From the questions received by the “Help Bureau” of “Gramoty.ru”:
- Hello, my surname is Ossa, emphasis on O, they wrote Ossa in my diploma, and now I have to do an examination, which costs a lot of money, to prove that the surname is not inclined.
- My last name is Pogrebnyak. This is a Ukrainian surname, but they don’t seem to bow down. Some people decline my surname, write Pogrebnyak, Pogrebnyaku, Pogrebnyak. Is it possible?
- My last name is Eroshevich, it is of Polish origin (this is known for sure). I'm interested in this question: is my last name inclined? My (male) relative was given a certificate in which his last name was omitted. And with this certificate they didn’t take him anywhere. They said that the surname does not decline. Teachers also say that it is not inclined, but on your website it says that it is inclined. I'm confused!
Such questions are not uncommon in the Help Desk of our portal. Most often they are asked in May–June and at the very beginning of September. This is, of course, due to the fact that at the end of the school year, school and university graduates receive certificates and diplomas, and in September children go to school and begin signing notebooks. The certificate and diploma will necessarily say who it was issued to (i.e., the surname in the dative case), and on the cover of the notebook - whose it is (i.e., the surname in the genitive case). And in cases where the student’s last name does not end in -ov(s), -in (-yn) or - skiy (-tskiy)(i.e., does not belong to the so-called standard), the question almost always arises: is it necessary to decline the surname and, if so, how exactly to decline it? It is with this that native speakers turn to linguists for help. And this question is often followed by another: “How to prove that the surname is inclined?” or “How to defend the right to undeclination of a surname?” The question “To decline or not to decline the surname?” often goes beyond the language, causing heated debate and leading to serious conflicts.
Of course, such questions come not only from students, their parents and teachers, they are asked throughout the year, but the peaks of requests to linguists are precisely in May-June and September, due to the aggravation of this problem in schools and universities. This is not accidental: after all, it is in an educational institution that many native speakers have their first meeting with a specialist - a teacher of the Russian language, and the teacher’s demand to change the surname, which in the family has always been considered unchangeable, by case, surprises, irritates and causes resistance. Similar difficulties are experienced by office workers (secretaries, clerks), who are faced with categorical demands from management not to decline names.
The experience of our “Reference Bureau” shows that the laws of declension of surnames are indeed unknown to a large number of native speakers (and even some philologists), although they are given in many reference books on the Russian language, including widely available ones. Among these manuals are “Handbook of Spelling and Literary Editing” by D. E. Rosenthal, a stylistic dictionary of variants by L. K. Graudina, V. A. Itskovich, L. P. Katlinskaya “Grammatical Correctness of Russian Speech” (3rd edition - under the heading “Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language”), “Dictionary of Russian personal names” by A. V. Superanskaya, research by L. P. Kalakutskaya “Surnames. Names. Middle names. Spelling and their declension" and many other sources. A study of the requests of Internet users and monitoring of the blogosphere allows us to conclude: there are many misconceptions among native speakers regarding the rules of declension of surnames. Here are the main ones: the decisive factor is the linguistic origin of the surname (“Georgian, Armenian, Polish, etc. surnames are not declined”); in all cases, the declension of the surname depends on the gender of the bearer; surnames that coincide with common nouns (Thunderstorm, Beetle, Stick), do not bow. A considerable number of native speakers are convinced that there are so many rules for declension of surnames that it is not possible to remember them.
To show that all these ideas do not correspond to reality, we present the basic rules for declension of surnames. They are taken from the sources listed above and formulated by us in the form of step-by-step instructions, a kind of algorithm with which you can quickly find the answer to the question: “Does the surname decline?”
This is the algorithm.
1. As stated above, declension of surnames ending in -ov (-ev,), -in (-yn), -sky (-tsky), i.e., so-called standard surnames, does not cause difficulties for native speakers. You just need to remember two important rules.
A. Borrowed surnames -ov, -in which belong foreigners, in the form of the instrumental case they have an ending -ohm(as nouns of the second school declension, for example table, table): the theory was proposed by Darwin, the film was directed by Chaplin, the book was written by Cronin.(Interestingly, the pseudonym is also inclined Green, belonging to a Russian writer: the book has been written Green.) Homonymous Russian surnames have the ending - th in the instrumental case: with Chaplin(from the dialect word Chaplya"heron"), with Kronin(from crown).
