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1. EXTRACT
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2. 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................6
CONJUGATION IN RUSSIAN..........................................................................................................7
GENDERS OF RUSSIAN NOUNS.....................................................................................................8
PLURAL FORM OF RUSSIAN NOUNS...........................................................................................10
NOMINATIVE CASE .....................................................................................................................13
Nominative case in the Russian language..................................................................................13
Exercise block 1- Nominative Case.............................................................................................14
How to type in Russian?.............................................................................................................15
ACCUSATIVE CASE ......................................................................................................................16
Animate and Inanimate Nouns in Accusative Singular ..............................................................18
Prepositions used with the Accusative case ..............................................................................19
Accusative denoting time...........................................................................................................20
Personal pronouns in Accusative ...............................................................................................21
Possessive pronouns in Accusative ............................................................................................22
Inanimate nouns in Accusative Plural ........................................................................................22
Animate nouns in Accusative Plural...........................................................................................23
Exercise block 2 – Accusative Case.............................................................................................24
GENITIVE CASE............................................................................................................................25
1. Genitive after words нет (there is no), не было (there was no), не будет (there will be no)
....................................................................................................................................................26
2. Genitive with preposition у (in the meaning of “in the possession of”, “to have”) ..............27
3. Genitive with numerals два/две (two), три (three), четыре (four) ......................................27
4. Genitive denoting quantity of smth .......................................................................................27
5. Genitive denoting possession, belonging, being part of smth...............................................28
6. Genitive with the comparative degree...................................................................................28

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7. Genitive denoting dates .........................................................................................................28
8. Genitive with prepositions из / с denoting “direction from”, “moving out of” ....................29
9. Genitive with other prepositions ...........................................................................................29
Personal pronouns in Genitive ...................................................................................................30
Possessive pronouns in Genitive................................................................................................30
Genitive Plural ............................................................................................................................31
Exercise block 3 - Genitive..........................................................................................................34
PREPOSITIONAL CASE.................................................................................................................35
1. Prepositional to answer the question где? (where?) ............................................................35
The choice between prepositions В and НА to say IN / AT in the Prepositional Case...............37
2. Prepositional denoting the object of speech .........................................................................40
Personal pronouns in Prepositional ...........................................................................................41
Possessive pronouns in Prepositional ........................................................................................41
Prepositional Plural ....................................................................................................................41
Exercise block 4 - Prepositional..................................................................................................43
DATIVE CASE...............................................................................................................................44
1. Dative expressing the action of giving....................................................................................44
2. Dative + preposition K (TO, TOWARDS) denoting direction...................................................45
3. Dative with the preposition ПО (ALONGSIDE, ROUND AND ROUND) ...................................46
4. Dative with the Verb НРАВИТЬСЯ / ПОНРАВИТЬСЯ (TO LIKE)..............................................46
Personal pronouns in Dative ......................................................................................................47
Possessive pronouns in Dative ...................................................................................................47
5. Dative in constructions denoting age.....................................................................................47
6. Dative in impersonal sentences .............................................................................................48
Dative Plural ...............................................................................................................................49
Exercise block 5 - Dative.............................................................................................................51
INSTRUMENTAL CASE.................................................................................................................52
1. Instrumental to describe a joint action..................................................................................52
2. Instrumental in passive constructions (aka “made by whom”) .............................................54

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3. Instrumental denoting the instrument of action ...................................................................54
4. Instrumental with prepositions НАД (ABOVE), ПОД (UNDER), ПЕРЕД (IN FRONT OF), ЗА
(BEHIND), ЗА (FOR), РЯДОМ C (NEAR TO) denoting place ........................................................54
5. Instrumental in the compound predicate after the verbs БЫТЬ (TO BE), СТАТЬ (TO
BECOME), РАБОТАТЬ (TO WORK AS).........................................................................................55
6. Instrumental with the verbs ИНТЕРЕСОВАТЬСЯ (TO BE INTERESTED IN), ЗАНИМАТЬСЯ (TO
FOLLOW A COURSE), and short-form adjective ДОВОЛЕН (HAPPY WITH) ...............................55
Personal pronouns in Instrumental............................................................................................56
Possessive pronouns in Instrumental.........................................................................................56
Instrumental Plural.....................................................................................................................57
Exercise block 6 - Instrumental ..................................................................................................59
ADJECTIVES AND RUSSIAN CASES ..............................................................................................60
Russian adjectives and their conjugation by cases ....................................................................60
PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN ALL RUSSIAN CASES – COMPLETE TABLE.........................................64
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS IN ALL RUSSIAN CASES – COMPLETE TABLE.......................................65
MOST COMMON RUSSIAN PREPOSITIONS AND CASES THEY ARE USED WITH .........................66
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 1 (NOMINATIVE CASE)......................................................................67
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 2 (ACCUSATIVE CASE) .......................................................................68
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 3 (GENITIVE CASE) ............................................................................69
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 4 (PREPOSITIONAL CASE)..................................................................71
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 5 (DATIVE CASE)................................................................................73
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 6 (INSTRUMENTAL CASE)..................................................................74
BONUS 1 - RUSSIAN CASES IN CONTEXT – STEVE JOBS SPEECH WITH RUSSIAN TRANSLATION76
BONUS 2 - RESOURCES TO LEARN RUSSIAN...............................................................................96
ABOUT THE AUTHOR..................................................................................................................97

