This is an independent part of speech that denotes an object and answers the questions who? What?
The meaning of an object expressed nouns, combines the names of the most various items and phenomena, namely: 1) names of specific cabbage soup and objects (house, tree, notebook, book, briefcase, bed, lamp); 2) names of living beings (man, engineer, girl, boy, deer, mosquito); 3) names various substances(oxygen, gasoline, lead, sugar, salt); 4) names of various natural phenomena and public life(storm, frost, rain, holiday, war); 5) names of abstract properties and signs, actions and states (freshness, whiteness, blueness, illness, expectation, murder).
Initial form noun- nominative singular.
Nouns There are: proper (Moscow, Rus', Sputnik) and common nouns (country, dream, night), animate (horse, elk, brother) and inanimate (table, field, dacha).
Nouns belong to the masculine (friend, youth, deer), feminine (girlfriend, grass, land) and neuter (window, sea, field) gender. Names nouns change according to cases and numbers, that is, they decline. Nouns have three declension (aunt, uncle, Maria - I declension; horse, gorge, genius - II declension; mother, night, quiet - III declension).
In a sentence nouns usually act as a subject or object, but can also be any other part of a sentence. For example: When the soul in chains, screams in my heart yearning, and the heart longs for boundless freedom (K. Balmont). I lay in the scent of azaleas (V. Bryusov)

Proper and common nouns

Proper nouns- these are the names of individuals, individual objects. Proper nouns include: 1) first names, surnames, nicknames, nicknames (Peter, Ivanov, Sharik); 2) geographical names (Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia); 3) astronomical names (Jupiter, Venus, Saturn); 4) names of holidays ( New Year, Teacher's Day, Defender of the Fatherland Day); 5) names of newspapers, magazines, works of art, enterprises (the newspaper “Trud”, the novel “Resurrection”, the publishing house “Prosveshchenie”), etc.
Common nouns nouns They call homogeneous objects that have something in common, the same, some kind of similarity (person, bird, furniture).
All names own are written with a capital letter (Moscow, Arctic), some are also placed in quotation marks (the Cosmos cinema, the Evening Moscow newspaper).
In addition to differences in meaning and spelling proper names nouns have a number of grammatical features: 1) are not used in the plural (except in cases of designation various items and persons with the same names: In our class there are two Ira and three Olya); 2) cannot be combined with numerals.
Proper nouns can turn into common nouns, and common nouns- V own, for example: Narcissus (the name of a handsome young man in ancient greek mythology) - narcissus (flower); Boston (city in the USA) - boston ( wool fabric), boston (slow waltz), boston ( card game); labor - newspaper "Trud".

Animate and inanimate nouns

Animate nouns serve as names of living beings (people, animals, birds); answer the question who?
Inanimate nouns serve as names for inanimate objects, as well as objects flora; answer the question what? Initially, in the Russian language, the category of animate-inanimate was formed as a semantic one. Gradually, with the development of language, this category became grammatical, therefore the division of nouns into animate And inanimate does not always coincide with the division of everything that exists in nature into living and nonliving.
An indicator of the animate or inanimate nature of a noun is the coincidence of the series grammatical forms. Animated and inanimate nouns differ from each other in the accusative plural form. U animate nouns this form coincides with the genitive case form, and inanimate nouns- with form nominative case, for example: no friends - I see friends (but: no tables - I see tables), no brothers - I see brothers (but: no lights - I see lights), no horses - I see horses (but: no shadows - I see shadows), no children - I see children (but: there are no seas - I see seas).
For masculine nouns (except for nouns ending in -a, -я), this difference is preserved in the singular, for example: no friend - I see a friend (but: no house - I see a house).
TO animate noun may include nouns that, according to their meaning, should be considered inanimate, for example: “our nets brought in a dead man”; discard the trump ace, sacrifice the queen, buy dolls, paint nesting dolls.
TO inanimate noun may include nouns that, according to the meaning they express, should be classified as animated, for example: study pathogenic microbes; neutralize typhus bacilli; observe the embryo in its development; collect silkworm larvae, believe in your people; gather huge crowds, arm armies.