B. Women's surnames starting with - ina type Currant, Pearl Declined in two ways, depending on the declension of the male surname ( Irina Zhemchuzhina And Irina Zhemchuzhina, Zoya Smorodina And Zoya Smorodina). If the man's surname is Zhemchuzhin, then correct: arrival Irina Zhemchuzhina. If the man's surname is Pearl, then correct: arrival Irina Zhemchuzhina(surname is declined as a common noun pearl).
2. Now we move directly to the so-called non-standard surnames. The first thing to remember: contrary to popular misconception, the gender of the bearer of a surname does not always influence whether one is inclined or not. Even less often, this is influenced by the origin of the surname. First of all, it matters what sound the surname ends with - a consonant or a vowel.
3. Let us immediately describe several groups of indeclinable surnames. In modern Russian literary language don't bow Russian surnames, ending in -ы, -и (type Black, Long), as well as all surnames, ending in vowels e, i, o, u, y, e, yu .
Examples: notebooks by Irina Chernykh, Lydia Meie, Roman Grymau; the diploma was issued to Viktor Dolgikh, Andrey Gretry, Nikolai Shtanenko, Maya Lee; meeting with Nikolai Kruchenykh and Alexander Minadze.
Note. In colloquial speech and in the language of fiction, reflecting oral speech, it is considered acceptable to decline male surnames into - oh, -them (in Chernykh’s script, meeting with Ryzhikh), as well as the declination of surnames of Ukrainian origin to -ko, -enko according to the declension of feminine nouns -a: go to Semashka, visiting Ustimenka. Note that Ukrainian surnames of this type were consistently declined in the fiction of the 19th century ( at Shevchenko; Nalivaika's confession; poem dedicated to Rodzianka).
4. If the surname ends in a consonant(except surnames on -y, -them, which were mentioned above), then here – and only here! – the gender of the bearer of the surname matters. All male surnames ending in a consonant are declined - this is the law of Russian grammar. All female surnames ending in a consonant are not declined. In this case, the linguistic origin of the surname does not matter. Male surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.
Examples: notebook by Mikhail Bok, diplomas issued to Alexander Krug and Konstantin Korol, meeting with Igor Shipelevich, visiting Andrei Martynyuk, daughter of Ilya Skalozub, work by Isaac Akopyan; Notebook by Anna Bok, diplomas issued to Natalya Krug and Lydia Korol, meeting with Yulia Shipelevich, visiting Ekaterina Martynyuk, daughter of Svetlana Skalozub, work by Marina Akopyan.
Note 1. Male surnames of East Slavic origin, which have a fluent vowel during declination, can be declined in two ways - with and without loss of the vowel: Mikhail Zayats And Mikhail Zaits, with Alexander Zhuravel And Alexander Zhuravl, Igor Gritsevets And Igor Gritsevets. In a number of sources, declension without dropping a vowel is considered preferable (i.e. Hare, Crane, Gritsevets), since surnames also perform a legal function. But the final choice is up to the bearer of the surname. It is important to adhere to the chosen type of declination in all documents.
Note 2. Separately, it is necessary to say about surnames ending in a consonant y. If preceded by a vowel And(less often - O), the surname can be declined in two ways. Surnames like Topchiy, Pobozhiy, Bokiy, Rudoy, can be perceived as having endings -yy, -yy and decline as adjectives ( Topchego, Topchego, feminine Topchaya, Topchey), or it is possible - as having a zero ending with declension modeled on nouns ( Topchiya, Topchiya, feminine invariant form Topchy). If you agree th at the end of the surname preceded by any other vowel, the surname follows the general rules (Igor Shakhrai, Nikolai Adzhubey, But Inna Shakhrai, Alexandra Adzhubei).
5. If the surname ends in a vowel -я preceded by another vowel
(eg: Shengelaya, Lomaya, Rhea, Beria, Danelia), she leans.
Examples: Inna Shengelai's notebook, diploma given to Nikolai Lomaya, meeting with Anna Reya; crimes of Lavrentiy Beria, meeting with Georgy Danelia.
6. If the surname ends in a vowel -a preceded by another vowel
(eg: Galois, Maurois, Delacroix, Moravia, Eria, Heredia, Gulia), she doesn't bow.
