Thread: Declension of proper nouns

Maybe this question belongs in the Grammar forum. I'm a novice both in the Russian language and on these forums. So, please bear with me. Anyhoo, I'm wondering if someone could give me some pointers on how to decline proper names. For example, "Konstantin" is in the nominative case. What does it look like in other cases? If I choose to call this person "Kostya," the whole declension table, I guess, will change too. Ugh... Will I ever get this language? Is it a general rule that you add the "a" to names that end with a consonant (Pavel, Oleg, Vladimir, etc.) in the accusative case? Is there a web page where I can go learn more about this? Thank you very much in advance.

Someone ! Link this person to bucknell !


The declension changes only happen when it's a masculine name. Like, Виталий. Then you would be like "Ты знаешь Виталия?"

If it's someone's name, and she's a girl, then it just follows the regular accusative pattern.

Катя - Ты знаешь катю ?
Да, я знаю её.

When the name is masculine, it isn't really a "whole nother declension table". It's just genitive endings. if you know how to decline genitive, your fine.

~Ты знаешь Oлега ?
Нет, его не знаю, но Катя знает.
~А Олег знает катю?
Да, конечно!

Do you know oleg ?
No, I don't, but Katya does.
Does Oleg know Katya ?
Yes, Of course!

Ugh... Will I ever get this language?

Yes, probably.

Animate accusative singular = genitive singular for masculine nouns.
Animate accusative plural = genitive plural for all nouns.

<-- Burn this one into your brain. 'Animate' means anything that is alive or looks like it might be alive (like me this morning), with lots of exceptions.

And also if you want to show posession names change.

Katya's sister- Сестра Кати
Zhenya's dog- Собака Жени
Petya's wife: Жена Пети

And just some more sentences:

Petya has wife who's name is Vera(Is this correctly written?)
У Пети есть жена которую зовут Вера
I presented Alisa a doll(Gave to her as a present)
Я подарила Алисе куклу
Every day I walk to school with Maxim
Каждый день я хожу в школу с Максимом

And Look, for name Konstantin(In Russian- Константин)
I see Konstantin- Я вижу Константина
This is Konstantin's book- Это книга Константина
I am with Konstantin- Я с Константином
Give this book to Konstantin- Дай эту книгу Константину

Does it make it more clear? Hope I helped.

She asked about accusative, and posetion will change with any nouns, not just proper ones.

Originally Posted by Евгения Белякова

Petya has wife who's name is Vera(Is this correctly written?)

Petya has a wife whose name is Vera.