Adjective
(Introduction)
In
Russian, the adjective changes according to gender, number and case of the head
noun it qualifies. The last two letters of the adjective keep changing
according to gender, number and case. And the interrogative word used to put
question to adjective also changes according to the gender, number and case.
Given below are the three forms of adjective –
masculine, feminine and neuter in the nominative case. Please pay attention to
the last two letters of the adjective depending on the gender and number of the
noun they qualify:
Declension of the adjectives according to
gender, number
Adjective
qualifying
Masculine
Noun:
1. stem ending with
Hard consonant
has
ending
-ый
новый
дом
new house
2. stem ending with
Soft consonant
has
ending -ий
соседний
парк
neighbouring
park
3. stem ending in a
sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a stressed ending has ending -ой
большой
big
4. stem ending in a sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a unstressed ending has ending
-ий
хороший
студент
good
student
5. stem end in
г,
к,
х
has
ending
-ий
тихий
океан
Pacific ocean
Adjective
qualifying
Feminine Noun:
1. stem ending with
Hard consonant
has
ending
-ая
новая
школа
new school
2. stem ending with
Soft consonant
has
ending -яя
соседняя
улица
neighbouring street
3. stem ending in a
sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a stressed ending has ending -ая
большая
комната
big (drawing) room
4. stem ending in a sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a unstressed ending has ending
-ая
хорошая
актриса
good actress
5. stem end in
г,
к,
х
has
ending
-ая
тихая
обстановка
calm atmosphere
Adjective
qualifying
Neuter Noun:
1. stem ending with
Hard consonant
has
ending
-ое
новое
письмо
new
letter
2.stem ending with
Soft consonant
has
ending -ее
соседнее
общежитие
neighbouring
hostel
3. stem ending in a
sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a stressed ending has ending -ое
большое
окно
big
window
4. stem ending in a sibilant (Ж,Ш,Ч
and
Щ) followed by a unstressed ending has ending
-ое
хорошое
радио good radio
5.stem ending in
г,
к,
х
has
ending
-ое
тихое
обстоятельство
calm
surrounding
Adjective
qualifying
Plural Noun:
1. stem ending with
г,
к,
х,ч,
ж,ш,щ
and soft ending has
ending
-
ие
соседние
общежития
neighbouring hostels
хорошие
актриса
good actresses
тихие
обстоятельства
calm
surroundings
2. stem ending with
hard consonant other than
г,
к,
х,ч,
ж,ш,щ has
ending -ые
новые
письма
new letters
Read the following sentences paying attention to the
ending of the adjectives
Это
новый
институт. .
This is a new institute.
Это
новая
школа.
This is a new school
Это
новое
общежитие.
This is a new hostel
Это
новые
институты
These are new institutes.
Это
новые
школы
These are new schools.
Это
хорошие
ответы
These are good answers.
The interrogative word to put question to the
adjective is
Какой,
which also change according to the gender, number and case. Pay attention how the
last two letters of
какой, change
depending on the gender and number of the noun the adjective qualifies.
Какой
это
институт?
What sort of institute is this?
-ой
as
институт
is
of Masculine gender
Какая
это
школа?
What sort of school is this?
-ая
as
школа
is
of Feminine gender
Какое
это
общежитие?
What sort of hostel is this?
-ое
as
общежитие
is
of Neuter gender
Какие
это
институты?
What sort of institutes are these?
Какие
это
школы?
What sort of schools are these?
Какие
это
общежития?
What sort of hostels are these?
-ие
as
институты,
школы,
общежития
are plural nouns
Read the following quuestions
paying attention to the ending of
Какие
Какие
это
институты?
What kind of institutes are these?
Какие
это
школы?
What kind of schools are these?
Какие
это
ответы?
What kind of answers are these?
The
neuter gender
ending -oe is always
stressed after
ж,
ш,
ч,
щ
чужое
лицо
a strange face,
большое
достижение
a great achievement
The
neuter gender ending
-ее
is
always
unstressed.
свежее
дыхание
fresh breath,.
хорошее
сочинение
a good composition,
горячее
солнце
a hot sun,
общее
дело
common cause.
The feminine
ending is spelt
-aя
after
ч and
щ:
горячая вода
hot water,
общая работа
common work.
There are few adjectives
with the stem ending in a soft consonant. All of them have
the stem ending in
ч,
щ
or the soft
н.
ближний
near
верхний
upper
весенний
spring
вечерний
evening
внешний
external
внутренний
internal
вчерашний,
yesterday's
давний
old
дальний
distant
домашний
domestic
древний
ancient
завтрашний
tomorrow's
задний
rear
здешний
local
зимний
winter
искренний
sincere
крайний
extreme
летний
summer
лишний
superfluous
многосторонний
multilateral
нижний
lower
новогодний
New
Year's
нынешний
present
односторонний
unilateral
осенний
autumn
передний
front
поздний
late
порожний
empty
последний
last
посторонний
outside,
extraneous
прежний
former
прошлогодний
last year's
пятилетний
five-year
разносторонний
versatile
ранний
early
сегодняшний
today's
синий
blue
соседний
neighbouring
средний
middle
тамошний
of that place,
local
теперешний
present
тогдашний
of those
days
трёхлетний
three-year
утренний
morning
* * *