Concrete, abstract, collective, real, singular nouns

According to the characteristics of the expressed meaning, nouns can be divided into several groups: 1) concrete nouns(chair, suit, room, roof), 2) abstract, or abstract, nouns(struggle, joy, good, evil, morality, whiteness), 3) collective nouns(animal, fool, foliage, linen, furniture); 4) real nouns(cycle: gold, milk, sugar, honey); 5) singular nouns(pea, grain of sand, straw, pearl).
Specific are nouns that denote phenomena or objects of reality. They can be combined with cardinal, ordinal and collective numbers and form plural forms. For example: boy - boys, two boys, second boy, two boys; table - tables, two tables, second table.
Abstract, or abstract, are nouns that denote any abstract action, state, quality, property or concept. Abstract nouns have one form of number (only singular or only plural), are not combined with cardinal numerals, but can be combined with the words many, few, how many, etc. For example: grief - a lot of grief, little grief. How much grief!
Collective are called nouns that denote a collection of persons or objects as an indivisible whole. Collective nouns have only the singular form and are not combined with numerals, for example: youth, old man, foliage, birch forest, aspen forest. Wed: Old people gossiped for a long time about the lives of young people and the interests of youth. - Whose are you, old man? Peasants, in essence, have always remained owners. - In no country in the world has the peasantry ever been truly free. On the first of September all children will go to school. - The children gathered in the yard and waited for the adults to arrive. All students passed successfully state exams. - Students take an active part in the work of charitable foundations. The nouns old people, peasantry, children, students are collective, the formation of plural forms from them is impossible.
Real are nouns that denote a substance that cannot be divided into its component parts. These words can be called chemical elements, their compounds, alloys, medications, various materials, kinds food products and agricultural crops, etc. Real nouns have one form of number (only singular or only plural), are not combined with cardinal numerals, but can be combined with words naming units of measure kilogram, liter, ton. For example: sugar - a kilogram of sugar, milk - two liters of milk, wheat - a ton of wheat.
Singular nouns are a type real nouns. These nouns name one instance of those objects that make up the set. Wed: pearl - pearl, potato - potato, sand - grain of sand, pea - pea, snow - snowflake, straw - straw.

Gender of nouns

Genus- this is the ability of nouns to be combined with forms of compatible words specific for each generic variety: my house, my hat, my window.
Based on gender nouns are divided into three groups: 1) masculine nouns(house, horse, sparrow, uncle), 2) feminine nouns(water, earth, dust, rye), 3) neuter nouns(face, sea, tribe, gorge).
In addition, there is a small group common nouns, which can serve as expressive names for both male and female persons (crybaby, touchy-feely, youngster, upstart, grabber).
The grammatical meaning of gender is created by the system of case endings of a given noun in the singular (thus gender of nouns distinguished only in the singular).

