Russian has the same basic pronouns as English:
| я | I, me | мы | we, us |
| ты | you (singular/informal) | вы | you (plural/formal) |
| он | he, him | они | they, them |
| она | she, her | ||
| оно | it |
The major difference between Russian and English here is that Russian has two words for you. вы is used when you are addressing a group of people (you all), or when addressing a singular person you’d speak more formally to: an (adult) stranger; a teacher; a boss. ты is used when speaking to someone you’re more familiar with, and only when addressing just one person.
These pronouns show ownership, and they change depending on the gender of the following noun:
| my, mine | your, yours (ты) |
our, ours | you, yours (вы) |
one's own | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | мой | твой | наш | ваш | свой |
| feminine | моя | твоя | наша | ваша | своя |
| neuter | мое | твое | наше | ваше | свое |
| plural | мои | твои | наши | ваши | свои |
Его (yevo), ее, and их are the masculine/neuter, feminine, and plural possessive pronouns, respectively. These aren't based on the gender of the following object (the item being possessed); rather, they are based on the gender of the noun they replace (the one possessing the object).
All multi-syllable pronouns with a stressed е take on the sound of ё, and you may see them spelled as such. The pronounciation remains the same.
| → | мой велосипедmy bicycle | моя собакаmy dog | мое лицоmy face | мои детиmy children |
|---|
These are demonstrative (this, that) and determinative (all) pronouns. They also change with the gender of the following noun:
| this | that | all | |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | этот | тот | весь |
| feminine | эта | та | вся |
| neuter | это | то | всё |
| plural | эти | те | все |
| этот велосипедthis bicycle |
| эта собакаthis dog |
| это лицоthis face |
| эти детиthese children |
| это can also mean this is. With this meaning, it always uses the neuter form: |
|---|
| это велосипедthis is a bicycle |
| это собакаthis is a dog |
| это лицоthis is a face with neuter nouns, you must use context |
| это детиthese are children |
Finally, there are interoggative pronouns and their negative forms (ни + pronoun, across cases):
| what | who | which* | nothing | nobody | none* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | что ↓ |
кто ↓ |
какой | ничто ↓ |
никто ↓ |
никакой | |
| feminine | какая | никакая | |||||
| neuter | какое | никакое | |||||
| plural | какие | никакие |
*Какой can mean which one, (of) which type, or how (as in what is it like or as an
exaclamation how [adjective]! or what (a) ___.
Никакой means of no type, as in whatsoever.
It is not often used over ничто.
| → | Что он делает? What is he doing? | Кто то сказал? Who said that? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Он ничего не делает.
He's doing nothing (genitive case).
Notice there is an additional не to negate the action. |
Никто ничего не сказал. No one said anything. | |||
| Какой мужчина её муж? Which man is her husband? | Какая музыка ваша любимая? What kind of music is your favorite? | Какое твое плечо? How is your shoulder? | Какие красивы дети! What beautiful children! | |
When a negative pronoun is used with a preposition, the preposition goes between ни and the pronoun.
Like nouns, Russian pronouns change with grammatical case. These pronouns are in the nominative/default case.