In the Russian language there is a class of nouns that does not change by case. You can learn about indeclinable nouns, what words refer to them, and their features in this article. In addition, the material provides a lot of examples of indeclinable nouns.

What are indeclinable nouns?

Indeclinable nouns– a class of nouns that do not change by case, and form a special zero declension of a non-productive type. Indeclinable nouns include:

• Common and proper nouns of foreign language origin in -o, -e, -u, ‑yu, -i, -a;
• Compound words and abbreviations;
• Slavic surnames in -o, -yh (-them), -ago (‑ago), -ovo.

Examples of indeclinable nouns: credo, Oslo, meringue, Heine, interview, jury, Sochi, Dali, role, UN, CIS, warehouse manager, Kovalenko, Orlovskikh, Belykh, Zhivago, Khitrovo.

Unchangeable nouns are studied by schoolchildren in the 6th grade.

Features of indeclinable nouns

The system of case forms of indeclinable nouns consists of homonymous forms with a zero ending. Immutable nouns do not have forms of number, gender and case, and their grammatical meaning expressed syntagmatically (according to the grammatical features of words with which indeclinable nouns agree in phrases and sentences).

Examples: black coffee cooled down (I.p.), go to Tokyo(V.p.), conclude bet(V.p), talk about Italian baroque(P.p.).

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Declension of nouns

Declension is the change of words of various parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, numerals, pronouns, participles) according to cases and numbers. Nouns in Russian have three main types of declension, which are reflected in the table below. If you need numerals, you can read about declension of numerals in another article.

The main types of declension of nouns in Russian

Declension type	Explanations and examples	Pay attention
1st declension	Feminine, masculine and general nouns with the ending -а / -я in the nominative singular case: wife, earth, servant, young man, bully.	Nouns in -ia (army, Greece) have the ending -i in the dative and prepositional singular cases.
2nd declension	Masculine nouns with a zero ending in the nominative singular and neuter nouns with the ending -о/-е in the nominative singular: law, horse, village, field.	Nouns ending in -i and -i (genius, mood) have the ending -i in the prepositional singular case.
3rd declension	Feminine nouns with a zero ending in the nominative singular: spruce, mouse, daughter, horse, joy.	Nouns ending in the nominative and accusative singular with a sibilant always have a soft sign written at the end: mouse, daughter.

In the plural, there are practically no differences between types of declension, so we can separately talk about the special declension of plural nouns.

On the spelling of case endings of nouns, see: Spelling of unstressed endings of nouns.

Cases express the different roles of a noun in a sentence. There are six cases in the Russian language. You can determine the case of a noun in a sentence by the question.

In addition to the main questions, the case of a noun can also be found out by auxiliary questions answered by the circumstances. So, the question is where? assumes the genitive case (from the store, from the camel); question is where? assumes the accusative case (to the forest, to the lecture, to the lesson); question is where? assumes the prepositional case (in the forest, at the lecture, at the lesson).

The following table will present the names of the cases of the Russian language, questions for each case and auxiliary questions. (3rd grade) - table:

The nominative case is called the direct case, and all other cases are called the indirect cases.

Let's summarize the difference in declinations in the following table.

	1st declension	2nd declension	3rd declension	Declension in plural
		mood
		mood
		mood		times
		mood
	bully-oh	law, in the mood		laws times
	about the army	about the law mood		time-ah

Variants of endings for the nominative plural of masculine nouns authors/shores

Some masculine nouns in the nominative plural may have a stressed ending -а (-я) instead of the ending -ы (-и). This is first of all:

1) many monosyllabic nouns such as forest - forests, silk - silk, side - sides, eye - eyes, snow - snow, etc.;

2) many two-syllable nouns that have an accent on the first syllable in the singular form, for example: shore - shores, voice - voices, evening - evenings, city - cities, district - districts, skull - skulls, etc.

However, it is impossible to find strict patterns in the distribution of nouns by variant endings, since fluctuations are observed in this part of the language. We list in the table below the most common regulatory options in which errors are possible.

