Russian Adjectives
Choose a form: start with the noun
- Find the noun. In новая книга (“a new book”), the adjective describes книга.
- Check gender and number. Книга is feminine singular. Compare новый дом (masculine), новое окно (neuter), and новые книги (plural). Plural adjectives do not distinguish gender.
- Find the case from the sentence. A direct object or a preposition can change the noun’s case.
- Use the adjective’s pattern. Новый follows the hard pattern; feminine nominative -ая becomes accusative -ую.
One book, three forms
новая книга — “a new book.” Feminine singular nominative: the starting phrase.
Я читаю новую книгу. — “I am reading a new book.” The book is the direct object of читаю, so both words are accusative.
Я говорю о новой книге. — “I am talking about a new book.” О meaning “about” takes the prepositional case: adjective -ой, noun -е.
Learn full phrases, not isolated endings. First fix gender: новый книга → новая книга. Then fix case in a sentence: Я читаю новая книгу → Я читаю новую книгу. These are different mistakes.
Adjective endings in all six cases
The tables show full-form adjective endings, not noun endings. Choose the singular gender or the shared plural column. For the case itself, review the six Russian cases.
Hard pattern: новый
новый дом · новая книга · новое окно · новые дома — new house, book, window, houses
If needed, swipe sideways to see all columns.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural (all genders) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -ый / -ой | -ая | -ое | -ые |
| Genitive | -ого | -ой | -ого | -ых |
| Dative | -ому | -ой | -ому | -ым |
| Accusative | Nom. / Gen.* | -ую | Nom.* | Nom. / Gen.* |
| Instrumental | -ым | -ой / -ою | -ым | -ыми |
| Prepositional | -ом | -ой | -ом | -ых |
Soft pattern: синий
синий дом · синяя книга · синее море · синие дома — blue house, book, sea, houses
If needed, swipe sideways to see all columns.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural (all genders) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -ий | -яя | -ее | -ие |
| Genitive | -его | -ей | -его | -их |
| Dative | -ему | -ей | -ему | -им |
| Accusative | Nom. / Gen.* | -юю | Nom.* | Nom. / Gen.* |
| Instrumental | -им | -ей / -ею | -им | -ими |
| Prepositional | -ем | -ей | -ем | -их |
Nom. = nominative; Gen. = genitive. *For accusative, see animacy below. Feminine instrumental -ою / -ею are longer alternatives to -ой / -ей, often found in literary language.
Accusative: when animacy matters
- Masculine singular: inanimate objects use nominative-shaped forms, Я вижу новый дом (“I see a new house”); animate objects use genitive-shaped forms, Я вижу нового учителя (“I see a new teacher”).
- Plural, every gender: inanimate вижу новые дома / новые книги (“I see new houses / books”); animate вижу новых учителей / новых студенток (“I see new teachers / female students”).
- Feminine singular is unaffected: вижу новую книгу / новую студентку (“I see a new book / female student”). Both use -ую; the soft pattern uses -юю.
- Neuter singular normally matches nominative: вижу новое окно (“I see a new window”). Special animate neuter nouns can have exceptional usage; use the nominative-shaped form for ordinary neuter examples.
Spelling and mixed patterns: -ий is not always soft
Use синий, синяя, синее, синие as a true soft-pattern model. Other examples are последний (last), летний (summer), and зимний (winter). Do not classify an adjective from -ий alone.
After г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ: и, not ы
русский, русская, русское, русские (“Russian”) has hard-pattern endings with spelling changes after к: русским, русских. Likewise большие дома, not большые дома.
After ж, ч, ш, щ: unstressed о becomes е in endings
хороший, хорошая, хорошее, хорошие (“good”) mixes ending spellings: хорошего, хорошему, хорошим, хороших. Compare stressed endings in большо́й, большо́е, большо́го, which keep о. These are spelling and stress rules, not a division into “hard vowels” and “soft vowels.”
Stress and pronunciation
Masculine nominative -о́й is stressed: молодо́й (young), большо́й (big), голубо́й (light blue). Compare но́вый, ста́рый, кра́сный. In adjective endings -ого / -его, written г normally sounds like v: нового, синего.
Full and short forms in predicates
A full adjective can modify a noun or be a predicate. Short forms normally serve as predicates: they agree in gender and number, but do not decline for case.
Compare the jobs, not “permanent” versus “temporary”
- Интересная книга лежит на столе. — “An interesting book is lying on the table.” Full интересная modifies the noun.
- Новая книга интересная. — “The new book is interesting.” Full интересная is a predicate.
- Книга интересна детям. — “The book is interesting to children.” Short интересна is a predicate with a complement.
Full and short predicates can differ in meaning, complements, or style; neither simply means permanent or temporary. Not every adjective has a commonly used short form.
Gender and number still agree
он готов · она готова · оно готово · они готовы
He / she / it is ready; they are ready. The forms готов/готова/готово/готовы follow masculine / feminine / neuter / plural order. Compare красив/красива/красиво/красивы (“beautiful”).
Ребёнок болен means “The child is ill”; болен agrees with the masculine subject. The common forms are болен/больна/больны (masculine / feminine / plural). Мне больно means “It hurts me / I am in pain”: here больно is an impersonal state, not an adjective agreeing with мне. The agreeing neuter short form is uncommon in everyday speech.
