In Russian, the declension of any words occurs in cases, the same rule applies to the declension of surnames. We all studied the rules of declension of words back in school, but declension of our middle name or the name of a neighbor has always interested us, we would not want to make a mistake when filling out documents, questionnaires, or just look ridiculous. To do this, we need to remember that declension always occurs according to the cases we have known for a long time.
- nominative- who? Simakova;
- genitive- whom? Simakova;
- dative- to whom? Simakova;
- accusative- whom? Simakov;
- instrumental- By whom? Simakova;
- prepositional- about whom? about Simakova.
Be sure to take into account the form of the number, singular or plural.
In the Russian language there are additional cases - local, vocative, original, quantitative-separative.
Surnames are divided into female and male. There is no neuter gender, because nouns with neuter gender are negligible, for example: an animal, a monster, a face. They are generic nouns, they are Russian and foreign.
Common endings of Russian surnames:
- -ov - -ev;
- -skoy - -ski;
- -yn - -in;
- -tskoy - -tsky.
Without the presence of a suffix, they are inclined in the same way as any adjectives: Merry - to Merry, Svetlov - to Svetlov, Green - to Green.
Such as Glinskikh, Sladkikh are unwilling and are considered frozen form, such a rule applies to foreign surnames with the ending -e and -i: Freundlich, Kiyashkih. Surname with the ending -yago - -ago: Zhiryago, Dubrago.
Decline rules
This should be remembered:
- Atypical Russians, like foreign ones, must be declined like a noun, and typical Russians like an adjective.
- Surnames female with a zero ending -th, -ь or ending in a consonant sound - do not decline! Fisherman, Blacksmith, Valdai. For example: Call Marina Melnik! Anastasia Bartol is not at home!
- If the surname has the ending -а - -я, it is not inclined in Russian (Kantaria, Kuvalda), neither male nor female, which cannot be said about Ukrainian and others Slavic languages, there it bows: Gunko - Gunka, Matyushenko - Matyushenka, Petrenko - Petrenko.
- Foreign variants with a vowel ending (except -а) are not declined. Jean Reno, Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Alexander Row.
Male ones ending in –а change: Beygora - Beygora, Beygora; Maivoda - Maivoda, Maivoda; Crow - Crow, Crow, Crow; Varava - to Varavoy, Varava; Guitar - Guitar, Guitar, Guitar.
Foreign surnames that have come to us with the ending in -ov, -in, in the instrumental case, will have an ending -om, like any nouns: Kron - Kronom, Chapkin - Chapkin.
The pseudonyms are inclined in the same way: Dryn - a song sung by Dryn.
How to decline female
Women ending in -ina: Zhuravlina, Yagodina. At Tatiana Zhuravlina, Oksana Yagodina. If initially Zhuravlin's surname is male, then it will be correct: Tatyana Zhuravlina's, Oksana Yagodina's.
It is important to remember that the declension does not always depend on the gender of its carrier, the main thing that matters is the ending - a consonant or a vowel.
There are several groups that not subject to declension, those end in -s, -ih, -i, as well as -e, -u, -o, -e, -yu, -y. Example: performed by Lyanka Gryu, Mireille Mathieu, Bruce Lee, Hercule Poirot.
The gender of the bearer of the surname is significant only if it ends in-them, -s: Mnih - for Mnikh, Belykh - for Belykh. Any masculine, if it ends in a consonant sound, is inclined, this is the rule of Russian grammar. Feminine ending in a consonant will never bend! And it doesn't matter what the origin of your middle name is. There will be male inclinations that coincide with common nouns, for example: poems by Alexander Blok, songs by Mikhail Krug, trophies by Sergei Korol.
Some female Armenian surnames are not declining: prepared by Rimma Amerian, belongs to Karine Davlatyan.
It is noteworthy that men with East Slavic roots and a fluent vowel can bend in two ways - without loss or with the loss of a vowel sound: with Roman Zayets or Roman Zayats - and so and so it will be correct, and choose how the second name will sound, only its owner. But it is advised to adhere to one type of declension when receiving all documents in order to avoid confusion.