The following most common nouns allow a double formation of the nominative plural:

Some nouns with different endings in the nominative plural have different meanings. Here are the most common words:

teeth (in mouth) roots (of plants) body (torso) camps (socio-political) sheets (iron, paper) bellows (blacksmith's) images (artistic) orders (knightly, monastic) belts (geographical) seeing off (someone) omissions (oversights) abacus (device) sables (animals) sons (of the Motherland) tones (sound) brakes (obstacles) flowers (plants) breads (baked)

teeth (teeth) roots (dried vegetables) corps (buildings, military units) camps (military, children's) leaves (of plants) furs (cured skins) image (icon) orders (insignia) belts wires (electrical) passes (documents) invoices (documents for payment) sable (fur) sons (mother) tones (shades of color) brakes (device) colors (paints) bread (cereals).

Variants of genitive plural endings for nouns

In the genitive plural, nouns can have endings - , -ov (-ev), -ey . There are also large fluctuations in this area of ​​the tongue. We present in the table the most common regulatory options in which errors are possible.

with ending -	ending -ov(-ev)	ending -ey
Englishmen, Armenians, Bashkirs, Bulgarians, Buryats, Georgians, Ossetians, Romanians, Tatars, Turkmens, Gypsies, Turks; partisans, soldiers, hussars, dragoons, cuirassiers; felt boots, boots, stockings, boots, shoulder straps, epaulettes; ampere, watt, volt, ohm, arshin, micron, hertz, x-ray; knees, shoulders, numbers, chairs, logs, linens, fibers, ribs, cores, rods, kitchens, poker, shutters (shutter), fables, songs, gossip, domain (blast furnace), cherries, slaughterhouse (slaughterhouse), young ladies, hawthorns , villages, blankets, towels, saucers, waffles, shoes, roofings, shafts, weddings, estates, nannies, affairs; splashes, trousers, beads, vacations, pasta, money, darkness, stretchers, sleds.	Kirghiz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Mongols, Tajiks, Yakuts; dresses, mouths, apprentices, socks; meters, grams, kilograms, hectares, rails; oranges, tangerines, tomatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, lemons; swamps, kopyttsev, troughs, laces, windows; frosts, clavichords, rags, rags, scum.	guns, joules, candles (but: The game is not worth the candle); skittles, sakleys, strife, rickshaws, pashas, ​​young men; everyday life, mites, mangers, yeast, firewood, people, bran, sleighs.

Indeclinable nouns

The divergent nouns include ten neuter nouns in -mya (burden, time, udder, banner, name, flame, tribe, seed, stirrup, crown) and the masculine noun path. They are called heterodeclinable because in the genitive, dative and prepositional cases of the singular they have the ending of nouns of the 3rd declension -i, and in the instrumental - the ending of nouns of the 2nd declension -em/-em.

Nouns ending in -mya have the suffix -en- / -yon- in the genitive, dative, instrumental and prepositional cases of the singular and in all plural cases, and the words seed, stirrup, in addition to this suffix, have the suffix -yan in the genitive plural case - (seeds, stirrups).

We show the changes in differently inflected nouns in the following table.

	Singular	Plural
	time, seed, path-	time-a, seed-a, put-i
	time-and, seed-and, put-and	times-, seeds-, ways
	time-and, seed-and, put-and	time-am, seed-am, put-yam
	time, seed, path-	time-a, seed-a, put-i
	time, seed, way	times, seeds, ways
	about time-and, seed-and, put-and	about times, seeds, ways

Indeclinable nouns. Gender of indeclinable nouns

In Russian there is indeclinable names nouns are words that do not change by case. These include foreign language nouns with vowel stems (coat, cafe, taxi, kangaroo, menu, Show, Sochi, Tbilisi), foreign language feminine nouns with a consonant (Miss, Mrs., Madame, George Sand's novel), Russian and Ukrainian surnames with -o and -yh / -ih and -ago (visiting the Dolgikhs, Shevchenko’s poem, read about Zhivago, with Durnovo) and compound words like general store, CSKA, Moscow State University, All-Russian Exhibition Center.

The case of an indeclinable noun is determined by the question and by the inflected words dependent on this noun (if any), for example: Take off (what? - accusative) your coat; You will be hot in this (which? in what? - prepositional) coat.

The number of an indeclinable noun is determined by the inflected words dependent on it (if there are any), by the verb (if there is one) or by the context, for example: These (which are the plural) coats are no longer on sale; The coat was (singular) very expensive; Ten coats (plural) were brought to the store.

