Russian Cases (Русские Падежи)

What are Grammatical Cases?

In the Russian language, grammatical cases are used to indicate the role of a noun, pronoun, or adjective within a sentence. Each case provides different information about the relationship of words in a sentence.

• Nominative Case: The subject of the sentence, answering "who?" or "what?"
• Genitive Case: Often used to show possession, origin, or to describe something, answering "of whom?" or "of what?"
• Accusative Case: The direct object of the sentence, receiving the action, answering "whom?" or "what?"
• Prepositional Case: Used after certain prepositions, indicating location or the topic of discussion, answering "about whom?" or "about what?"
• Instrumental Case: Used to indicate the means by which an action is performed or with whom something is done, answering "with whom?" or "with what?"
• Dative Case: The indirect object of the sentence, typically answering "to whom?" or "for whom?"