Russian grammar centers on a six-case noun system and three grammatical genders — but it also drops one thing English relies on constantly: a present-tense verb "to be."
| Case | Marks |
|---|---|
| Nominative | The subject |
| Genitive | Possession, and quantities with certain numbers |
| Dative | The indirect object ("to/for") |
| Accusative | The direct object |
| Instrumental | The means by which something is done |
| Prepositional | Used only after certain prepositions, often for location |
Russian nouns are masculine, feminine, or neuter, and adjectives, pronouns, and past-tense verbs all agree with a noun's gender — a single sentence can carry gender agreement across several different word types at once.
Russian typically omits the verb "to be" in present-tense sentences entirely — Я студент ("I [am] a student") is a complete, grammatically correct sentence with no verb at all. This zero-copula pattern is a genuine feature of the grammar, not a casual shortcut.
Six: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional — each governing a different ending on the noun.
Yes — three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter), with adjectives, pronouns, and past-tense verbs all agreeing with a noun's gender.
No — it's typically omitted entirely. "I [am] a student" is a complete, correct Russian sentence without any verb, a real feature of the grammar rather than an informal shortcut.
They're different in scope — Russian has six cases and three genders, while Latvian has seven cases and two genders; both require learning regular, predictable ending patterns rather than memorizing every word's forms individually.
See also: Russian Verbs · Russian Vocabulary · Learn Russian