Indeclinable nouns mainly belong to the neuter gender: popsicle, metro, muffler, cocoa, menu, taxi, sometimes to the masculine gender: coffee, penalty. The gender of many of these nouns can be determined by the following features:

1) the gender of the designated person or animal (for animate nouns): rich / rich rentier, old / old kangaroo;

2) generic (general) concept: wide avenue (avenue is a type of street), delicious kohlrabi (kohlrabi is a type of cabbage), sunny Sukhumi (Sukhumi is a city);

3) the main word underlying the phrase, from which the compound word was formed: a wonderful Youth Theater (theater for young spectators), a new hydroelectric power station (hydroelectric power station).

Degrees of comparison of qualitative adjectives

In accordance with your general meaning qualitative adjectives have two degrees of comparison, showing differences in the degree of manifestation of the attribute - comparative and superlative.

The comparative degree denotes a greater manifestation of a characteristic in one object than in another, for example: This cake is sweeter than the cake (sweeter than the cake). The comparative degree can be simple or compound.

The simple comparative degree is formed from adjectives using the suffixes -ee(s), -e, -she. Before the suffix -e there is always an alternation of base consonants.

beautiful - beautiful-her (beautiful-her)

wise - wise-ee (wise-ey)

sweet - sweeter

low - lower

thin - thinner

Adjectives in the form of the simple comparative degree do not change either by gender, or by case, or by number. In a sentence they are most often predicates, rarely - definitions, for example:

This city is more beautiful than our native one (predicate).

Let's find a more beautiful place (definition).

The compound comparative degree is formed by adding the words more or less to the adjective.

sweet - more (less) sweet

low - more (less) low

The second word in the form of the compound comparative degree changes according to gender, case and number. In a sentence, adjectives in this form can be both predicates and modifiers, for example:

The weather today is warmer than a week ago (predicate).

Let's give him a bath in warmer water (definition).

The superlative degree denotes the superiority of a given subject compared to others on some basis, for example: Everest - highest top in the world. The superlative degree, like the comparative degree, can be simple or compound.

Simple superlative is formed from adjectives using the suffix -eysh- (-aysh-).

wise - wisest

quiet - tish-aysh-y

Adjectives in the simple superlative form vary by gender, case and number. In a sentence they can be both definitions and predicates, for example:

Everest is the highest peak in the world (definition).

This crater is the deepest (predicate).

1. The words most, most, least are added to the adjective, for example: beautiful - the most beautiful, the most beautiful, the least beautiful.

In the form of a compound superlative degree with the word most, both words change by gender, case and number, and with the words most and least - only the adjective.

In a sentence, these forms can be both definitions and predicates.

We came to the most beautiful park (definition).

This park is the most beautiful (predicate).

2. The word all is added to the comparative degree of the adjective if there is a comparison with inanimate objects and phenomena, and the word all if there is a comparison with living objects or phenomena or if one of the objects is compared with all.

This house is the tallest in the area.

This house is taller than all the houses in the area.

This boy is taller than everyone else in school.

These forms do not change. In a sentence they are predicates.

How to distinguish between the simple comparative and the compound superlative of adjectives, adverbs and condition words

Adjective.
In a sentence it often acts as a predicate, less often as an inconsistent definition and then refers to a noun. The music became (what?) quieter (predicate). We will send you microphones (which ones?) that are quieter (definition). This girl (what?) is the most beautiful of all in the institute (predicate).	In a sentence, it refers to a verb and stands in the role of an adverbial manner of action. He spoke (how?) more quietly than always (circumstance). He draws (how?) more beautiful than anyone in school (circumstance).	It is a predicate in an impersonal sentence, denoting the state of a person or the environment. In this jacket you will (what?) be even hotter (predicate). At this time of year (what?) it’s dirtiest outside (predicate).

Declension of numerals denoting whole numbers

Numerals denoting whole numbers vary by case and for the most part do not have gender or number.

Only the numerals two and one and a half change by gender. They have two forms of gender: one in combination with masculine and neuter nouns, the other in combination with feminine nouns.

two, one and a half bags, sat - two, one and a half cups

The numeral one changes by gender, case and number, like possessive adjectives.

	Masculine singular	Neuter singular	Feminine singular	Plural
	one-year mom'shandkerchief	one village mom's ring	one book mom's fur coat	one sleigh mom's fur coats
	one year mother's scarf	one village mom's ring	one book mom's fur coats	one of their sleighs mom's fur coats
	one year mother's scarf	one village mom's ring	one book mom's fur coat	one sleigh mother's fur coats
	one-year mom'shandkerchief	one village mom's ring	one book mom's fur coat	one sleigh mom's fur coats
	one year mother's scarf	one village mother's ring	one book mom's fur coat	one sleigh mother's fur coats
	about one year mother's scarf	about one village mom's ring	about one book mom's fur coat	about one of their sleighs mother's fur coats

The numerals two, three, four have a special declension.