Examples: notebook Nikolai Galois, diploma issued to Irina Eria, meeting with Igor Gulia.
7. And the last group of surnames - ending in -а, -я, preceded by a consonant . Here - and only here! – the origin of the surname and the place of emphasis in it matters. There are only two exceptions to remember:
A. Don't bow French surnames with emphasis on the last syllable: books by Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Anna Gavalda, aphorisms by Jacques Derrida, goals by Diarra and Drogba.
B. Mostly don't bow Finnish surnames ending in - A unstressed: meeting with Mauno Pekkala(although a number of sources recommend inclining them too).
All other surnames (Slavic, eastern and others; ending in stressed and unstressed -and I) bow down. Contrary to popular belief, surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.
Examples: notebook by Irina Groza, diploma issued to Nikolai Mukha, lecture by Elena Kara-Murza, songs by Bulat Okudzhava, roles by Igor Kvasha, films by Akira Kurosawa.
Note. In the past, fluctuations were observed in the declension of Japanese surnames, but reference books note that recently such surnames have been consistently declined, and in the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak there is an indeclinable version at Akutagawa, along with the inflexible near Okudzhava, called a “gross violation of the norm” .
That, in fact, is all the main rules; as you can see, there are not so many of them. Now we can refute the misconceptions listed above related to the declination of surnames. So, contrary to popular belief: a) there is no rule “all Armenian, Georgian, Polish, etc. surnames are not declined” - the declension of surnames is subject to the laws of language grammar, and if the final element of the surname is amenable to Russian inflection, it is declined; b) the rule “men's surnames are declined, women's are not” does not apply to all surnames, but only to those that end in a consonant; c) the coincidence of the surname in form with common nouns is not an obstacle to their declension.
It is important to remember: the surname is word and, like all words, it must obey the grammatical laws of the language. In this sense there is no difference between the sentences The certificate was issued to Ivan Golod(instead of the correct Golodu Ivan) And The villagers suffered from hunger(instead of suffered from hunger), there is a grammatical error in both sentences.
It is also important to follow the rules for declension of surnames because refusal to change the case of the declension surname can lead to misunderstandings and incidents, disorienting the addressee of the speech. In fact, let’s imagine a situation: a person with the surname Storm signed his work: article by Nikolai Groz. According to the laws of Russian grammar, a man's surname ending in the genitive case singular. numbers on - A, is restored in its original form, in the nominative case, with a zero ending, so the reader will make an unambiguous conclusion: the author’s name is Nikolay Groz. Submitted to the dean's office work by A. Pogrebnyak will lead to the search for the student (Anna? Antonina? Alisa?) Pogrebnyak, and the student Alexander Pogrebnyak’s belonging to her will still need to be proven. It is necessary to follow the rules of declension of surnames for the same reason that it is necessary to follow the rules of spelling, otherwise a situation arises similar to the famous “opteka” described by L. Uspensky in “A Lay on Words.” The authors of the “Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language” L.K. Graudina, V.A. Itskovich, L.P. Katlinskaya indicate: “For the inflection of surnames, the law on absolute deducibility by them must be immutable. case of the surname from its indirect cases.”
Therefore, we invite you to remember elementary truth No. 8.
Basic Truth No. 8. The declension of surnames is subject to the laws of Russian grammar. There is no rule “all Armenian, Georgian, Polish, etc. surnames are not declined.” The declension of a surname depends primarily on what sound the surname ends with - a consonant or a vowel. The rule “men's surnames are declined, women's are not” does not apply to all surnames, but only to those that end in consonant. Matching of the surname in form with common nouns (Fly, Hare, Stick etc.) is not an obstacle to their inclination.
Literature:
- Ageenko F. L. Dictionary of proper names of the Russian language. M., 2010.
- Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language. –3rd ed., erased. M., 2008.
- Zaliznyak A. A. Grammar dictionary of the Russian language. – 5th ed., rev. M., 2008.
- Kalakutskaya L.P. Surnames. Names. Middle names. Spelling and Declension. M., 1994.
- Rosenthal D. E. Handbook of spelling and literary editing. – 8th ed., rev. and additional M., 2003.
- Superanskaya A.V. Dictionary of Russian personal names. M., 2004.
V. M. Pakhomov,
Candidate of Philology,
editor-in-chief of the portal "Gramota.ru"
When working with incoming documents, sometimes a situation arises when it is necessary to determine the addressee (for example, from the Employees directory).