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INTRODUCTION
Dear Russian language learners, you are about to unlock the most important subject in the
Russian grammar. This book will help you tackle one of the most challenging topics in the
Russian language right away (for beginners) and/or systematize your knowledge of Russian
cases (for not-complete-beginners).
Let me start by saying that cases are the backbone of the Russian sentence structure. Therefore,
once you understand the conjugation rules, the context and the reason why each case is used,
all your subsequent efforts to learn Russian will come with ease. Everything else you learn will
group around cases, just like the walls or other elements of a house stay attached to its
foundation. You’ll be able to conjugate in Russian like a PRO!
Each chapter describes the exact situations when each case is used backed by color-coded
conjugation tables (tables with endings and examples), which you can always keep handy and
return to. Also, each chapter dedicated to a specific case has a homework section to reinforce
and apply your knowledge right away. Keys to exercises are provided at the end of the book.
This book features a very useful bonus – a text in Russian where each noun is underlined and
its gender and case are stated in the brackets. This is done to illustrate the use of cases within
phrases, so you can go back to the book chapters and review the usage. I used the original text
of Steve Jobs speech of 2005 in Stanford with Russian translation side by side, like this:
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.
Не позволяйте шуму (Masc., Dat.Sing.) чужих мнений (Neuter, Gen.Pl.) перебить ваш
внутренний голос (Masc., Acc.Sing.).

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CONJUGATION IN RUSSIAN
Why do we need cases in the first place? Cases explain the relationship, or logical connection,
between words in a phrase. This is done in combination with prepositions - most of the time,
but very often - without.
The most important thing to take into consideration is: in Russian, nouns conjugate in number,
gender, and case. For comparison, in most Indo-European languages, gender and number are
still common, however, cases are a thing of the past. Modern English, for example, has largely
lost its inflected case system (one can see the remaining of it in personal pronouns, e.g. I-me,
she-her) and relies solely on prepositions, such as to, in, from, with, etc. However, many
languages of the world, including Russian, still have extensive case systems.
What’s more, in Russian, not only nouns, but also pronouns and adjectives conjugate. In other
words, nouns, pronouns, adjectives change their endings according to their case, as well as
their gender and number.
There are 6 cases in Russian:
• Nominative (именительный) (Nom.)
• Genitive (родительный) (Gen.)
• Dative (дательный) (Dat.)
• Accusative (винительный) (Acc.)
• Instrumental (творительный) (Instr.)
• Prepositional (предложный) (Prep.)
In this book, we will discover cases in a slightly different order, we will proceed according to
their frequency in use in the real-life language. We will start with Nominative and Accusative
(there is often a confusion between them, therefore it is better to learn them one after
another). Then we will pass on to Genitive and Prepositional (they can also be tricky because
both may be used to speak of a direction), and we will finish with less frequent ones – Dative
and Instrumental.

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NOMINATIVE CASE
Nominative case (Именительный падеж, Nom.) is the simplest case in the Russian language,
as words have the same form and endings as in the dictionary, in other words - there’s no
conjugation. Nominative case is the initial form; by this form of the word we can determine the
gender.
Nouns in the Nominative case answer the question кто? / who? (for animate nouns) or что? /
what? (for inanimate nouns).
The nominative case is used when noun/pronoun is the subject of the sentence.
Very often personal pronouns я (I), ты (you), вы (you, plural or formal), он (he), она (she), мы
(we), они (they) and first names are the subject of the sentence.
Вот (here is), это (this is) are followed by nouns in the Nominative case.
Example: Вот мой пáспорт. – Here is my passport.
Note: in Russian, possessive pronouns and adjectives agree with the noun they describe in
gender, in number, and in case, e.g.:
Это моя́ (nominative singular feminine) мáма. – This is my mom.
Это мой (nominative singular masculine) пáпа. – This is my father.
Это мои́ кни́ги (nominative plural). – These are my books.
Discover Russian possessive pronouns and their conjugation by cases in table Possessive
Pronouns in all Russian Cases in respective chapter.
In Russian, Nominative Case is also used in verbal constructions equivalent to English
expressions containing 'am', 'are', 'is' , e.g.: Я – америкáнец. – I am an American.
Note: in Russian, verb БЫТЬ (ЕСТЬ) 'to be' in Present Tense is omitted.
We have glimpsed into our first Russian case. Now, let’s reinforce the knowledge by doing these
simple exercises.
Keys to each exercise block are provided in the end of the book. I strongly recommend you do
the homework by yourself first before checking the keys.