The numerals from five to twenty and the numeral thirty are declined as third declension nouns.

	Declension
	five-, eleven- , twenty- , thirty- years, horses, foxes, books
	five, eleven, twenty, thirty years, horses, foxes, books
	five, eleven, twenty, thirty years, horses, foxes, books
	five-, eleven- , twenty- , thirty- years, horses, foxes, books
	five, eleven, twenty, thirty years, horses, foxes, books
	about five, eleven, twenty, thirty years, horses, foxes, books

Numerals forty, ninety, one hundred, one and a half (one and a half) And one and a half hundred have only two case forms.

The cardinal numerals denoting integers contain many complex words formed by adding the stems, for example: fifty from five + ten, six hundred from six + one hundred, four hundred from four + one hundred, etc. In these numerals from fifty to eighty and from two hundred to nine hundred both parts decline. If numerals denoting integers are composite, then all words are declined in them.

Let us summarize what has been said about the declension of complex and composite numerals denoting integers in the following table.

	Declension
	sixty, three hundred-, five hundred- forty seven
	sixty, three hundred, five hundred forty-seven
	sixty, three hundred, five hundred forty-seven
	sixty, three hundred, five hundred and forty seven
	about sixty, three hundred, five hundred and forty-seven

Declension of collective numerals

Collective numbers denote several objects as one whole. Unlike numerals, which denote whole numbers, and from fractional numerals, collective numerals can denote the total number of persons without being combined with nouns: Three entered (it is impossible Three entered or I drew two-thirds).

Collective numerals are formed from cardinal numerals from two up to ten using the suffixes -oi- (two (double-e), three (troy-e) and -er- (four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten). They are combined:

1) with nouns denoting male persons: two friends, five soldiers;

2) with nouns denoting young animals: seven kids, nine piglets;

3) with nouns that have only a plural form, as well as with the words guys, children, people: two days, four children.

Collective numbers vary by case. In oblique cases they have the same endings as plural adjectives.

The collective numeral oba has two forms of gender: the form oba in combination with masculine and neuter nouns (both boys, both villages) and the form oba in combination with feminine nouns (both girls). In oblique cases, this numeral has, respectively, the stems obo- and obo-.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns (my, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, yours) answer the question whose?, in a sentence they are usually a definition and indicate belonging to the speaker, listener, stranger or any person (subject).

The 1st person pronouns my, our indicate belonging to the speaker(s): My answer was good; Our teachers went to the concert.

The 2nd person pronouns your, your indicate belonging to the interlocutor(s): Your car broke down; Your house was built in the last century.

In Russian speech etiquette, the pronoun Vash, written with a capital letter, is used as a polite address to one person: Mr. Ivanov, your request has been received.

The 3rd person pronouns his, her, their indicate belonging to an outsider(s): His pen does not write; Her friends went to the seaside; Their child began to cry.

The general person pronoun his indicates belonging to any person: I finished my breakfast - You finished your breakfast - He finished his breakfast.

Possessive pronouns of the 1st, 2nd and general persons (my, ours, yours, yours, yours) change according to gender, case and number and are declined like possessive adjectives. This can be seen from the following table.

	Masculine, singular	Neuter gender, singular	Feminine, singular	Plural
	mom's wow	mom's wow
	mommy	mommy
				mom's
	about mom's	about mom's	oh mommy	about mom's

The 3rd person possessive pronouns his, her, their do not change. They should be distinguished from the genitive and accusative case forms of the personal pronouns he, she, they by question and by their role in the sentence:

I saw (who?) her (addition) - the accusative case form of the personal pronoun she;

Here (who?) she is not (addition) - genitive case form of the personal pronoun she;

My friend went to visit (whose?) her sister (definition) - 3rd person possessive pronoun her.

We show in the table how to distinguish personal pronouns him, her And their in the genitive and accusative case from possessive pronouns of the 3rd person his, her, theirs.

Verb conjugations. Heterogeneously conjugated verbs and special conjugations

Conjugation is the change of a verb in persons and numbers. Verbs change according to persons and numbers in the present tense and in the future perfect tense. There are two different verb conjugations.

The I conjugation includes verbs that have the following endings:

Examples for I conjugation.