The directory contains the surname, first name and patronymic of the addressee in the nominative case. And in incoming documents, the addressee is almost always indicated in the dative case (for example, to V.V. Putin)
There are a sufficient number of solutions (including those in the “box”) that allow conversion from the nominative to any other case. But on the contrary, I think there won’t be very many of them. I will describe one of them in this article and attach its source files.
Why are there almost no solutions for reverse case conversion? The task seems to be urgent. Most likely, this is due to the fact that sometimes it is not always possible even for humans to unambiguously correctly convert a Russian surname to the nominative case. What can we say about algorithms for machines. The solution given in the article will also not always allow you to convert the surname to the nominative case unambiguously correctly. But most cases can be handled quite well.
What difficulties are encountered?
For example, the recording of the genitive case of different surnames in the feminine gender (Pertseva and Pertsevaya) may coincide (Pertsevaya). And then, during the reverse transformation, it is not clear which of the surnames was meant.
Also, some surnames may have vowel endings in declension: “-ы”, “-и”, “-у”, “-у”, “-е”. Typically, surnames with such endings are classified as indeclinable, and therefore, during reverse transformation, it is difficult to determine whether such a surname is indeclinable or received such an ending as a result of declension.
If the now fashionable neural networks were used to solve such a problem, then most likely they would cope with the task better. But the labor intensity of implementation will then be higher. This article describes a relatively simple implementation that parses last name endings.
A little theory and features
The solution considers Russian surnames (since in the problem that had to be solved, it was mainly Russian surnames that were transformed). Although, as they say, “scratch a Russian and you will find a Tatar.” Therefore, many non-Russian surnames or surnames that initially have non-Russian roots with endings in “-ikh”, “-in”, “-ov” (for example, Bryullov, Libnikh) will also be transformed well.
I will not delve into the history of the origin of surnames, although the topic is very interesting. But I’ll briefly consider what’s interesting about surnames. It’s interesting: the endings of surnames, the differences between male and female surnames.
Most Russian male surnames have the endings “-ov/-ev”, “-in/-yn” (Ivanov, Alekseev, Ivashkin). In the dative case, the endings will correspond to “-ovu/-evu”, “-inu/ynu”. Therefore, if the surname ends in “-ova/-eva” (Petrova, Shmelev), “-inu/ynu” (Moskinu, Sinitsyn), then the reverse transformation can be made by simply removing the last letter “u” from the ending. Then we get surnames in the nominative case (Petrov y, Shmelev y, Moskin y, Sinitsyn y).
Similar endings for surnames, but in the feminine gender, will be: “-ova/-eva”, “-ina/-yna”. In the dative case they will take the form: “-ova/-eva” (Petrova, Shmeleva), “-other/ynoy” (Moskina, Sinitsina). The reverse transformation to the nominative case can be performed by removing the last “oh” from the ending and then adding “a” (Petrov oh a, Shmelev oh a, Moskin oh a, Sinitsyn oh a).
By going through all the main endings of surnames in this way, you can get a similar conversion table:
And then it’s a matter of technology. You can write a small function that looks for last name endings in a table. If the ending is found, then the function converts the surname according to the rule specified in the table. For an example of a function that implements such a conversion, see the link at the end of the material.
The table can be supplemented, but this must be done carefully so that the endings of surnames do not overlap. For example, if you add the ending “-nova”, and the table already has the ending “-ova”, then the function will first find the ending “-ova” and perform a conversion using it.
ISBL code example:
// For input: a string in the form of comma-separated Last Name I.O. Addresses = "Mr. Sergeev S.S., Ivanov A., Snigirev A." // In WorkerIDsList, the function returns a list of strings with the IDs of the found workers. WorkerIDsList = PadegGetWorkerIDsByString(Addresses) // Worker IDs separated by commas showmessage(WorkerIDsList.DelimitedText)
Often, secretaries and clerks, when drawing up protocols, are faced with the manager’s requirement not to decline the surnames being declined. We will tell you in the article which surnames actually do not decline.
From the article you will learn:
What are some misconceptions about the declination of surnames?
Most Russian speakers are completely unaware of the laws of declension of given names and surnames. Despite the fact that there are a large number of reference books and manuals on this topic, the issue of declension of surnames remains complex and controversial.
