Russian Genitive Plural: -ов, -ей and No Ending at All
By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026
The genitive plural is the one awkward row in the Russian case chart. It is not random, though: it follows the shape of the noun in the dictionary. Most masculine nouns take -ов, soft and hushing nouns take -ей, and nouns in -а and -о simply lose their vowel. Six common irregulars do the rest.
Quick check
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Colour marks the genitive plural ending:
| Noun ends in | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| hard consonant (m) | -ов | |
| -й | -ев | |
| -ь, ж, ш, ч, щ | - | |
| -а | no ending | |
| -о | no ending | |
| -я | -ь | |
| -ия, -ие | -ий | |
Look at the dictionary form, find its row, and most nouns follow.
-ов and -ев: masculine nouns
Colour marks the genitive plural ending:
A masculine noun ending in a hard consonant takes -ов; one ending in -й takes -ев:
| Nominative | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
After ц the becomes е when unstressed: gives , , five months. Stressed, it stays : gives .
No ending at all: книг, мест
Nouns in -а (mostly feminine) and in -о (neuter) drop the vowel, and that is the whole genitive plural:
| Nominative | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
The genitive plural ends up shorter than the dictionary form. , no seats, is what you hear at a full restaurant or train.
-ей: soft signs and hushing sounds
Colour marks the genitive plural ending:
A noun ending in -ь, of either gender, or in , ш, ч or щ takes -ей:
| Nominative | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
A few neuters in -е take -ей too: gives , seas.
Two rows from the summary table complete the set:
- weeks: a feminine in -я often swaps it for -ь.- stories: nouns in -ия or -ие take -ий.
The extra vowel: окон, девушек, сестёр
The extra vowel is marked:
When dropping the final vowel would leave two consonants jammed together at the end, Russian slips a vowel in to break them up:
| Nominative | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| | |
| | |
| | |
The vowel is , е or ё; learn which one with the word.
Six irregulars to learn as words
These are irregular because they are common:
| Nominative | Meaning | Gen. plural | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| person | | |
| year | | |
| child | | |
| brother | | |
| friend | | |
| money | | |
is the genitive plural of , summer, which once meant a year: , I'm twenty.
has a twist. After it is , but after a number, and usually after and , it keeps its own form: , five people.
When you need it: много, сколько and five and up
The genitive plural turns up wherever the genitive meets a plural noun:
| After | Example | English |
|---|---|---|
| , | | a lot of people |
? | How many days? | |
| five and up | | five minutes |
. | I have no money. | |
| a preposition | | without friends |
Two to four take the genitive singular instead ( , ), and Russian numbers has the full rule. The singular endings and the other jobs of the case are on the genitive case page.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
книгов | | -а nouns take no ending |
человеков | | after a number: |
| | five and up: years is |
братов | | is irregular |
| | takes the genitive |
| | five and up: the genitive plural |
does exist, in talk about decades, but for a number of years from five up it is .
What to do next
- Learn the six irregulars as words.
- Count things you own aloud:
- Do the drill below.