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EXERCISE BLOCK 1- NOMINATIVE CASE
Ex.1. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the affirmative.
Example: Это аэропóрт? Да, это аэропóрт.
(Is it an airport? Yes, this is the airport.)
университéт, гости́ница, студéнт, студéнтка, цeнтр, мóре, дéрево
(university, hotel, student, student, center, sea, tree)
Ex.2. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the negative.
Example: Это Москвá? Нет, это не Москвá, это Лóндон.
(Is this Moscow? No, this is not Moscow, this is London.)
тури́ст – бизнесмéн, гости́ница – университéт, америкáнец – англичáнин, чай - молокó
(tourist – businessman, hotel – university, American - Englishman, tea – milk)
Ex.3. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the affirmative.
Example: Это ваш багáж? – Да, это мой багáж.
(Is this your luggage? – Yes, this is my luggage)
ви́за, áдрес, отéц, письмó
(visa, address, father, letter)

9. 9
KEYS TO EXERCISE BLOCK 1 (NOMINATIVE CASE)
Ex.1. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the affirmative.
Example: Это аэропóрт? Да, это аэропóрт.
(Is it an airport? Yes, this is the airport.)
университéт, гости́ница, студéнт, студéнтка, цeнтр, мóре, дéрево
(university, hotel, student, student, center, sea, tree)
Э́то университе́т? Да, э́то университе́т.
Э́то гости́ница? Да, э́то гости́ница.
Э́то студе́нт? Да, э́то студе́нт.
Э́то студе́нтка? Да, э́то студе́нтка.
Э́то центр? Да, э́то центр.
Э́то мо́ре? Да, э́то мо́ре.
Э́то де́рево? Да, э́то де́рево.
Ex.2. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the negative.
Example: Это Москвá? Нет, это не Москвá, это Лóндон.
(Is this Moscow? No, this is not Moscow, this is London.)
тури́ст – бизнесмéн, гости́ница – университéт, америкáнец – англичáнин, чай - молокó
(tourist - businessman, hotel - university, American - Englishman, tea – milk)
Э́то тури́ст? Нет, э́то не тури́ст, э́то – бизнесме́н.
Э́то гости́ница? Нет, э́то не гости́ница, э́то – университе́т.
Э́то америка́нец? Нет, э́то не америка́нец, э́то – англича́нин.
Э́то чай? Нет, э́то не чай, э́то - молоко́.
Ex.3. Using the following words, ask a question and reply in the affirmative.
Example: Это ваш багáж? – Да, это мой багáж.
(Is this your luggage? – Yes, this is my luggage)
ви́за (visa), áдрес (address), отéц (father), письмó (letter)
Э́то ва́ша ви́за? – Да, э́то моя́ ви́за.
Э́то ваш а́дрес? – Да, э́то мой а́дрес.
Э́то ваш оте́ц? – Да, э́то мой оте́ц.
Э́то ва́ше письмо́? – Да, э́то моё письмо́.

10. 10
ACCUSATIVE CASE
In this chapter, I would like to tackle Accusative case right after speaking about Nominative.
The reason for this is that for many foreigners (and even Russians), it is hard to understand the
difference between Nominative and Accusative. It is especially valid for masculine and neuter
genders, because nouns in masculine and neuter genders look the same in both cases (the
endings do not change), that is, they can appear in Nominative and Accusative and have the
same endings in both cases. That is why it is better to clarify the difference between these 2
cases before moving on to other cases.
The Accusative case (Винительный падеж, Acc.) nouns answer the question кого? / whom?
(for animate nouns) or что? / what? (for inanimate nouns).
In a Russian sentence, the direct object of a transitive verb will be put in the Accusative case.
So, if the noun is the subject – it is put in Nominative, if it is the direct object of a verb – it is put
in Accusative.
How to know what is the subject and what is the object?
Think of it this way: when you just want to describe something, name it, speak about it – this is
the main thing in the sentence = this is the subject = use nominative. If the action is directed
towards something, if something is acted upon = this is the object = use Accusative.
Compare these sentences:
Это – журнáл. – This is a magazine.
Он читáет журнáл. – He reads a magazine.
In the 1st
one, журнáл is the subject, the action is done by it.
In the 2nd
one, Он is the subject and журнáл is the object of the verb читáть (to read).
As you see, there is no difference between the Nom. and Acc. singular forms of журнáл in terms
of endings, but they are put in different cases.
The same is also true of many nouns in plural, e.g.:
Совремéнные компью́теры óчень бы́стрые. – Modern computers are very fast.
Фи́рма дéлает компью́теры. – The company makes computers.
In the second sentence, компью́теры is the object and it stands in the Accusative plural, even
though the form is the same as the Nominative plural.