In many ways, the solution to this issue is hampered by misconceptions regarding the rules of declension of surnames, which are widespread among Russian speakers. Let's look at some of them.
There is a widespread misconception that the declension of a surname depends on its linguistic origin. This leads to the incorrect conclusion that, for example, all Georgian, Polish or Armenian surnames are not declined.
Another misconception is that the declination of a surname depends on the gender of its bearer.
If the surname coincides with a common noun (Volya, Svoboda, Zhuk), then it is not declined.
However, probably the most common misconception is that there are so many rules for declension that there is simply no point in memorizing them.
In order to refute these misconceptions, let's consider the basic rules for changing surnames by case. We have formulated them in the form of step-by-step instructions, with which you can quickly conclude whether the surname changes by case or not.
How to determine whether a surname is declining: step-by-step instructions
A. If the surname ends in -ov, -in, but is foreign (For example, Chaplin or Darwin), then it will change according to cases as a noun of the second declension (for example, table) - Chaplin, Darwin.
B. Women's surnames in -ina (Smorodina, Zhemchuzhina) change depending on how the male version of the same surname changes. If the male version sounds like Smorodin or Zhemchuzhin, then the female surname in the instrumental case will sound like Smorodina or Zhemchuzhina, and if the male version coincides with the female surname - Zhemchuzhina or Smorodina, then the female surname will be declined as a common noun - Zhemchuzhina or Smorodina.
Step #2.
Non-standard surname
The main rule that should be followed is that the type of declension is primarily influenced by what sound - vowel or consonant - the surname ends with. Let us note once again that neither the gender of the bearer nor the origin influences the inclination or indeclinability of a surname.
Step #3.
Groups of indeclinable surnames
All Russian surnames ending in -y, -ikh (Sukhikh, Belykh), as well as surnames that end in vowels e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, are not subject to change by case.
For example, the performance of Loye, Gramigna, Ceausescu, Lykhny, Maigret and Liu.
Note. In everyday speech and in the language of literature, where it is depicted Speaking, sometimes you can find the declination of male surnames into -y or -i. For example, Chernykh's report. Sometimes you can find the declination of Ukrainian surnames to - ko - Chernenka or Shevchenka. The latter option for changing surnames was common in the 19th century, but at present both the first and second options are undesirable.
Step #4.
If the surname ends with a consonant sound (except for cases with -i and -ih), then whether it will be declined or not depends on the gender of its owner.
Men's surnames will be inclined to a consonant sound, but women's surnames will not. It is important to note that the linguistic origin of the surname is not decisive in this case.
If the surname ends in a consonant (except for surnames ending in -y, -i, which were mentioned above), then here - and only here! - the gender of the bearer of the surname matters. All male surnames ending in a consonant are declined - this is the law of Russian grammar. All female surnames ending in a consonant are not declined. In this case, the linguistic origin of the surname does not matter. Male surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.
For example, reports by Krug, Shock, Semenyuk, Martirosyan (for male surnames) and reports by Krug, Shock, Semenyuk and Martirosyan (for female surnames).
Note 1. There are male surnames of East Slavic origin that can be inclined in two ways. We are talking about surnames that, when changed, have a fluent vowel - Zhuravl - Zhuravel or Zhuravlem. Most reference books recommend preserving the fluent vowel (Zhuravel) when declining, since from a legal point of view it is important to preserve the integrity of the surname. However, the owner of the surname may insist on the option he has chosen. The main thing in this case is to adhere to the uniformity of changing the surname by case in all legal documents.
Note 2. Last names starting with -th (Shahrai) deserve special mention. Here we are also faced with the possibility of double changing the surname. If the surname is perceived as an adjective, for example, Topchiy, then it changes as Topchego, Topchyu, etc. If the surname is perceived as a noun, it changes as Topchiya, Topchiyu. Such complex cases concern only those surnames in which the consonant “th” is preceded by the vowels “o” or “i”. In all other cases, the surname changes according to the general rules (Shahrayu, Shakhraya, etc.)
Step #5.
If a surname ends in a vowel -я, preceded by another vowel (for example: Shengelaya, Lomaya, Reya, Beria, Danelia), it is declined.
Examples: Inna Shengelaya’s notebook, diploma issued to Nikolai Lomaya, meeting with Anna Reya; crimes of Lavrentiy Beria, meeting with Georgy Danelia.
