16 



Masc. Nouns in Fem. Declension 



Some nouns are masc. in gender but are declined like fem. nouns; these nouns are 

 masc. in that they denote male beings and are modified by the masc. forms of the ad- 

 jective. For example, 



dOJIbfflOM MyJKMMHa "a big man" 

 CTapHli flflflfl "an old uncle" 



BepHHH CJiyra "a faithful servant" 



Indeclinable Nouns 



A number of nouns borrowed into Russian have never been accommodated within the 

 case system; they are "indeclinable", that is, they do not change or add endings, no 

 matter what the linguistic environment. Neuter gender has been assigned to most of 

 these nouns. A few examples are: 



"we 're going by subway" 

 "from a short resume" 

 "black coffee" 



USE OF CASES 



Case selection for nouns and adjectives is, in general, automatic after the un- 

 changing forms called "prepositions". In most textual situations one simply locates a 

 preposition and then looks for adjectives and nouns in a determined case. Thus, if 

 the preposition(prep. ) nocjie "after" appears, one should look for forms in the genitive 

 case, e.g. nocjie hobofo ypoKa "after the new lesson". The prepositional case is 

 used only after prepositions and so is immediately determined as to usage and inter- 

 pretation. 



Below in tabular form are those prepositions which are frequently used; this 

 arrangement indicates the cases associated with particular prepositions. In a later 

 section(VOCABULARY HELP) a complete list of prepositions is presented, and the 

 meanings of the prepositions below may be quickly determined by a glance at the 

 longer listing. 



A npo uepes aa b/bo na aa nofl 



G 6e3 flJiH RO H3 HpoMG OKOJio OT nocjie c/co y 



D k/ho no + + 



P npn 0/06/060 b/bo Ha + + 



I Msmfly Hafl nepefl sa c/co nofl aa 



Prepositions - Motion vs. Rest 



Though most prepositions occur in phrases where the case of the constituent noun or 

 adjective is determined by the preposition itself, there are four prepositions which have 

 two case possibilities, with the choice being made on the basis of meaning. If the prep, 

 serves to channel motion from verb to noun, then the case selection will be accusative ; 

 if rest or location is intended, the prepositional case is used by two of the prepositions, 

 while two employ the instrumental case. 



B Ha Oh nOJIOmnjl HHMry B nu^WK/ua CTOJI. "He placed the book into the drawer/ 



, onto the table. 



B Ha KHWra JiemMT B HmHKe/na CTOJie. "The book is lying in the drawer/ 



on the table, 

 aa nOfl Co6aKa ydOKaJia aa CVOn/nOp. CTOJI. "The dog ran behind the table/ 



under the table, 

 aa nOfl Co6aHa CHAMT aa CTOJlOw/nOfl CT0JI0^A. "The dog is sitting behind the table/ 



under the table. 