II conjugation includes verbs that have the following endings:

Examples for II conjugation.

On the spelling of personal endings of verbs, see: Spelling of unstressed personal endings of a verb.

In addition, in the Russian language there are heterogeneously conjugated verbs want, run, honor, dawn, as well as all verbs formed from them with the help of prefixes (want, run, honor, dawn, etc.), which have both the endings of the first and and the end of the second conjugation.

						disdain
						Note: due to the peculiarities of its meaning, this verb cannot have 1st and 2nd person forms.

Note 1. In the literary norm, it is also permissible to conjugate the verb to honor as a verb of the second conjugation: honor - honor - honor - honor - honor - honor.

Note 2. The verb I conjugation burn is conjugated as follows:

I burn - I burn,

you burn - you burn,

burns - burns.

Verbs formed from it using prefixes are also conjugated, for example: burn, cauterize, burn. The forms you burn, burn, burn, burn, common in oral speech are not normative.

Special conjugations include the verbs give, create, eat, as well as all verbs formed from them using prefixes (give, recreate, eat, etc.). These verbs have special endings that are not found anywhere else.

yes-m yes-im yes yes yes yes yes-st-dad-ut	created by created by create it, create it created-st created-ut	e-st ed-ite e-st ed-yat

Some verbs of the first conjugation can have double forms of the present and future perfect tense: with and without alternations. Here are the most common verbs:

Degrees of comparison of adverbs

Adverbs in -о / -е, formed from qualitative adjectives, can have degrees of comparison, showing differences in the degree of manifestation of the attribute: spoke cheerfully - spoke more cheerfully - spoke more cheerfully than anyone else. Qualitative adverbs form comparative (more fun) and superlative (more fun) degrees of comparison.

The comparative degree of adverbs denotes a greater (less) manifestation of a characteristic, for example: My mother bakes cakes better than yours (better than yours). The comparative degree can be simple or compound.

The simple comparative degree is formed from adverbs using the suffixes -ee(s), -e, -she. Before the suffix -e there is always an alternation of base consonants.

beautiful - beautiful-ee (beautiful-ee)

wisely - wise-ee (wise-ey)

sincerely - sincerely (sincerely)

sweet - sla sch-e

low - neither and-e

thin - thinner

The compound comparative degree is formed by adding the words more or less to the original form of the adverb.

sweet - more (less) sweet

low - more (less) low

The superlative degree of adverbs denotes the greatest (smallest) degree of manifestation of a characteristic, for example: He jumped the furthest; This village is closest to the forest. The superlative degree of adverbs, as a rule, is only compound. Forms of simple superlative adverbs have practically disappeared from the language. There are only three outdated words left from the speech etiquette of the past: the lowest, the deepest, the most humble (for example: I humbly ask you, sir, to leave me alone).

The compound superlative is formed in two ways.

1. Words are added to adverbs most, least, For example: beautiful - most beautiful, least beautiful.

2. The word of all is added to the comparative degree of the adverb, if there is a comparison with inanimate objects and phenomena, and the word of all, if there is a comparison with living objects or phenomena, or if one of the objects is compared with all objects of a given class.

This light bulb shines brightest (of all things that shine).

This light bulb shines brighter than all (all other light bulbs).

He laughed more fun than anyone (in general, everyone who laughs).

Simple comparative and compound superlative degrees of adverbs, adjectives and words of the state category sound and are written the same: quieter, more beautiful; quietest, most beautiful. They should be distinguished from each other by the question and by their role in the sentence.

How to distinguish between the simple comparative and the compound superlative of adverbs, adjectives and condition words

	Adjective
In a sentence it is more often used as a predicate, less often as an inconsistent definition and then refers to a noun. The music became (what?) quieter (predicate). We will send you microphones (which ones?) that are quieter (definition). This girl (what?) is the most beautiful of all in the institute (predicate).	In a sentence it refers to a verb and is used as an adverbial manner of action. He spoke (how?) more quietly than always (circumstance). He draws(How?) the prettiest girl in school(circumstance).	It is a predicate in an impersonal sentence, denoting the state of a person or the environment. In this jacket you will(what?) even hotter(predicate). At this time of year(what?) the dirtiest thing is on the street(predicate).

In modern literary language There is a fairly significant number of nouns that, in their meaning and syntactic use, do not differ from other nouns, but, unlike them, do not form case forms and are not inflected.