Step #6.
If a surname ends in the vowel -a, preceded by another vowel (eg: Galois, Maurois, Delacroix, Moravia, Eria, Heredia, Gulia), it is not declined.
Examples: Nikolai Galois’s notebook, diploma given to Irina Eria, meeting with Igor Gulia.
A. French surnames with an emphasis on the last syllable do not decline: the books of Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Anna Gavalda, the aphorisms of Jacques Derrida, the goals of Diarra and Drogba.
B. Mostly Finnish surnames ending in -a are unstressed: meeting with Mauno Pekkala (although a number of sources recommend declining them too).
All other surnames (Slavic, Eastern and others; ending in stressed and unstressed -a, -ya) are declined. Contrary to popular belief, surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.
Examples: Irina Groza’s notebook, a diploma issued to Nikolai Mukha, a lecture by Elena Kara-Murza, songs by Bulat Okudzhava, roles by Igor Kvasha, films by Akira Kurosawa.
Note. There used to be fluctuations in the declension of Japanese surnames, but reference books note that such surnames have recently been consistently declined.
Why is it important to follow the rules for declension of surnames?
The need to follow the rules of declension of surnames is determined not only by decency, but by the fact that failure to comply with these rules can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings.
For example, consider this situation. You have received a letter signed as follows: “letter from Vasily Groz.” Following the laws of Russian grammar, you will most likely assume that a man's surname, which in the genitive case has the ending -a, will have a zero ending in the nominative case and conclude that the author of the letter is Vasily Groz. Such a misunderstanding would not have arisen if the letter had been signed correctly - “letter from Vasily Groza.”
Another example. You have been given an article by A. Pogrebnyak. It is natural to assume that the author of the article is a woman. If it later turns out that the author is a man, Anatoly Pogrebnyak, this may lead to misunderstanding.
Results
- The declension of any surname is determined by the rules of the modern Russian language.
- The declension of a surname depends on what sound - vowel or consonant - it ends with.
- The rule “men's surnames change according to cases, but women's surnames do not” applies only to surnames ending in a consonant.
- If the surname coincides with a common noun (Nora, Bear or Hare), then this is not an obstacle to its declension.
Rules and examples of declension of male and female names, patronymics, and surnames.
Competent speech and writing distinguish well-educated people from illiterate members of humanity.
Knowing the rules of your native language will definitely help you when addressing people by their first, patronymic, and last names.
Let's talk in more detail about the features of their declension for male and female options.
Correct declension of a masculine surname: rule, example
a schoolboy looks in a book for examples of correct declension of surnames Depending on the origin, the presence/absence of a vowel at the end of a word or a consonant, masculine surnames have a number of rules for declension.
Globally, we divide them into 2 large groups:
- changing endings
- remaining unchanged
The first group of rules includes:
- -ov, -in for Russian and borrowed variants are inclined according to the classical scheme. For example, work by Ivanov, the painting belongs to Sanin, I’m waiting for Sidorov, to talk with Fonvizin about Krysin.
- The surnames of foreigners starting with -in, -ov in the instrumental case acquire the ending -om. Example: the role was played by Chaplin, the hero was voiced by Green.
- When the bearer of the surname is Russian and it comes from Russian homonyms, the rule with the ending -й in the instrumental case is triggered.
Example: from the word krona - go with Kronin, from the dialect version chaplya - skating with Chaplin. - Unstressed endings -а, -я are declined according to general rules.
For example, Globa’s notebook, Shegda’s car, Okudzhava’s production. - Georgian -iya letters change endings, For example, merits of Beria.
- -and the accent at the end of surnames of Slavic origin suggests a change in endings, For example, with Kvasha and Frying Pan.
- A hard or soft consonant at the end of a surname turns into combinations with vowels during declension.
For example, Blok’s poems, interview with Gaft, give to Mickiewicz. - In the adjective form it is declined according to the general rules.
For example, victories of Lyuty, campaign to Tolstoy.
The second group of rules include the following:
- foreign letters remain unchanged,
- -a, -ya percussion of French origin does not bend, for example, Dumas's carriage, letters about Zola,
- -they don’t bend at the end,
- with endings in -o, -u, -i, -e, -yu remain unchanged when declension,
- -yh at the end keeps the surname unchanged during declension.