There is one more thing to be aware of for variants that end in -th, less often -th. There is also a variant of declination in two ways: if the ending is -th, then declination as an adjective: male - Ivan Likhoy, in Ivan Likhoy; female - Inna Likhaya, to Inna Likhoy. And it can be considered as a zero ending, then it will turn out: Ivan Likhoy, from Ivan Likhoy; Inna Likhoy, to Inna Likhoy.
If the ending is -a, -ai, then it declines in general rules: Ivan Shakhrai; Maria Shakhrai.
If the surname ends in two vowels, the last of which is -i, it is declined, for example: David Bakariya, Georgy Zhvania. It will turn out: to David Bakaria, with Georgy Zhvania.
When a surname has a two-vowel ending with the last -а: Maurois, Delacroix, it does not bend! Fidel Maurois, Fidel Maurois, Irina Delacroix, Irina Delacroix.
If the ending has a consonant and -а, -я, then in these cases the place of stress and origin are important. There are only 2 exceptions:
- you cannot bend the surnames of the French with an emphasis on the last syllable: Zola, Dumas.
- most often the second names of the Finns are not inclined: Dekkala, Paikalla, lunch with Rauno Dekkala, I will go to Renata Paykalla.
The rest of the surnames that end in -а and -я, whether stressed or unstressed, are inclined! Despite the general misconception, those who coincide with a common noun are inclined, for example: Tatyana Loza's pen, give the notebook to Nikolai Shlyapa, read Bulat Okudzhava's poems.
It is noteworthy that the previously unrepentant Japanese surnames in our time are inclined, for example: they read the novels by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, films by Akira Kurosawa.
These are, in principle, all the basic rules, and as we can see, there are not so many of them. We can argue with the listed misconceptions associated with the myth of the declension of the surname, so:
- there is no basic rule that non-declining surnames are all Polish, Georgian, Armenian and others; declension is subject to the rules of grammar of the Russian language, amenable to inflection;
- the old rule that all men are inclined, and women do not, is not suitable for everyone, but for those who have a consonant at the end;
- the fact that this word coincides with a common noun cannot be an obstacle to declension.
Do not forget that this is just a word that is subject to the laws of grammar, like all other words. For example: passport issued to Muk Ivan, instead of the correct Torment to Ivan, and the wounded experienced torment, instead of torment. Both there and there - a grammatical error.
It is important to observe the declension rules also because the opposite can lead to incidents and misunderstandings.
For example: photo by Petr Loz. Everyone in the school knows that a masculine surname in the genitive case ending in -а will remain with a zero ending in the transition to the nominative case, and any literate person will conclude that the author of the photo is Peter Loz. The work submitted for verification A. Prisyazhnyuk will look for his mistress: Anastasia or Anna. And Anatoly will have to prove that he solved and wrote it.
It is important to remember
There is a truth to be learned by heart!
- The declination of all surnames in Russian is subject to the laws of grammar.
- You need to decline, starting first of all from what sound is in the ending: a consonant or a vowel.
- The rule that only male surnames are inclined, and female surnames are not, is not suitable for everyone, but only those ending in a consonant sound.
- They are not an obstacle to declension of variants similar to a common noun.
Russia is a multinational country, so there are many names and surnames of different origins.
We have to sign notebooks, fill out documents, while we must put our last name in a certain case and not be mistaken with the ending. This is where difficulties await us. For example, how to say correctly: “reward Lyanka Elena or Lyanka Elena, Bavtruk Timur or Bavtruk Timur, Anton Sedykh or Anton Sedogo»?
Today we will try to figure out some of the declension points of the surnames of foreign languages and Russian, male and female.
Let's begin with that most of the names of native Russians similar in form to adjectives with suffixes -sk-, -in-, -ov- (-ev-): Hvorostovsky, Veselkin, Mikhalkov, Ivanov, Tsarev. They can be either masculine or feminine, or plural. At the same time, rarely anyone will have difficulties with the declension of such surnames.
I. p. (Who? What?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovskaya, Hvorostovsky.
R. p. (Who? What?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
D. p. (To whom? What?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
V. p. (Who? What?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
Etc. (by whom? By what?) Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky.