Such indeclinable nouns are, first of all, many borrowed words masculine, feminine. and average genders that end in vowels y, i, e, o and hit A:kangaroo, cockatoo, stew, passe-partout, interview, hummingbird, drapery, jury, lady, muffler, coffee, rentier, tour, purse, foyer, bureau, depot, veto, cocoa, coat, piano, role, entrechat, bourgeois etc. This also includes proper names of non-Russian origin with the same vowels used in the Russian language: Peru, Baku, Hankou, Bartu, Tahiti, Chile, Somalia, Tbilisi, Sukhumi, Leonardi, Garibaldi, Mary, Kitty, Calais, Ostend, Goethe, Heine, Jose, Bordeaux, Oslo, Tokyo, Hugo, Leonardo, Bruno, Alma- Ata, Yoshkar-Ola etc. In addition, feminine nouns do not change by case from borrowed words. genders ending in a hard consonant, including proper names: Madame, Carmen, Madeleine, Kate, Helen; surnames applied to women: Peterson, Ginzburg, Polyak, Tager etc.

Then some surnames formed by means of certain suffixes are indeclinable nouns. These are the surnames that represent fossilized forms of the clan. pad. units and plural numbers, into suffixes -ovo: Khitrovo, Solovovo, Durnovo etc.; -ago: Zhivago, Veselago etc.; -them: Dry, Naked, Mountain, Twisted etc., as well as surnames with the suffix -ko, if their stress falls on the final vowel: Lyashko, Yanko, Franko etc. and when the stress is not on the final vowel: Korolenko, Shevchenko, Yaroshenko etc., when such surnames are applied to women.

Currently, the number of indeclinable nouns is increasing due to compound words formed by combining initial letters or sounds full name. Such words are not declined if they end in a vowel in pronunciation or if in writing they consist only of letters denoting consonants: USSR(eseseser), Central Committee(tseka), Red Army(erkakaa), MONO, STO etc.

Without changing by case, indeclinable nouns appear, however, in speech in the same meanings that are expressed by the case forms of ordinary nouns, cf.: hanging a coat, sewing a coat, putting on a coat, happy with the coat etc.; Moreover, their relationship to other words of speech can also be expressed by prepositions: button from a coat, wrapped in a coat, sewed a button to a coat, altered from a coat etc. Adjectives that qualify such indeclinable nouns are placed in the case in which they would be in the given sentence with indeclinable nouns: new coat hanging(dress), no new coat(dresses), approached the new coat(dress), etc.

Due to the lack of case forms, indeclinable nouns do not have morphological features by which their number and gender would be distinguished. Therefore, the belonging of these nouns to one gender or another, as well as their number, is determined exclusively syntactically, by consistent forms of adjectives and verbs: beautiful cockatoo, noble lady, woolen muffler, new coat hanging, new coats hanging etc.

There is a certain semantic sequence in the distribution of indeclinable nouns, not proper names, by gender. Namely: words denoting “non-living”, “inanimate” objects, as a rule, belong to the middle. family: stew, interview, drapery, muffler, purse, bureau, depot, coat, piano, role etc. The deviations observed in this relationship ( burnt coffee etc.) are explained mainly by the use of these words in the same way as they are in the language from which they were borrowed. There were quite a lot of them in the language of writers of the 19th century, cf.: Ai is like a mistress... but you, Bordeaux, are like a friend(A. Pushkin), He is happy if she puts a fluffy boa on her shoulder(A. Pushkin), our bet(M. Lermontov), my cocoa, lovely piano, gray coat(L. Tolstoy), the wallet was left under the pillow(F. Dostoevsky), worn muffler(A. Pisemsky) and others, but now in most cases such words are average. kind. Words average The genders are opposed by masculine nouns. and female genders that denote “living”, “animate” objects. Of these, to women's. gender refers to words denoting female persons: lady, madam, and to the male gender - words that denote “living” objects regardless of their belonging to one gender or another: bourgeois, rentier, kangaroo, cockatoo etc.