Correct declension of a male name: rule, example
cartoon wise owl explains the rule for declension of male names Male names also come in different origins. However, the rules for their declension are the same:
- when a name ends with a consonant, hard or soft, or with -th, changes occur according to the general principle of declension of nouns.
The stress remains unchanged, but moves in monosyllables.
Examples: Alexander - Alexandra - Alexandru, Peter - Petra - Peter, Timothy - Timothy - Timothy. - -iya, -ya, -ya, -eeya are similar to the declension features of nouns with a similar ending.
Example: Elijah - Elijah - Elijah, Zechariah - Zechariah - Zechariah. - -a - the change in ending corresponds to the rule of declension of ordinary nouns with -a at the end.
Example: Nikita - Nikita - Nikita.
Since the Russian language has many foreign words and names of people of other nationalities, the latter in some cases do not fall under the rules of declension and remain unchanged. These are names ending with:
- vowels -yu, -u, -y, -i, -e, -e, -o. Example, Jose, Aibu
- two vowels, except -iya, -ee. Example, Francois, Kachaa
Correct declension of the masculine patronymic: rule, example
a school-age child looks at the rules and examples of declension of a male patronymic on a tabletLet us note a number of features before moving on to the declination of male patronymics:
- Classic endings, namely -evich, -ovich.
Example, Alexander-Alexandrovich, Timofey - Timofeevich. - Adding a soft sign before the ending if the father's name ends in -iy, that is -evich.
Example, Valery - Valerievich. - If the father's name ends in -a, then -ich is added to the patronymic. Example, Luka - Lukich, Nikita - Nikitich.
Let's add a table with changes in endings in male patronymics when declining them by case:
Declension table for male patronymics by case Correct declension of a feminine surname: rule, example
a stack of open books with examples of the correct declension of female surnames Women's surnames have a number of differences from men's surnames in declension.
- With the ending in -ina, -ova change according to cases. For example, for Shukshina, for Ivanova.
- Depending on the characteristics of the declension of male surnames, there is a difference for female variants. For example, Currant, Pearl. In this case, the declination in the female variants is the arrival of Nadya Smorodina and Lina Zhemchuzhina. If the male versions are Smorodin and Zhemchuzhin, then the female ones, respectively, are the arrival of Zoya Smorodina and Katya Zhemchuzhina.
- Unstressed -a and -i change endings when declensional. Example, Valentina Globa, Katerina Okudzhava.
- Similar to adjectives change the ending according to the principle of declension of adjectives. Example: Lena the Great, Tatiana Svetlaya.
Lack of declensions for surnames:
- French origin
- ending in -ko, -o, -e, -i, -u, -yu, -yh and also with a consonant
Correct declension of a female name: rule, example
a girl with glasses looks out from behind the books in which she was looking for rules for declension of female names In general, female names change their ending when declined. There are a number of rules that govern this:
- ending in -a, except for g, k, c, x. Example:
Declension table for female names ending in -a - the same ending after g, k, x and separately after c
table of declension of female names ending in -a after g. k, x 
Declension table for female names ending in -a after c - two-syllable names ending in -я, as well as those that have this letter unstressed, change their endings according to cases as follows:
Declension table for female names ending in -i - ending in -iya, except for disyllabic ones. Example below:
example of declension of female names into -iya in the table - with endings in a soft sign and hissing ones - change as follows:
Declension tables for female names ending in the nominative case with a soft sign and a sibilant letter Exceptions include a number of female names of foreign origin. They often don't bow down.
Examples are the same names that were presented in the table above, which have a hissing letter at the end.
Correct declension of the feminine patronymic: rule, example
a tired schoolboy at his desk covered himself with an open textbook with the rules for declension of the feminine patronymic There are a number of rules for declension of female patronymics depending on their formation from male names. Namely:
- names ending in unstressed -a form patronymics with -ichna. If the last syllable of a male name is stressed, then it is -inichna. Example: Nikita - Nitichna, Ilya - Ilyinichna.
- If the basis is a name of the second declension with a zero and ending in -iy, then the patronymic is added -ovna, -evna. Example: Evgeny - Evgenievna, Vladimir - Vladimirovna.
For clarity, we insert a table of declension of female patronymics:
table of changes in endings in female patronymics when declining them according to cases So, we have looked at a number of rules for declining surnames, first names and patronymics for men and women. We also studied them with examples.