P. p. (About whom? About what?) about Hvorostovsky, about Hvorostovskaya, about Hvorostovsky.
However, you need to be careful with surnames ending in a consonant letter or a soft sign. For example, Jackal, Tavgen, Box, Great-grandfather. In this case, the declination will depend on the person of what gender the surname belongs. If we are talking about a woman, then they are similar 
e surnames are non-declining, but male surnames are declined like nouns 2 declension husband. R. (like table, deer). This does not apply to surnames ending in - them (s). For example, go along with Jackal Anna and Jackal Anton, talk about Tavgen Anastasia and about Tavgené Alexandre, walk with Great-grandfather Daria and with Great-grandfather Yemelyan.
Some surnames like Child, Kravets, Zhuravel can have variable declension due to the fact that they are similar to common nouns. When declining nouns, it is observed vowel dropout at the end of a word(zhur flight ow me, bathe the rabbi nk a), when declining the surname, the vowel can be preserved in order to prevent distortion or comic sounding of the surname (write Zhuravel, dispatch from Child).
Do not lean male and female surnames on -th (s). Talk about Diana Sedykh and about Anton Sedykh, write Velimir Kruchenykh and Antonina Kruchenykh.
All female and male surnames ending in vowels, except -a or -I am, are unwilling... For example, Artmane, Amadou, Bossuet, Goethe, Galsworthy, Gramsci, Gretry, Debussy, Dzhusoyty, Dode, Camus, Cornu, Lully, Manzu, Modigliani, Navoi, Rustaveli, Ordzhonikidze, Chabukiani, Enescu and many others.
This also includes surnames ending in -O, and surnames of Ukrainian origin on -NS... For example, Hugo, La Rochefoucauld, Leoncavallo, Longfellow, Picasso, Craft, Khitrovo, Chamisso, Makarenko, Korolenko, Gorbatko, Shepitko, Savchenko, Zhivago, Derevyago, etc.
Declination of surnames ending in -a, causes the greatest difficulties. Here you need to consider several criteria: the origin of the surname, accent and letter, after which -a located. Let's try to simplify the picture as much as possible.
Surnames do not incline to -a if there is a vowel in front of this letter (most often at or and): Gulia, Moravia, Delacroix, Heredia. This also applies to surnames of Georgian origin.
Surnames do not incline to -aFrench origin with emphasis on the last syllable: Degas, Dumas, Luca, Tom, Farm, Petipa and etc.
All other surnames on -a are inclined in Russian. Bring Lyanka Elena, take from Shatravka Inna, read Petrarch, together with Kurosawoy, O Glinka, for Alexander Mitta.
The situation is similar with the declension of surnames with a final -I am: surnames are not inclined French origin with emphasis on the last syllable (Zola). All other surnames ending in -I am are inclined. For example, persuade Ivana Golovnya and Elena Golovnya writing about Beria, movie George Danelia.
Thus, as you may have noticed, you need to know not so many rules in order to correctly declare your surname in Russian. We hope that now you will not make mistakes when signing a notebook or filling out documents! But if you still have any doubts, please contact us. Our experts will always try to help!
Good luck and beautiful, literate, rich Russian language!
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1. Names (Slavic) on -O such as Levko, Marko, Pavlo, Petro are inclined according to the pattern of declension of masculine-neuter nouns, for example: in front of Levko, in Mark; M. Gorky's name Danko does not incline ("... she talked about Danko's burning heart").
Names that have parallel forms on -O – -a(Gavrilo - Gavrila, Mikhail - Mikhaila), usually inclined according to the type of feminine nouns: in Gavrila, to Gavrila, with Gavrila. Other endings (at Gabril, to Gabril, with Gabril) are formed from another original form of Gabril.
2. Foreign names are inclined to a consonant, regardless of whether they are used alone or together with a surname, for example: novels by Jules Verne (not Jules Verne), stories by Mark Twain, plays by John Boynton Priestley, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, a book by Pierre -Henri Simone. Partial deviations are observed with double French names, for example: the philosophical views of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an evening in memory of Jean-Richard Blok (the first name is not declined, see § 13, item 3).