Comparatives and superlatives
Taller, more, less
Этот дом выше, чем тот дом. — “This house is taller than that house.” With чем (“than”), the noun here stays nominative.
Этот дом выше того дома. — the same comparison without чем, using genitive того дома.
Simple comparatives such as выше and красивее do not change for gender, number, or case. Irregular forms: хороший → лучше (better), плохой → хуже (worse).
Alternatively use более высокий (taller) or менее высокий (less tall); the full adjective still agrees: более высокая башня (“a taller tower”). Say более высокий, not более выше.
The tallest: самый + full adjective
Both words agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:
- самый высокий дом — the tallest house (masculine)
- самая высокая башня — the tallest tower (feminine)
- самое высокое здание — the tallest building (neuter)
- самые высокие здания — the tallest buildings (plural)
Case example: о самом высоком здании — “about the tallest building” (prepositional).
Practise superlatives →Possessives and demonstratives before nouns
Possessive pronouns мой, твой, наш, ваш (“my, your, our, your”) and demonstratives этот, тот, такой (“this, that, such”) can work like adjective modifiers, but have their own declension details.
моя новая книга → мою новую книгу (“my new book,” nominative → accusative); этот новый учитель → этого нового учителя (“this new teacher,” nominative → animate accusative).
Possessive его, её, их (“his, her, their”) are invariant: его новый дом, его новая книга, о его новой книге. The adjective changes; possessive его does not.
Read the pronoun guide · Practise possessives and demonstratives
Check your understanding
Choose an answer before opening each explanation. These checks stay on the page; use the drills for more practice.
1. Я читаю новая книгу: what needs to change?
Я читаю новую книгу — “I am reading a new book.” Книгу is already feminine singular accusative; новая has the correct gender but the wrong case. The adjective needs -ую. By contrast, новый книга → новая книга corrects gender in a nominative phrase.
2. New houses, books, windows: do plural adjectives keep gender?
No: новые дома, новые книги, новые окна. Plural adjective forms do not distinguish masculine, feminine, and neuter. Number and case still matter: о новых домах, о новых книгах, о новых окнах (“about new houses, books, windows”).
3. Why вижу новых учителей but вижу новые дома?
Teachers are animate, so the plural accusative adjective has the genitive-shaped form новых. Houses are inanimate, so it has the nominative-shaped form новые. Feminine singular keeps its own accusative ending in both cases: вижу новую студентку / новую книгу (“I see a new female student / book”).
4. Does -ий mean русский and хороший follow синий?
No. Compare русский, русская, русское, русские and хороший, хорошая, хорошее, хорошие. И replaces ы after к or ш; after ш an unstressed о in an ending is written е. Learn the whole pattern, not just the masculine nominative ending.
5. Она готов or она готова? Does the short form take case endings?
Она готова — “She is ready.” A short adjective agrees with its subject in gender and number: он готов, она готова, оно готово, они готовы. Short forms do not decline for case and normally function as predicates, not ordinary modifiers before nouns.
6. Этот дом более выше: how can you say “This house is taller”?
Use Этот дом выше or Этот дом более высокий, not более выше. Compare Этот дом выше, чем тот дом or Этот дом выше того дома (“This house is taller than that house”). The simple comparative выше is invariant; высокий in более высокий still agrees with its noun.
Frequently asked questions
How do Russian adjective endings work?
A full adjective agrees with its noun in gender, number and case. Start with the noun, identify its case, then choose the adjective pattern: новая книга (a new book) becomes новую книгу as a direct object. Plural adjectives do not distinguish gender.
What is the difference between -ый, -ий and -ой?
These are masculine nominative singular endings. -ой is stressed; -ый is typical of the hard pattern. -ий can mark a soft pattern, as in синий, or a spelling-conditioned pattern, as in русский and хороший. Compare feminine синяя, русская and хорошая rather than assuming every -ий adjective follows the same pattern.
When does animacy change an adjective ending?
For masculine singular and all plural accusative adjectives, animate objects use genitive-shaped forms: вижу нового учителя and вижу новых учителей. Inanimate objects use nominative-shaped forms: вижу новый дом and вижу новые дома. Feminine singular keeps its accusative ending regardless of animacy: новую книгу or новую ученицу.
When should I use a short adjective?
Short adjectives usually describe the subject as a predicate: Она готова (She is ready). They agree in gender and number, not case, and do not normally modify a noun directly. Full and short predicates can differ in meaning, complements or style; the distinction is not simply permanent versus temporary.
How do I form comparatives and superlatives?
Use a simple comparative such as выше (taller) or более plus an agreeing full adjective, as in более высокий дом. Do not combine them as более выше. For a common superlative, make самый and the adjective agree with the noun: самая высокая гора (the highest mountain). Some forms are irregular: хороший → лучше and плохой → хуже.
Do Russian adjectives go before or after the noun?
A neutral descriptive adjective usually comes before its noun: новый дом (a new house). A full adjective can also be a predicate after the noun: Дом новый (The house is new). Other orders can express emphasis or style, so placement alone does not determine the ending.
Put the endings to work
Start with common adjectives in full phrases, then change one thing at a time: number, case, or predicate form.
Where adjective agreement fits in Russian grammar
Review how adjective endings connect to noun gender, number, cases, and the wider Russian grammar system.