Practice the rules by declining the first, middle and last names of your relatives. Then you will remember all the rules faster.
Happy studying!
Video: how to decline surnames by case?
Most Russian surnames are declined by case according to the rules of the Russian language. However, there are many surnames of foreign origin whose endings differ from the typical endings of Russian surnames. Two questions arise: to persuade them or not, how to persuade them? Let's consider different cases of declension of surnames:
1. Surnames ending in -ov/ev, -in/yn, -skiy/skoy, -tskiy/tskoy make up the bulk of Russian surnames. Their declension usually does not raise questions and occurs with the addition of endings according to the following rules:
| Case | Case question | Male surname | Female surname | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.p. | Who? | Ivanov | Ivanova | Ivanovs |
| R.p. | whom? | Ivanov A | Ivanov Ouch | Ivanov s |
| D.p. | to whom? | Ivanov at | Ivanov Ouch | Ivanov th |
| V.p. | whom? | Ivanov A | Ivanov at | Ivanov s |
| etc. | by whom? | Ivanov th | Ivanov Ouch | Ivanov them |
| P.p. | about whom? | about Ivanov e | about Ivanov Ouch | about Ivanov s |
| Case | Case question | Male surname | Female surname | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.p. | Who? | Akhtyrsky | Akhtyrskaya | Akhtyrskiye |
| R.p. | whom? | Akhtyrsk Wow | Akhtyrsk Ouch | Akhtyrsk their |
| D.p. | to whom? | Akhtyrsk wow | Akhtyrsk Ouch | Akhtyrsk them |
| V.p. | whom? | Akhtyrsk Wow | Akhtyrsk wow | Akhtyrsk their |
| etc. | by whom? | Akhtyrsk them | Akhtyrsk Ouch | Akhtyrsk them |
| P.p. | about whom? | about Akhtyrsk ohm | about Akhtyrsk Ouch | about Akhtyrsk their |
2. Surnames consonant with adjectives are declined in accordance with the declension of adjectives in the masculine and feminine gender and in the plural: Likhoy, Tolstaya, Bely, Velikiy.
| Case | Case question | Male surname | Female surname | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.p. | Who? which one? | Dashing | Dashing | Dashing |
| R.p. | whom? which one? | Likh Wow | Likh Ouch | Likh their |
| D.p. | to whom? which one? | Likh wow | Likh Ouch | Likh them |
| V.p. | whom? which one? | Likh Wow | Likh wow | Likh their |
| etc. | by whom? which one? | Likh them | Likh Ouch | Likh them |
| P.p. | about whom? about which/about which? | o Likh ohm | o Likh Ouch | o Likh their |
3. Surnames consonant with nouns are declined according to gender; grammatical gender does not affect the declination. Including foreign languages without stress on the last syllable. Examples of surnames: Melnik, Guitar, Bull, Vorona, Chernous, Shcherba, Kafka. Masculine surnames (Melnik, Trus) are declined for men according to the rule of declension of masculine nouns, but for women they are not declined in the plural. Feminine surnames (Gitara, Friday) for men and women are declined according to the rules of declension of feminine nouns; in the plural, the surname has the form of the nominative case in men and is not declined according to cases.
| Case | Case question | Male surname | Female surname | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.p. | Who? | Miller | Miller | Miller |
| R.p. | whom? | Miller A | ||
| D.p. | to whom? | Miller at | ||
| V.p. | whom? | Miller A | ||
| etc. | by whom? | Miller ohm | ||
| P.p. | about whom? | about Melnik e |
| Case | Case question | Male surname | Female surname | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I.p. | Who? | Guitar | Guitar | Guitar |
| R.p. | whom? | Guitar s | Guitar s | |
| D.p. | to whom? | Guitar e | Guitar e | |
| V.p. | whom? | Guitar at | Guitar at | |
| etc. | by whom? | Guitar Ouch | Guitar Ouch | |
| P.p. | about whom? | about Guitar e | Guitar e |
Note 1. It is worth clarifying the emphasis in surnames ending in -a, since the ending of the instrumental case depends on this. Compare: Left-handed - Left-handed, Left-handed - Left-handed.
Note 2. French surnames with the accent ending -a, -ya are not declined: Emile Zola, Pierre Broca, about Alexandre Dumas.