3. When declining Slavic names and surnames, forms of Russian declension are used (in particular, fluent vowels are preserved in indirect forms), for example: Edek, Vladek (Polish names) - Edeka, Vladeka (not “Edka”, “Vladka”); Karel Chapek - Karela Chapek, (not "Chapka"); Vaclav Havel - Vaclav Havel (not "Havel").
4. Russian and foreign-language surnames ending in a consonant are inclined if they refer to men, and not if they refer to women. Wed: student Kulik - student Kulik, George W. Bush - Barbara Bush. Frequent deviations from the rule (the non-inclination of Russian male surnames ending in a consonant) are observed in cases where the surname is consonant with the name of an animal or an inanimate object (Gus, Belt), in order to avoid unusual or curious combinations, for example: "At Mr. Gus", "Citizen Belt". Often in such cases, especially in an official business speech, they retain the surname in initial form(cf .: train with Stanislav Zhuk) or make changes to given type declensions, for example, are stored in the forms indirect cases fluent vowel sound (compare: highly appreciate the courage of Konstantin Kobets).
5. Surnames do not incline to -go, -aco, -yago, -th, -th, -ovo: Shambinago, Plevako, Dubyago, Red, Dolgikh, Durnovo. Only in common parlance there are forms like "Ivan Sedykh".
6. Foreign surnames ending in a vowel sound (except for unaccented -and I, with a preceding consonant) are not inclined, for example: Zola's novels, Hugo's poems, Bizet's operas, Punchini's music, Shaw's plays, Salman Rushdie's poems.
Often, Slavic (Polish and Czech) surnames on -ski and -NS: opinions of Zbigniew Brzezinski (American public and political figure), Pokorny's dictionary (Czech linguist). However, it should be borne in mind that the tendency to transfer such surnames in accordance with their sound in the source language (compare the spelling of the Polish surnames Glinski, Leszczynska - with the letter b front sc) is combined with the tradition of their transmission according to the Russian model in spelling and declension: works by the Polish writer Krasiński, performances by the singer Eva Bandrowska-Turska, a concert by the pianist Cerny-Stefanska, an article by Octavia Opulskaya-Daniecka, etc. To avoid difficulties in the functioning of such surnames in the Russian language, it is advisable to arrange them according to the model of the declension of Russian male and female surnames into -skiy, -tskiy, th, th... Polish combinations are inclined similarly, for example: Army of Home, Army of Home, etc.
From surnames to struck -a only Slavic ones are inclined: the writer Mayboroda, the philosopher Skovoroda, films of Alexander Mitta.
Non-Russian surnames for unachable -o, -i(mainly Slavic and Romanesque) are inclined, for example: the work of Jan Neruda, the poems of Pablo Neruda, the works of the honorary academician N.F. Gamalei, Campanella's utopianism, the cruelty of Torquemada, a film with Juliet Mazina; but films featuring Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda. Finnish surnames ending in -а are also not inclined: meeting with Kuusela. Foreign surnames do not incline to -ia, for example: Heredia's sonnets, Gulia's stories; na -ya - incline, for example: Beria's atrocities.
Variations are observed in the use of the surnames of Georgian, Japanese and some others; Wed: aria performed by Zurab Sotkilava, songs by Okudzhava, Ardzinba government, 100th anniversary of the birth of Sen-Katayama, politics of General Tanaka, works by Ryunosuke Akutagawa. V last years there was clearly a tendency towards declining such surnames.
7. Ukrainian surnames on -ko (-enko) v fiction usually inclined, although by different types declensions (as masculine or neuter words), for example: order to the head to Evtukh Makogonenku; poem dedicated to Rodzianka M.V. In the modern press, such surnames, as a rule, are not inclined, for example: the anniversary of Taras Shevchenko, memories of V.G. Korolenko. In some cases, however, their variability is advisable to bring clarity to the text, cf .: letter from V.G. A. V. Korolenko Lunacharsky - a letter addressed to V.G. Korolenke. Wed also in Chekhov: "Towards evening Belikov ... trudged off to the Kovalenki." Surnames are not inclined to shock: the Franko Theater, Lyashko's stories.
