The Declension of Plural Nouns

There is no strict distinction between declensions of plural nouns in Russian. The charts below sum up the endings for plural nouns and give examples.

First declension

* Stressed vowels are underlined. Endings are in bold.

Second declension

Third declension

As you can see from the charts, the nouns of all three declensions have the same endings in the dative, instrumental and prepositional cases.

In the nominative and accusative cases, the plural nouns may have the endings:

• -ы/-и -- typical of nouns of any declension
• -а/-я -- typical of second declension nouns only (берега, озёра, моря)

Learn the plural nouns which get the ending -ы in the nominative: волосы (hair), договоры (contracts), выборы (elections), инженеры (engineers), конструкторы (constructors), офицеры (officers), слесари (fitters), торты (cakes), тракторы (tractors), шофёры (drivers).

Test yourself

1. Choose the correct forms of plural genitive nouns.

A. Падежов, телёнков
B. Падежей, телят

2. Choose the correct forms of plural nominative nouns.

A. Шофёры, договоры, инженеры
B. Шофера, договора, инженера

 

Answers: 1. B, 2. A

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