Russian Adjectives and Agreement
How Russian adjectives change to match the gender and number of the noun, with hard and soft patterns.
In Russian, an adjective matches its noun in gender and number.
Hard-stem adjectives
Take новый (novy), new:
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | новый | новый дом, a new house |
| Feminine | новая | новая книга, a new book |
| Neuter | новое | новое окно, a new window |
| Plural | новые | новые дома, new houses |
Soft-stem adjectives
Take синий (siniy), dark blue:
| Form | |
|---|---|
| Masculine | синий |
| Feminine | синяя |
| Neuter | синее |
| Plural | синие |
Adjectives with stressed -ой
Some masculine adjectives end in -ой, such as большой (big) and молодой (young). Their feminine form is большая, neuter большое, plural большие.
After г, к, х, ж, ш, ч, щ
The spelling rule applies, so you write хороший (good), хорошая, хорошее, хорошие.
Predicate adjectives
Adjectives also agree after "to be":
- Дом новый. The house is new.
- Книга новая. The book is new.
- Окно новое. The window is new.
Short forms
Russian has short forms of adjectives, used in the predicate. They do not decline for case, such as рад (glad, masculine) and рада (feminine).
Cases
Adjectives also change with the case of the noun, which is why learners find endings challenging. Start with the nominative before tackling the rest.
Tips
- Learn adjectives with the noun they usually go with.
- Practise the four endings.
- Use the dictionary to check the base form.
English Russian Dictionary
Offline English–Russian dictionary with meanings in proper Cyrillic script
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