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.

Les six cas en un coup d'œil
Cas	Question	Fonction principale	Exemple (стол)
Nominatif	qui ? / quoi? (кто? / что?)	Le sujet ; le formulaire du dictionnaire	стол (stol)
Génitif	de qui ? / de quoi ? (кого? / чего?)	Possession, "de", absence, quantité	стола (stola)
Accusatif	qui ? / quoi? (кого ? / что ?)	L'objet direct ; mouvement avec в/на	стол (stol)
Datif	à qui ? / à quoi ? (кому? / чему?)	L'objet indirect ; "à/pour" quelqu'un	столу (stolu)
Instrumental	par qui ? / avec quoi ? (кем? / чем?)	« Avec / au moyen de » ; métier	столом (stolom)
Prépositionnel	à propos de qui ? / où? (о ком? / где?)	Localisation et sujet ("à propos")	(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.

Nominatif terminaisons (singulier)

Nominatif terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	-(консонант)	-ь, -й	стол, конь, чай - the dictionary form
Féminin	-а	-я, -ь	книга, неделя, ночь
Neutre	-о	-е, -ё	окно, море

Génitif terminaisons (singulier)

Génitif terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	-а	-я	стола, коня
Féminin	-ы	-и	after к г х ж ч ш щ use -и (книги)
Neutre	-а	-я	окна, моря

Accusatif terminaisons (singulier)

Accusatif terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	= nom. / = gen.	= nom. / = gen.	inanimate = nominative; animate = genitive
Féminin	-у	-ю / -ь	-ь nouns are unchanged (ночь -> ночь)
Neutre	= nom.	= nom.	окно, море (unchanged)

Datif terminaisons (singulier)

Datif terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	-у	-ю	столу, коню
Féminin	-е	-е / -и	-ь nouns and -ия take -и (ночи, армии)
Neutre	-у	-ю	окну, морю

Instrumental terminaisons (singulier)

Instrumental terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	-ом	-ем / -ём	столом, конём
Féminin	-ой	-ей / -ью	-ь nouns take -ью (ночью)
Neutre	-ом	-ем	окном, морем

Prépositionnel terminaisons (singulier)

Prépositionnel terminaisons (singulier)
Sexe	Tige dure	Tige molle	Remarque / exemple
Masculin	-е	-е	(о) столе, (о) коне
Féminin	-е	-е / -и	-ь nouns and -ия take -и (о ночи, об армии)
Neutre	-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.

Nominatif
Aucune préposition ne régit ce cas.
Génitif
без, у, до, от, из, с (со), для, около, после, вокруг
Accusatif
в / на (motion), за, через, про, под (motion)
Datif
к (ко), по, благодаря, согласно
Instrumental
с (со), над, под, перед, между, за (location)
Prépositionnel
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

Masculin

Déclinaison complète de стол dans les six cas
Cas	Formulaire	Translit.
Nominatif	стол	stol
Génitif	стола	stola
Accusatif	стол	stol
Datif	столу	stolu
Instrumental	столом	stolom
Prépositionnel	(о) столе	(o) stole

книга - book

Féminin

Déclinaison complète de книга dans les six cas
Cas	Formulaire	Translit.
Nominatif	книга	kniga
Génitif	книги	knigi
Accusatif	книгу	knigu
Datif	книге	knige
Instrumental	книгой	knigoy
Prépositionnel	(о) книге	(o) knige

окно - window

Neutre

Déclinaison complète de окно dans les six cas
Cas	Formulaire	Translit.
Nominatif	окно	okno
Génitif	окна	okna
Accusatif	окно	okno
Datif	окну	oknu
Instrumental	окном	oknom
Prépositionnel	(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.

Pratique : de quel cas s’agit-il ?

1 / 8Score 0/0 (0%)

Я читаю книгу.

Ya chitayu knigu.

Which case is «книгу» in?

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FAQ

How many cases does Russian have?

Russian has six cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental and prepositional. Each marks a noun's role in the sentence by changing its ending.

What is the easiest way to learn Russian cases?

Learn one case at a time by its job (subject, object, "of", "to", "with", "about"), and memorize each preposition together with the case it triggers. Then practice recognizing cases in real sentences - recognition, not memorizing tables, is what makes them stick. The drill on this page is built for exactly that.

Do I have to learn all six cases at once?

No. Start with the nominative (the dictionary form) and the accusative (direct objects), then add the prepositional and genitive, which appear constantly. The dative and instrumental can come a little later. Each case has its own page here so you can take them one at a time.

What decides which ending a Russian noun takes?

Two things: the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and whether its stem is hard or soft. Soft stems use the soft twin of each ending (-я instead of -а, -е instead of -о, and so on). A spelling rule (use -и after к г х ж ч ш щ) explains most of the rest.

Why does Russian even need cases?

Cases let the ending - not the word order - show who does what. That is why Russian word order is so flexible: «студент читает книгу» and «книгу читает студент» both mean the student reads the book, because the endings already mark subject and object.

Are case endings the same in the plural?

No, the plural has its own set of endings (and the genitive plural is famously tricky). This guide covers the singular, which is where every learner starts. Once the singular system is solid, the plural patterns are much easier to add.

Gratuit pour commencer

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.

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