Animacy in the accusative with common Russian nouns
How it works
In Russian, the accusative distinguishes between animate and inanimate forms for masculine nouns in the singular and for nouns in the plural. Animate masculine nouns in the singular have the same form in the accusative as in the genitive, e.g. ‹я вижу друга›, while inanimate masculine nouns in the accusative remain as in the nominative, e.g. ‹я вижу стол›. Animacy also matters in the plural: ‹я вижу студентов›, but ‹я вижу столы›. For feminine and neuter nouns in the singular, the accusative form does not depend on animacy. The correct accusative form is important in order to be understood and to speak grammatically correctly.
For animate masculine nouns in the singular and for animate plural forms, the accusative takes the genitive form; for inanimate masculine nouns in the singular and for inanimate plural forms, the accusative corresponds to the nominative. Feminine and neuter nouns in the singular have accusative forms that do not depend on animacy.
An example
Choose the correct accusative form: ‹Я вижу ___› (‹друг›).
Try it yourself now
50 Exercises
To the learning unit →Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: Russian. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.