8. In compound names and surnames of Korean, Vietnamese, Burmese, the last part is declined (if it ends in a consonant), for example: Choi Hyun's speech, Pham Van Dong's statement, conversation with U Ku Ling.
9. In Russian double surnames, the first part is declined if it itself is used as a surname, for example: songs by Solovyov-Sedoy, paintings by Sokolov-Skal. If the first part does not form a surname, then it does not incline, for example: studies by Grum-Grzhimailo, in the role of Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky, sculpture by Demut-Malinovsky.
10. Non-Russian surnames relating to two or more persons, in some cases, are put in the form plural, in others - in the form of a single:
1) if the last name has two male names, then it is put in the plural form, for example: Heinrich and Thomas Mann, August and Jean Picard, Adolphe and Michael Gottlieb; also father and son of Oistrakha;
- 2) for two female names, the surname is put in the form singular, for example: Irina and Tamara Press (cf. the non-inclination of surnames to a consonant sound, referring to women);
- 3) if the surname is accompanied by male and female names, then it retains the singular form, for example: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Ariadne and Peter Tur, Nina and Stanislav Zhuk;
- 4) the surname is also put in the singular if it is accompanied by two common nouns indicating a different gender, for example: Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, Lord and Lady Hamilton; however, in combinations of husband and wife, brother and sister, the surname is often used in the plural form: Estrema's husband and wife, Niringa's brother and sister;
- 5) when the spouse is spoken, the surname is put in the singular form, for example: spouse Kent, spouse Major;
- 6) when the word brothers, the surname is also usually put in the singular form, for example: the Grimm brothers, the Spiegel brothers, the Schellenberg brothers, the Pokrass brothers; the same with the word sisters: sisters Koch;
- 7) with the word family, the surname is usually put in the singular form, for example: the Oppenheim family, the Hoffmann-steel family.
11. In combinations of Russian surnames with numerals, the following forms are used: two Petrovs, both Petrovs, two Petrovs, both brothers Petrovs, two friends of Petrovs; two (both) Zhukovsky; two (both) Zhukovsky. Combinations of numerals with foreign-language surnames are also brought under this rule: both Schlegels, two brothers of Manna.
12. Female patronymics are inclined according to the type of declension of nouns, not adjectives, for example: Anna Ivanovna, to Anna Ivanovna, with Anna Ivanovna.
The rules for declining a surname cannot depend on the desire or reluctance of the bearer of the surname.
Do not lean:
1.female surnames ending in a consonant and a soft sign
(Anna Zhuk, Maria Mitskevich's family, appoint Lyudmila Koval).
2. Female names ending in a consonant
(Carmen, Gulchatay, Dolores, Helen, Suok, Edith, Elizabeth).
(Hugo, Bizet, Rossini, Show, Nehru, Goethe, Bruno, Dumas, Zola).
4. Male and female names ending in a vowel, excluding –а (–я)
(Sergo, Nelly).
5. Surnames ending in –а (–я) with a preceding vowel and
(Heredia's sonnets, Garcia's poems, Gulia's stories).
6. Russian surnames, which are frozen forms of the genitive singular with the endings: -ovo, -ago, -yago
(Durnovo, Sukhovo, Zhivago, Shambinago, Debyago, Khitrovo);
and plural with endings: -ih, -yh
(Twisted, Ostrovsky, Polish, Dolgikh, Gray).
V colloquial speech surnames with –the – –– can be inclined.
(Sergey Zhivago, Irina Zhivago, Galina Polskikh, Viktor Polskikh).
7. Ukrainian by origin surnames in shock and unstressed - ko ( Golovko, Lyashko, Franko, Yanko, Shevchenko's anniversary, Makarenko's activities, Korolenko's works).
8. The first part of a double surname, if it is not itself used as a surname
(v the role of Skvoznyak-Dmukhanovsky, research by Grun-Grigimailo, sculpture by Demut-Malinovsky).
