should carefully study them. We gave an example of the declension of nouns (table).
- Personal endings that are not stressed are subject to a set of rules. Depending on the declension and case, the letter e or or will be written. This topic is one of the most difficult in the course of studying nouns.