The accusative case is used on the object of a sentence.
| Add а to a hard consonant | Replace а with у | No change to о | Replace ь (masculine) with я |
|---|---|---|---|
человек → человекаperson nominative → person accusative |
книга → книгуbook nom. → book acc. |
учитель → учителяteacher nom. → teacher acc. |
|
| Replace й with я | Replace я with ю | No change to е | No change to ь (feminine) |
случай → случаяcase/instance nom. → case/instance acc. |
яблоня → яблонюapple tree nom. → apple tree acc. |
Masculine nouns only change in the accusative case if they are animate. Animate means something that is alive and can move by itself; people and animals are animate.
There is no accusative plural form. Animate nouns use their genitive plural form in the accusative case, while inanimate nouns simply use their nominative plural.
In sentences like I want a cat, she loves her family, the groom kissed the bride, the objects would be сat, family, and the bride (the subjects would be I, she, and the groom). These are very simple subject-verb-object sentences, but most sentences have an object.
я хочу кошкуI want a cat |
она любит свою семьюshe loves her family |
жених поцеловал невестуthe groom kissed the bride |
The accusative case is also used with the prepositions в in and на at to indicate motion towards something.
они ходят в библиотекуthey are going to (a/the) library |
птица летит на станцию(a/the) bird is flying to (a/the) station |
| Personal | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | меня | ты | (н)его/(н)ее* | себя ↓ |
| plural | нас | вас | (н)их |
| Possessive | 1st person singular | 2nd person singular | 3rd person | 1st person plural | 2nd person plural | reflexive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | моего | твоего | ↑ его/ее*/их ↓ |
нашего | вашего | своего |
| feminine | мою | твою | нашу | вашу | свою | |
| neuter | мое* | твое* | наше | ваше | свое* | |
| plural | моих | твоих | наших | ваших | своих |
| Demonstrative & Determinative | this | that | all |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | этого | того | всего |
| feminine | этой | той | всей |
| neuter | это | то | всё |
| plural | этих | тех | всех |
| Interrogative | who | what | which |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | ↑ что ↓ |
↑ кого ↓ |
какой какого |
| feminine | какую | ||
| neuter | какое | ||
| plural | какие каких |
Notice that pronouns that are necessarily inanimate (all neuter pronouns, as all neuter nouns are inanimate, and the pronoun what, but not who) use their nominative forms, while all others use their genitive forms.
Additionally, for pronouns replacing or describing a masculine or plural noun, if the noun is animate, use the genitive form; otherwise, use the nominative form.
| masculine | feminine | neuter | plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| ый ого |
ую | ое | ые ых |
| чёрный чёрного |
чёрную | чёрное | чёрные чёрных |
When describing a masculine or plural noun, if it is animate, use the genitive form; otherwise, use the nominative form.