Forming Plural Nouns in Russian

Most Russian plurals follow a few simple endings.

Main patterns

Gender	Singular	Plural	Meaning
Masculine	стол	столы	table
Masculine	музей	музеи	museum
Feminine	книга	книги	book
Feminine	неделя	недели	week
Neuter	окно	окна	window
Neuter	море	моря	sea

The usual rule

• Hard nouns often take -ы, soft nouns take -и.
• Neuter nouns take -а or -я.

The spelling rule

After г, к, х, ж, ш, ч and щ, write -и, not -ы:

• книга becomes книги
• карандаш becomes карандаши

Masculine nouns with -а

A group of masculine nouns take stressed -а or -я in the plural:

• дом (house) becomes дома
• город (city) becomes города
• глаз (eye) becomes глаза

Irregular plurals

• человек (person) becomes люди (people)
• ребёнок (child) becomes дети (children)
• друг (friend) becomes друзья (friends)
• мать (mother) becomes матери

Nouns with no plural, or only a plural

Some words are used mainly in the plural, such as деньги (money) and часы (clock, watch).

Tips

1. Learn the main endings.
2. Note the irregular few.
3. Use the dictionary to check plurals, since they are listed with entries.

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