Thread: Assigning a Color to each Russian Cases

What would be your choice of color for

Nominative :

Accusative :

Genitive :

Prepositional :

Dative :

Instrumental :

By the way was the order in which you learned them? The list of case is in the order in which I learned them (one by one starting from singular to plural)

Those two questions are not innocent.

Nominative :

Accusative :

Genitive :

Prepositional :

Dative :

Instrumental : (that was white)

Nominative :

Accusative :

Genitive :

Prepositional :

Dative :

Instrumental :


(all black)

That's an interesting question (color associations). I liked to associate numbers and other things with colors since childhood but I didn't do that for cases. In Russia we learn it in the following order:
Именительный
Родительный
Дательный
Винительный
Творительный
Предложный
and we have a rhyme for its easy memorizing:
Иван Родил Девчонку
Велел Тащить Пелёнку.

Nominative
Genitive
Dative
Accusative
Instrumental
Prepositional
It's the order in which they are listed when we learn them at school. And just like Pravit, I assign black color to all of these cases

I don't assign any color to cases.

come on guys, we don't normally assign colors to cases, but jog your creative side, and think of what color fits which case the best!

Originally Posted by Friendy

That's an interesting question (color associations). I liked to associate numbers and other things with colors since childhood but I didn't do that for cases. In Russia we learn it in the following order:
Именительный
Родительный
Дательный
Винительный
Творительный
Предложный
and we have a rhyme for its easy memorizing:
Иван Родил Девчонку
Велел Тащить Пелёнку.

Why learning винительный so late?!? I mean for creating basic sentences all you need is nominative and accusative. (я люблю картошку)

For me the colors would be on a purely intuitive notion (I think of the case and a color seems to fit well) Like for Genitive, I don't feel like thinking of a dark color at all.

Именительный
Родительный
Дательный
Винительный
Творительный
Предложный

Friendy, is there a rhyme, poem, ditty, anything to assist memorization of all the changes of the endings? I'm desperate here. They are a stumbling block and although I know I will learn them in time I'd like to use them with confidence before I collect my pension.

Originally Posted by Mordan

Why learning винительный so late?!? I mean for creating basic sentences all you need is nominative and accusative. (я люблюкартошку)

Don't forget the we are the native speakers and already can construct sentences. To be more accurate, it's not the order we learn them but the order we list them. We just learn theoretical things and it's all during one lesson as far as I remember.

@irisheyes
Unfortunately, I don't know of any . Well, maybe somebody will make it up some day.

You are right Friendy, there really isn't a short cut for the endings but I'll keep plodding along anyway.

I don't assign colours to the cases, but I always think of them in the order Nom., Acc., Gen., Dat., Inst., Prep.: NAGDIP is an easy acronym to remember.

The accusative lies between the nominative and genetive since in all forms except the feminine singular follow the animate/inaminate rule.

The prepositional is last since it's very easy to decline (-е in the singluar, apart from feminine soft sign endings where it's -и, and -ах/-ях in the plural depending on hardness/softness and the spelling rules) and only used with the four prepositions в, на, о, при.

I also like to keep the Dative, Instrumental and Prepositional together because they are always so similar in the plural (-ам/-ям, -ами/-ями, -ах/-ях).

Instead of using colours, I prefer to have a mental picture of what each case is used for. The instrumental I usually associate with a musical instrument (most often the electric guitar), since it is used to describe how or with what something is done, and similarly there are other images in my head for the other cases. I personally find this easier than using colours.

If you use colours, wouldn't you get confused when you wanted to put a colour in a different case than you associate it with? It would end up like a Stroop test, which is difficult enough in one's native language, let alone a foreign one!

I think nominative should definitely be black.
Anyway, here are my choices for colors.

Именительный - Nominative
родительный - Genitive
Дательный - Dative
Винительный - Accusative
Творительный - Instrumental
Предложный - Prepositional

Именительный - Nominative
родительный - Genitive
Дательный - Dative
Винительный - Accusative
Творительный - Instrumental
Предложный - Prepositional

Originally Posted by irisheyes

You are right Friendy, there really isn't a short cut for the endings but I'll keep plodding along anyway.

Well for the plural of Dative, Instrumental, and Prepositional I have a way of memorizing it of sorts.

nouns : ам, ами ах (ям, ями, ях)
adjectives: ым, ыми, ых (им, ими, их)

Very easy to memorize if you picture the cases as NAGDIP

Originally Posted by iwrotedrowning

Well for the plural of Dative, Instrumental, and Prepositional I have a way of memorizing it of sorts.

nouns : ам, ами ах (ям, ями, ях)
adjectives: ым, ыми, ых (им, ими, их)

My teacher first year had a little chant and dance to remember those plurals. She'd make us recite:

ым - ам, ыми - ами, ых - ах, boom, boom!

The boom booms were probably the most important part.

I'd love to see the dance.

Originally Posted by iwrotedrowning

I'd love to see the dance.

LOL. She was a crazy but wonderful teacher. Luckily she didn't make the students do the dance, she just demonstrated. She was always surprising us, for instance the day we learned the words for silverware she came to class with forks, spoons and knives all hidden under her clothes. She'd reach down her shirt, pull out a fork and say "Что это?" Never a dull moment that year.

Ok, I'll try to visualize the cases:

Именительный
Предложный
Винительный
Родительный
Дательный
Творительный

I just assumed everyone must learn them in that order, but I guess not.

This my idea for colours.

Именительный
Предложный
Винительный
Родительный
Дательный
Творительный


See? No more cases!

Originally Posted by DDT

This my idea for colours.

Именительный
Предложный
Винительный
Родительный
Дательный
Творительный


See? No more cases!

I can see them.