Lean:
1.Male surnames and first names ending in a consonant and a soft sign(Institute named after S. Ya. Zhuk, poems by Adam Mitskevich, to meet Igor Koval).
2. Female names ending in a soft sign
(Love, Judith).
3. As a rule, surnames tend to be unstressed - and I
(mainly Slavic, Romanesque and some others)
(article by V.M. Birds, works of Jan Neruda, songs performed by Rosita Quintana, conversation with A. Vaida, poems by Okudzhava).
Variations are observed in the use of Georgian and Japanese surnames, where there are cases of inclination and non-inclination:
(bunk game. artist of the USSR Kharava; \ (100 \) years since the birth of Sen-Katayama, films by Kurosawa; works by A.S. Chikobava (and Chikobava); creativity of Pshavel; a minister in the Ikeda cabinet; Hatoyama's performance; films of Vittorio de Sica (not de Sica).
4. Slavic surnames for drums - and I
(from the writer Mayboroda, with the philosopher Skovoroda, to the director Golovna).
5. The first part of Russian double surnames, if it itself is used as a surname
(poems by Lebedev-Kumach, staged by Nemirovich-Danchenko, exhibition by Sokolov-Skal).
Standing in front of the surname foreign name ending in a consonant
(novels by Jules Verne, short stories by Mark Twain).
But, according to tradition: novels by Walter (and Walter) Scott, songs about Robin Hood.
6. When declining foreign surnames and names, the forms of Russian declensions are used and the peculiarities of declension of words in the original language are not preserved.
(Karel Czapek - Karela Czapek [not Karla Czapek]).
Also Polish names
(at Vladek, at Edek, at Janek [not: at Vladka, at Edko, at Yank]).
7. Polish female surnames in - a incline according to the pattern of Russian surnames on - and I
(Bandrovska-Turska - tours of Bandrovskaya-Turskaya, Cherni-Stefanska - concerts of Cherni-Stefanska).
At the same time, it is possible to design such surnames on the model of Russians and in nominative
(Opulskaya-Danetskaya, Modzelevskaya).
The same is appropriate for Czech surnames on - a
(Babitska - Babitskaya, Babitskaya).
8. Slavic male surnames on - NS it is advisable to incline on the model of Russian surnames to - th, th
Masculine surnames with a zero in the nominative case are inclined according to the first type. For example, Petrov belongs to the first type and has the following case forms: in the nominative case - Petrov; in the genitive - Petrova; in the dative - to Petrov; c - Petrova; c - Petrov; in the prepositional - (o) Petrov. While declining mainly as nouns, in the instrumental case these surnames end as masculine adjectives.
Surnames that end in a solid consonant sound are also inclined according to the first type, although in their native language they are inclined quite differently. Examples include such foreign surnames as Sawyer, Kipling, Balzac, etc. True, unlike Russian declined surnames with a solid consonant at the end, foreign ones are also inflected completely as nouns.
Surnames related to the second declension
The second type of declension includes feminine and masculine surnames with the ending -а (-я) in the nominative case. These are such names as Olenina, Lavrova, Akhmatova. Moreover, in the nominative, accusative they have endings like, and in other cases - like adjectives. For example, the surname "Lavrova" is declined as follows: in the nominative case - Lavrov; in the genitive - Lavrova; in the dative - Lavrova; in the accusative - Lavrov; in the instrumental - Lavrova; in the prepositional - (o) Lavrova.
Non-declining surnames
A number of both Russian and foreign surnames do not change at all. Non-declining surnames are female surnames ending in a consonant. These are such surnames as Kogut, Stal, Müller, etc.
Non-declining are also Slavic surnames ending in -o, -ako, -yago, -yh, -ih, -ovo. An example is such surnames as Shevchenko, Buinykh, etc.
The category of non-declining surnames is complemented by such surnames consonant with the name of animals or objects such as Deer, Goose, etc. This is primarily due to the fact that when declining, they create an effect: the meaning of the surname is identified with the person himself.
Foreign surnames that end in a vowel sound are also not inclined. Surnames such as Zola, Nove, Schulze can be cited as an example. The exception is surnames ending in unstressed vowels -а, -я.