Indeclinable nouns are those that have the same form for all cases: I enter the metro, I see the metro (v.p.), I admire the metro (etc.).
Among them there are both common nouns (coffee, radio, cinema, jury, coat, highway, piano, depot, cocoa, dressing table, veto, sambo, jelly, cafe, entertainer, coupe, plateau, purse), and proper names (Garibaldi , Goethe, Zola, Sochi, Sukhumi, Baku).
Indeclinable nouns include:

1. many nouns of foreign origin with final vowels -о, -е, -и, -у, -у and with final stress -6: radio, metro, scoreboard, pince-nez, communiqué, taxi, stew, kangaroo, menu, boa; (novel) Dumas, (poem) Heine, (city) Sukhumi, (city) Oslo, (city) Baku, (river) Mississippi;

1. foreign-language surnames denoting female persons and ending with a consonant: (poems) Aliger, (novel) Voynich;
2. Russian and Ukrainian surnames with -о and * them(s): Durnovo, Franko, Chernykh, Dolgikh;
3. complex abbreviated words of alphabetic and mixed nature: USSR, Komsomol, VDNKh, Moscow State University, State Traffic Inspectorate, general store, district, etc.

Indeclinable inanimate nouns of foreign language origin belong mainly to the neuter gender: tasty popsicle, woolen muffler, capital metro, interesting interview. The masculine gender includes, for example, black coffee; to the women's - fresh kohlrabi, wide avenue.
Indeclinable animate nouns of foreign language origin belong to the feminine gender if they denote female persons (Madame, Frau, Lady, Miss), and to the masculine gender if they denote male persons or animals (entertainer, attache, dandy, cockatoo, chimpanzee).
The gender of indeclinable nouns - geographical names is determined by the gender of those common nouns with which these names can be replaced: Sukhumi (city) - masculine; Colorado (river) is feminine.
The gender of complexly abbreviated words of a mixed type and words composed of initial sounds is most often determined by the gender of the reference word in the phrase when deciphering the abbreviation: (Bratsk) HPP (hydroelectric power station) - feminine, since the reference word station is feminine; VDNH (Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy) is also feminine, since the reference word exhibition is feminine; MSU (Moscow state university) - masculine, since the reference word university is masculine; general store (rural consumer society) - neuter, since the reference word is neuter society, etc.

Declension is a change in cases and numbers of nouns. There are three. In addition, there are indeclinable (ten nouns of the middle gender that end in -mya, as well as the words daughter, path, mother, child) and indeclinable nouns (foyer, metro, cafe, radio, show).

Indeclinables are nouns that have the same form in all cases: I see a coat (v.p.), I admire the coat (etc.).

1) words borrowed from other languages ​​that end in a vowel and denote inanimate objects: cocoa, depot, coat, cinema, purse, aloe, taxi, coffee.

2) from other languages ​​that name representatives of the male and female sexes and end in a vowel: dandy, attaché, impresario, lady.

3) words borrowed from other languages ​​denoting animals: kangaroo, chimpanzee, cockatoo;

4) and female surnames that end in a hard consonant: Carmen, Helen, miss, madam, Finkelstein;

5) foreign words that name geographical objects: Helsinki, Baku, Calais, Toronto.

6. Russian surnames, which represent the genitive singular form. and many more numbers: Durnovo, Khitrovo, Polskikh, Kruchenykh.

7. Ukrainian surnames in -ko: Korolenko, Franko, Shevchenko, Oleshko;

8) abbreviations are also indeclinable nouns, examples: Germany, Moscow State University, UN, Russian Federation, USA.

When combining indeclinable nouns with others, their case can be determined by the construction of the entire sentence (for example, There was an old dressing table in the hall (im. p.), or by the endings of adjectives that agree with these indeclinable nouns: Maxim wrapped his neck in a warm muffler (tv. p)

Inanimate indeclinable nouns are mainly classified as neuter: sweet popsicle, woolen muffler, scheduled interview, capital metro. The indeclinable noun coffee (black) is masculine, while avenue and kohlrabi are feminine.

Animate borrowed nouns are classified as w. r., if they name female persons (Frau, Madame, Miss, Lady), and m.r., if they name animals and male representatives (chimpanzee, entertainer, dandy, attaché, cockatoo).

The gender of indeclinable nouns that denote the names of geographical objects is determined by the gender of those common nouns that can replace these names: Gaborone (city) is a masculine indeclinable noun, Missouri (river) is feminine;

The gender of compound words and abbreviations is most often determined by the gender of the main (reference) word when deciphering: exercise therapy - physical therapy - feminine, since the main word is feminine; KGB - Committee state security- masculine, since the main word is masculine; BelAZ - (Belarusian Automobile Plant) - masculine, since the main word is masculine, etc.

Since indeclinable nouns are borrowed from other languages, their spelling should be checked in spelling dictionaries.