Plurals
The endings depend on gender, and on whether the stem ends in a soft consonant.
| gender | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | стол | столы́ |
| masculine (soft) | день | дни |
| feminine | кни́га | кни́ги |
| neuter | окно́ | о́кна |
Two things to notice. Neuter plurals end in -а, which looks exactly like a feminine singular. And the stress moves: окно́ → о́кна, стол → столы́.
After a number, the case changes
This is the thing nothing else on this site does.
| number | what follows |
|---|---|
| 1 | nominative singular — оди́н стол |
| 2, 3, 4 | genitive SINGULAR — два стола́ |
| 5 and up | genitive PLURAL — пять столо́в |
And it restarts at 21, 22, 23: два́дцать оди́н стол, два́дцать два стола́.
The 2–4 rule is a fossil of an ancient dual number that Russian otherwise lost. Nobody can justify it; everyone has to learn it.
Genitive plural is the hard one
- masculine: -ов / -ев / -ей — столо́в, музе́ев, рубле́й
- feminine and neuter: usually nothing at all — кни́г, о́кон
That zero ending often forces a vowel in to break up the consonants: ку́кла → ку́кол, окно́ → о́кон.
Plurals with no singular
Часы́ watch, де́ньги money, но́жницы scissors, воро́та gate. To count them you need special collective numerals — дво́е часо́в — which is a corner of the language most learners sensibly avoid.
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