Language/Russian/Grammar/Noun-Adjective-Agreement

Russian Grammar → Russian Pronouns → Noun-Adjective Agreement

As a teacher of the Russian language for over 20 years, I have noticed that one of the most challenging aspects of Russian grammar for learners is the concept of noun-adjective agreement. In this lesson, we will explore how adjectives agree with nouns in gender, number, and case, which is essential to mastering the Russian language.

Understanding Noun-Adjective Agreement

In Russian, an adjective must agree with the noun it modifies in gender, number, and case. This means that the ending of the adjective changes depending on the noun's gender, number, and case. For example:

• красивый дом (krasivyy dom) - beautiful house (masculine, singular, nominative case)
• красивая книга (krasivaya kniga) - beautiful book (feminine, singular, nominative case)
• красивое облако (krasivoye oblako) - beautiful cloud (neuter, singular, nominative case)
• красивые дома (krasivye doma) - beautiful houses (masculine or feminine plural, nominative case)

As you can see, the endings of the adjectives change to match the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify.

Endings of Adjectives

To correctly modify nouns with adjectives in Russian, you must understand the different endings that adjectives can take depending on the gender, number, and case of the noun. Below is a table of the nine different endings that adjectives can take for masculine, feminine, and neuter genders in the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, and prepositional cases:

Gender	Case	Ending	Example
Masculine	Nominative	-ый/-ой	большой дом (bolshoy dom)
			-ий/-ой	темный лес (temnyy les)
			-ой/-ий	зеленый зонтик (zelenyy zontik)
			-ь/-й	новый год (novy god)
			-й/-ый	хороший друг (horoshiy drug)
			-ой/-ый	русский язык (russkiy yazyk)
Feminine	Nominative	-ая/-яя/-ья	красивая машина (krasivaya mashina)
			-яя	зеленая трава (zelenaya trava)
			-ья/-ая	небольшая квартира (nebolshaya kvartira)
			-aя	большая книга (bolshaya kniga)
			-a/-я	молодая учительница (molodaya uchitelnitsa)
			-ая/-яя/-ья	русская девушка (russkaya devushka)
Neuter	Nominative	-oe/-ее	маленькое озеро (malenkoye ozero)
			-ье/-ое	грязное окно (gryaznoye okno)
			-ее	белое облако (beloye oblako)
			-о/-е	большое здание (bolshoye zdanie)
			-е/-ье/-ое	новое платье (novoye platye)
			-oe/-ее	русское письмо (russkoye pis'mo)

Remember that when you are modifying a noun with an adjective, you must use the correct ending for the gender, number, and case of the noun. Memorizing the endings for each case will help you greatly in your Russian studies.

Practice with Noun-Adjective Agreement

To practice your skills in noun-adjective agreement, try the following exercises:

• Create a table with five adjectives and nouns in different cases.
• Write three sentences in Russian, each highlighting a different adjective-noun agreement combination.
• Ask a friend or classmate to give you different nouns in different cases and practice modifying them with adjectives.

Sources

• Russian grammar
• Russian declension

Table of Contents - Russian Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Alphabet and Pronunciation

• Cyrillic Alphabet
• Pronunciation Rules

  ---

Basic Phrases and Greetings

• Greetings and Introductions
• Everyday Phrases

  ---

Nouns and Gender

• Noun Gender
• Plurals

  ---

Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-10
• Telling Time

  ---

Cases and Prepositions

• Nominative Case
• Prepositional Case

  ---

Family and Relationships

• Family Members
• Relationships and Marital Status

  ---

Verbs and Conjugation

• Present Tense
• Past Tense

  ---

Food and Dining

• Common Foods
• Dining Out

  ---

Russian Traditions and Holidays

• National Holidays
• Traditional Celebrations

  ---

Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Travel Phrases

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjective Agreement
• Comparatives and Superlatives

  ---

Hobbies and Leisure Activities

• Hobbies
• Entertainment

  ---

Russian Literature and Arts

• Famous Writers
• Russian Art and Music

Related Lessons

• Noun Cases Overview
• Порядок слов в русском предложении
• To and же particles in Russian
• Perfective Imperfective
• Nominative Case
• А vs Но
• Instrumental Case
• The verb to be
• Present Tense
• Sentense Structure