Using Word Endings To Decline Nouns

Hi, guys, my name is Vadim Onufriev.

Today I’ve decided to tell you about the role of endings in noun declension. 
This is one of the most difficult-looking problems of Russian. Believe me, it looks far worse than it is, you’ll cope with it, if you understand how to use material of this article.

My task is to show you what endings form each of 6 cases, and how to do it yourself. 

All the nouns in Russian can be divided into 3 big categories. We call these groups “Склонение”. It means “declension”.

If you know the group your given noun belongs to – first, second or third declension – you can be sure in choosing the correct ending.

Nouns are grouped into 3 declensions by their gender and ending in Nominative case.

• 1-st declension

  • Female nouns
    • End with –а or –я;
    • Examples: мама, тетя, кошка, жена;
  • Male nouns
    • End with –а or –я;
    • Examples: папа, дядя, юноша, мужчина;
  • Neuter nouns
    • NEVER belong to 1-st declension

• 2-nd declension

  • Female nouns
    • NEVER belong to 2-nd declension
  • Male nouns
    • End with every letter except of –а or –я;
    • Examples: конь, лес, пень, крокодил;
  • Neuter nouns
    • Every noun of this gender always belong to 2-nd declension (usually –о or -е);
    • Examples: поле, море, озеро, лето, стадо;

• 3-rd declension

  • Female nouns
    • End with every letter except of –а or –я (usually –ь);
    • Examples: дочь, тень, лень, вечность;
  • Male nouns
    • NEVER belong to 3-rd declension
  • Neuter nouns 
    
    • NEVER belong to 3-rd declension

Quick break for practice: can you separate the following into these three groups:
кошка, мыло, старик, бег, нож, речь?

Now, look through this big table (don’t be scared).
Endings of every word are separated by a dash.

Case Table.

 
Did you notice that despite the number of different endings in Nominative case (row 1), the words of a specific declension, wind up taking the same or very similar endings?

This is the most important thing!

It means, if you know the declension (1-st, 2-nd, or 3-rd) you can find a word in Case Table, that will have the same ending and gender in Nominative case. At this point you can be sure that in every case your given word and the one you've matched in the Table will have the same ending.

Still confused? Here is an example: 

You want to put word “машина” in the Accusative case. First, answer what declension “машина” belongs to. The answer is 1-st declension (female, singular, ends with –a). Find "a" cell at the intersection of “1-st declension (singular)” column and “Nominative case” row. This is the cell with words: жена, земля, слуга, забияка.

Which of these words has the same endings?

Yes, - «жена»! It means, in the Accusative, “машина” and “жена” will have the same ending – -у.

That’s why “машина” in the Accusative case is “машину” (just like “жену”).

Conclusion:

All you should know is how to determine the declension of every word.

Here is a step-by-step review of finding the right ending for a word:

1. Define what declension group your word is (Nominative case, singular form);

2. Find a word that matches your original word by it's ending in the Nominative (singular).

3. Find the ending of the this new word in the desired case.

4. Use the ending with your original word - you've just correctly declined your original word. 

I know, it seems daunting at first, but with a little practice you will hardly have think about it.