Hello, Are there any tips/shortcuts/memory aids for learning how to decline numbers?

Thank you,

Scott

asked 20 Jul '11, 12:24

fortheether's gravatar image

fortheether
1112
accept rate: 0%

edited 21 Jul '11, 07:20


Speaking about Russian cardinal numbers, there are several guidelines that will help you remember how to decline them.

One, Two

  1. The only cardinal numbers that change by gender are один/одна/одно and два/две, plus compound numbers that end in 1 or 2 (such as 21, 52, 171, 142). The rest of cardinal numbers does not change by gender.

  2. The numbers один/одна/одно act like the pronoun этот, agreeing with nouns in gender, number and case.

Two

  1. The number 2 has the same masculine/neuter form in the nominative два. The feminine form is две.

  2. Have to memorize the declensions for два:

    Nominative: два/две
    Genitive: двух
    Dative: двум
    Accusative = Nominative or Genitive
    Insturmental: двумя
    Prepositional: о двух

Three, Four

  1. Have to memorize the declensions for три:
    Nominative: три
    Genitive: трёх
    Dative: трём
    Accusative = Nominative or Genitive
    Insturmental: тремя
    Prepositional: о трёх
  2. Have to memorize the declensions for четыре:

    Nominative: четыре
    Genitive: четырёх
    Dative: четырём
    Accusative = Nominative or Genitive
    Insturmental: четырьмя
    Prepositional: о четырёх

Five through Thirty

  1. Numbers 5-30 ending in a soft sign (-Ь) act like the noun тетрадь

Fifty, Sixty, Seventy, Eighty

  1. Compound numbers 50, 60, 70, 80 consist of two parts (e.g. пятьдесят = [пять+десять]). Both parts act like the noun тетрадь (e.g. пятидесяти, пятьюдесятью)

Forty, Ninety, One hundred

  1. The numbers 40, 90, 100 end in -A in all cases, but Accusative = Nominative.

One thousand

  1. The number 1,000 acts like the noun задача

One million

  1. The number 1,000,000 acts like the noun стол
link
This answer is marked "community wiki".

answered 22 Jul '11, 02:48

Alex's gravatar image

Alex ♦♦
1.1k825
accept rate: 24%

edited 22 Jul '11, 02:57

Thank you Alex! Those numbers are quite a chore.

Scott

(22 Jul '11, 08:49) fortheether
Your answer
toggle preview

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

  • *italic* or _italic_
  • **bold** or __bold__
  • link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
  • image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
  • numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
  • to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
  • basic HTML tags are also supported

Tags:

×2
×1
×1
×1

Asked: 20 Jul '11, 12:24

Seen: 990 times

Last updated: 22 Jul '11, 08:49