11. 11
More examples Nominative Sing. VS Accusative Sing.:
Это журнáл / письмó / газéтa (Nom.)
This is a journal / letter / newspaper
Анна читает журнáл / письмó / газéту (Acc.)
Anna is reading a journal / letter / newspaper
Вот теáтр / библиотéка / киóск / здáние / больни́ца (Nom.)
Here is a theater / library / kiosk / building / hospital
Я вижу теáтр / библиотéку / киóск / здáние / больни́цу (Acc.)
I see a theater / library / kiosk / building / hospital
На столе – лáмпа / карти́на / журнáл / печéнье (Nom.)
On the table, there is a lamp / painting / magazine / cookie
Я купил лáмпу / карти́ну / журнáл / печéнье (Acc.)
I bought a lamp / painting / magazine / cookie
Звучит лéкция / концéрт / му́зыка (Nom.)
A lecture / concert / music is going on
Студенты слушают лéкцию / кoнцéрт / му́зыку (Acc.)
Students are listening to a lecture / concert / music
Спорт / му́зыка / балéт / кинó (Nom.) – мои хобби
Sports / music / ballet / cinema are my hobbies
Я люблю cпорт / му́зыку / балéт / кинó (Acc.)
I like sports / music / ballet / cinema

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MOST COMMON RUSSIAN PREPOSITIONS AND CASES THEY ARE USED WITH
With С [S] Instrumental (= with), Genitive (=from)
Without Без [Bez] Genitive
In, inside, to В [V] Prepositional (=in), Accusative (=to)
Over Над [Nad] Instrumental
Under Под [Pod] Instrumental
Inside Внутри́ [Vnutri]́ Genitive
On На [Na] Prepositional (=on), Accusative (=to)
Before До [Do] Genitive
After По́сле [Pósle] Genitive
To К [K] Dative
From От [Ot] Genitive
By, along По [Po] Dative
About О [O] Prepositional
Before Пе́ред [Péred] Instrumental
Behind За [Za] Instrumental
Of, from Из [Iz] Genitive
Between Ме́жду [Mézhdu] Instrumental
Across Че́рез [Chérez] Accusative
Around, close by О́коло [Ókolo] Genitive
Through Сквозь [Skvoz'] Accusative
For Для [Dlya] Genitive

13. 13
RESOURCES TO LEARN RUSSIAN
Dear readers,
I think these educational resources will also be useful for Russian language learners.
Basic Russian Vocabulary: 1000 Russian
words for travelling, business, study, and
day-to-day speaking
Top 100 Russian Proverbs & Sayings (with
English word-to-word and literary
translation)
Self-paced video course “Russian Grammar Made Easy (For Beginners and Beyond)”
10 pre-recorded lessons of 15-25 min each covering essential Russian grammar with plenty of
examples, exercises with keys + certificate of completion. Study anytime, anywhere through
the biggest online learning platform Udemy. Learn more

14. 14
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dear readers, my name is Darya Gunay.
I am a native Russian speaker, born and raised in Eastern Ukraine. Apart from Russian, I speak
Ukrainian, English, and French. I hold Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Language Teaching
(specialization – Ukrainian and English). I am also certified as a Teacher of Russian as a Foreign
Language by the International Centre of Russian Language in Moscow.
Initially trained as a teacher, I gained my second degree in Marketing, and throughout my
career I’ve had jobs in both fields – as a private language tutor and communications specialist.
Following my passion for languages and my wish to share the knowledge I “store” within me, I
founded Express Russian – Learn Russian Online, a blog and an e-learning resource for
foreigners who wish to learn Russian and are interested in Russian culture.
Did you know? Russian is the 8th most-spoken language in the world by total number of
speakers and the most widely spoken Slavic language, with roughly 300 million speakers.
Russian is an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. It is also spoken,
or at least understood, in other ex-Soviet countries.
I hope you enjoyed this book. If you’re interested in learning Russian online, please join my
social media community to access fun educational content and browse other learning
resources.
Simply visit ExpressRussian.com and
/YouTube/LearnRussianWithExpressRussianCom/ /expressrussian/
/expressrussiancom/ /@expressrussian.com