Russian Cases Explained: All 6, With Practice
Cases are where most learners stall - but they follow a system you can actually see. This guide breaks down all six Russian cases: what each one means, when to use it, and exactly which ending a noun takes, with clean tables and a practice drill right on the page.
What is a case, and why are there six?
English shows who-does-what mostly through word order: "the dog bites the man" means something different from "the man bites the dog." Russian does it differently. It changes the ending of the noun to mark its job in the sentence, and once the ending carries that information, word order becomes flexible.
A "case" is just one of those jobs. Russian has six: nominative (the subject), accusative (the direct object), genitive (possession / "of" / absence), dative (the indirect object / "to"), instrumental ("with" / "by means of"), and prepositional (location / "about", always after a preposition).
So when you see столом instead of стол, the -ом ending is telling you "this table is the instrument - something is done with it." Learn to read the ending and the sentence unlocks. That is the whole game.
The six cases at a glance
Here is the big picture before the details. Each case answers a question and does a core job. Skim this table now, then come back to it as a cheat sheet - the example column shows the same word (стол, "table") in each case so you can see the ending change.
| Case | Question | Core function | Example (стол) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | who? / what? (кто? / что?) | The subject; the dictionary form | стол (stol) |
| Genitive | of whom? / of what? (кого? / чего?) | Possession, "of", absence, quantity | стола (stola) |
| Accusative | whom? / what? (кого? / что?) | The direct object; motion with в/на | стол (stol) |
| Dative | to whom? / to what? (кому? / чему?) | The indirect object; "to / for" someone | столу (stolu) |
| Instrumental | by whom? / with what? (кем? / чем?) | "With / by means of"; profession | столом (stolom) |
| Prepositional | about whom? / where? (о ком? / где?) | Location and topic ("about") | (о) столе ((o) stole) |
Gender and hard vs. soft stems decide the ending
Two things decide which ending a noun takes: its gender (masculine, feminine or neuter) and whether its stem is "hard" or "soft." You read gender straight off the dictionary form - most consonant-ending nouns are masculine, most -а/-я nouns are feminine, most -о/-е nouns are neuter (a few -ь nouns go either way and must be learned).
"Hard" vs. "soft" is about the last sound of the stem. Hard stems end in a hard consonant (стол, книга, окно); soft stems end in -ь, -й or a soft vowel pair (конь, неделя, море). Soft stems simply swap the hard ending for its soft twin: -а becomes -я, -о becomes -е, -ом becomes -ем, and so on. It is the same case doing the same job - just spelled to match a soft stem.
One spelling rule smooths a lot of this: after the letters к, г, х, ж, ч, ш, щ you write -и instead of -ы (so книга -> книги, not книгы). Keep it in your back pocket; it explains most of the endings that look "wrong" at first.
The singular endings, case by case
Below is the regular singular endings reference for each case, split into hard-stem and soft-stem columns for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. These cover the vast majority of nouns. Irregular nouns and the plural have their own patterns - the notes flag the most common exceptions, and each case has its own dedicated page if you want to go deeper.
Nominative endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -(консонант) | -ь, -й | стол, конь, чай - the dictionary form |
| Feminine | -а | -я, -ь | книга, неделя, ночь |
| Neuter | -о | -е, -ё | окно, море |
Genitive endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -а | -я | стола, коня |
| Feminine | -ы | -и | after к г х ж ч ш щ use -и (книги) |
| Neuter | -а | -я | окна, моря |
Accusative endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | = nom. / = gen. | = nom. / = gen. | inanimate = nominative; animate = genitive |
| Feminine | -у | -ю / -ь | -ь nouns are unchanged (ночь -> ночь) |
| Neuter | = nom. | = nom. | окно, море (unchanged) |
Dative endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -у | -ю | столу, коню |
| Feminine | -е | -е / -и | -ь nouns and -ия take -и (ночи, армии) |
| Neuter | -у | -ю | окну, морю |
Instrumental endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -ом | -ем / -ём | столом, конём |
| Feminine | -ой | -ей / -ью | -ь nouns take -ью (ночью) |
| Neuter | -ом | -ем | окном, морем |
Prepositional endings (singular)
| Gender | Hard stem | Soft stem | Note / example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -е | -е | (о) столе, (о) коне |
| Feminine | -е | -е / -и | -ь nouns and -ия take -и (о ночи, об армии) |
| Neuter | -е | -е / -и | -ие nouns take -и (о здании) |
Prepositions that trigger each case
A huge share of case use is automatic: certain prepositions always force a certain case. Memorize the preposition together with its case and half the work is done. The genitive follows без, у, до, от, из, для and около; the dative follows к and по; the instrumental follows с, над, под, перед and между; and the prepositional only ever appears after в, на, о/об and при.
A few prepositions take different cases depending on meaning. в and на take the accusative for motion ("into / onto" - where to?) but the prepositional for location ("in / on" - where?). за and под take the accusative for motion and the instrumental for a static position. The drill below mixes these so you learn to spot the difference.
Nominative
No preposition governs this case.
Genitive
без, у, до, от, из, с (со), для, около, после, вокруг
Accusative
в / на (motion), за, через, про, под (motion)
Dative
к (ко), по, благодаря, согласно
Instrumental
с (со), над, под, перед, между, за (location)
Prepositional
в / во, на, о / об / обо, при
Three nouns, all six cases
Theory clicks when you watch a real word move through every case. Here are a hard masculine noun (стол), a hard feminine noun (книга) and a hard neuter noun (окно), each declined through all six singular cases. Tap the speaker on any form to hear it.
стол - table
Masculine| Case | Form | Translit. | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | стол | stol | |
| Genitive | стола | stola | |
| Accusative | стол | stol | |
| Dative | столу | stolu | |
| Instrumental | столом | stolom | |
| Prepositional | (о) столе | (o) stole |
книга - book
Feminine| Case | Form | Translit. | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | книга | kniga | |
| Genitive | книги | knigi | |
| Accusative | книгу | knigu | |
| Dative | книге | knige | |
| Instrumental | книгой | knigoy | |
| Prepositional | (о) книге | (o) knige |
окно - window
Neuter| Case | Form | Translit. | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | окно | okno | |
| Genitive | окна | okna | |
| Accusative | окно | okno | |
| Dative | окну | oknu | |
| Instrumental | окном | oknom | |
| Prepositional | (об) окне | (ob) okne |
Practice: which case is it?
Reading tables is not the same as recognizing cases in the wild. This drill shows you a real Russian sentence and asks which case the highlighted word is in. Instant feedback and a short reason each time - this is the exact skill that turns the tables into reading ability.
Practice: which case is it?
Я читаю книгу.
Which case is «книгу» in?
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FAQ
How many cases does Russian have?
What is the easiest way to learn Russian cases?
Do I have to learn all six cases at once?
What decides which ending a Russian noun takes?
Why does Russian even need cases?
Are case endings the same in the plural?
Free to start
Make the cases automatic - free
You have seen the system. Daily Cyrillic drills the cases with spaced-repetition cards, audio and real sentences, so the right ending comes without thinking.
Read the full guide
- Nominative
The subject; the dictionary form
- Genitive
Possession, "of", absence, quantity
- Accusative
The direct object; motion with в/на
- Dative
The indirect object; "to / for" someone
- Instrumental
"With / by means of"; profession
- Prepositional
Location and topic ("about")
- Russian Declension Tool
Decline common nouns through all six cases - singular and plural, with audio.
- The Russian Alphabet
The foundation before cases: all 33 letters with audio.
- Learn
All Russian guides and tools in one place.
