nominative pl 2

Nominative Plural: Adjectives and Pronouns in Russian

In Russian, the nominative plural (Именительный падеж, множественное число) is used to identify subjects consisting of more than one person or thing. The great news is that in the plural, gender distinctions (masculine, feminine, neuter) usually disappear for adjectives and pronouns.

1. Full Adjectives

Standard "strong" adjectives use a single set of endings for all genders in the plural. The choice between -ые and -ие depends on the consonant preceding the ending (following Russian spelling rules).

• -ые (-ye): Used after most hard consonants.
  Example: новые книги (novyye knigi / new books)
• -ие (-iye): Used after soft consonants or after "hushing" sounds (г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ).
  Example: русские студенты (russkiye studenty / Russian students)

2. Short Adjectives

Short-form adjectives are used primarily as predicates (after the noun). In the plural, they typically take the endings -ы or -и.

• Example: Мы готовы. (My gotovy / We are ready.)
• Example: Они рады. (Oni rady / They are glad.)

3. Possessive Adjectives

Possessives like "my" and "your" also lose their gender distinction in the plural, adopting a common form for all nouns.

• мои (moi / my) — Example: мои друзья (moi druz'ya / my friends)
• твои (tvoi / your - informal) — Example: твои ключи (tvoi klyuchi / your keys)
• наши (nashi / our)
• ваши (vashi / your - formal/plural)

4. The Demonstrative "Это"

When used to mean "this is" or "these are," the word это (eto) is invariable. It does not change its form even if the nouns following it are plural.

• Example: Это мои книги. (Eto moi knigi / These are my books.)

5. Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns have fixed plural forms. These forms are used regardless of whether the group is all male, all female, or mixed.

• я (ya / I) → мы (my / we)
• ты (ty / you sing.) → вы (vy / you plural or formal)
• он / она / оно (he/she/it) → они (oni / they)

6. The Word "All" (Все)

To say "all" or "everybody" in the nominative plural, use the form все (vse). Note that it sounds like "vsyé" and is used for all genders in the plural.

• Example: Все студенты здесь. (Vse studenty zdes' / All the students are here.)
• Example: Мы все готовы. (My vse gotovy / We are all ready.)