Male, female and neuter gender nouns

TO masculine include: 1) nouns with a base on a hard or soft consonant and a zero ending in the nominative case (table, horse, reed, knife, cry); 2) some nouns with the ending -а (я) such as grandfather, uncle; 3) some nouns with endings -о, -е such as saraishko, bread, little house; 4) noun journeyman.
TO feminine refers to: 1) most nouns with the ending -a (ya) (grass, aunt, earth) in the nominative case; 2) part of the nouns with a base on a soft consonant, as well as on zh and sh and a zero ending in the nominative case (laziness, rye, quiet).
TO neuter include: 1) nouns ending in -о, -е in the nominative case (window, field); 2) ten nouns starting with -mya (burden, time, tribe, flame, stirrup, etc.); 3) noun “child”.
The nouns doctor, professor, architect, deputy, guide, author, etc., naming a person by profession, type of activity, are classified as masculine. However, they can also refer to females. The agreement of definitions in this case is subject to following rules: 1) a non-isolated definition should be put in the masculine form, for example: A young doctor Sergeeva appeared at our site. New option articles of the law were proposed by the young deputy Petrova; 2) a separate definition after the proper name should be placed in the feminine form, for example: Professor Petrova, already known to the trainees, successfully operated on the patient. The predicate must be put in the feminine form if: 1) the sentence contains a proper noun standing before the predicate, for example: Director Sidorova received a prize. Tour guide Petrova took the students through the oldest streets of Moscow; 2) the form of the predicate is the only indicator that we are talking about a woman, and it is important for the writer to emphasize this, for example: The school director turned out to be a good mother. Note. Similar designs should be used with great caution, since not all of them correspond to the norms of book and written speech. Common nouns Some nouns with endings -а (я) can serve as expressive names for both male and female persons. These are nouns of a general gender, for example: crybaby, touchy, sneak, slob, quiet. Depending on the gender of the person they denote, these nouns can be classified as either feminine or masculine: a little crybaby is a little crybaby, such a mischief is such a mischief, a terrible slob is a terrible slob. In addition to similar words, common nouns may include: 1) unchangeable surnames: Makarenko, Malykh, Defieux, Michon, Hugo, etc.; 2) colloquial forms of some proper names: Sasha, Valya, Zhenya. The words doctor, professor, architect, deputy, tour guide, author, which name a person by profession or type of activity, do not belong to the general nouns. They are masculine nouns. Common nouns are emotionally charged words, have a pronounced evaluative meaning, and are used mainly in colloquial speech, therefore, are not typical for scientific and official business styles of speech. Using them in work of art, the author seeks to emphasize the conversational nature of the statement. For example: - You see how it is, on someone else’s side. Everything turns out hateful for her. No matter what you see, it’s not the same, it’s not like mom’s. Right? - Oh, I don’t know! She's a crybaby, that's all! Aunt Enya laughed a little. Such a kind laugh, light sounds and leisurely, like her gait. - Well, yes! You are our man, a knight. You won't shed tears. And she's a girl. Tender. Mom and Dad (T. Polikarpova). Gender of indeclinable nouns Foreign language common nouns are distributed by gender as follows: The masculine gender includes: 1) names of male persons (dandy, maestro, porter); 2) names of animals and birds (chimpanzees, cockatoos, hummingbirds, kangaroos, ponies, flamingos); 3) the words coffee, penalty, etc. The feminine gender includes the names of female persons (Miss, Frau, Lady). The neuter gender includes the names of inanimate objects (coat, muffler, neckline, depot, subway). Indeclinable nouns of foreign origin denoting animals and birds are usually masculine (flamingos, kangaroos, cockatoos, chimpanzees, ponies). If, according to the conditions of the context, it is necessary to indicate a female animal, the agreement is carried out using the feminine gender. The nouns kangaroo, chimpanzee, pony are combined with a past tense verb in the feminine form. For example: The kangaroo was carrying a baby kangaroo in her bag. The chimpanzee, apparently a female, fed the baby a banana. The mother pony was standing in a stall with a small foal. The noun tsetse is an exception. Its gender is determined by the gender of the word mukha (feminine). For example: Tsetse bit a tourist. If determining the gender of an indeclinable noun is difficult, it is advisable to consult a spelling dictionary. For example: haiku (Japanese tercet) - s.r., takku (Japanese quintet) - s.r., su (coin) - s.r., flamenco (dance) - s.r., taboo (prohibition) - s.r. .R. Some indeclinable nouns are recorded only in dictionaries of new words. For example: sushi ( Japanese dish) - sr., tarot (cards) - plural. (genus is not determined). The gender of indeclinable foreign-language geographical names, as well as names of newspapers and magazines, is determined by the generic common noun, for example: Pau (river), Bordeaux (city), Mississippi (river), Erie (lake), Congo (river), Ontario (lake), "Humanité" (newspaper). The gender of indeclinable compound words is in most cases determined by the gender of the core word of the phrase, for example: MSU (university - m.r.) MFA (academy - zh.r.). Genus compound nouns, written with a hyphen The gender of compound nouns written with a hyphen is usually determined: 1) by the first part, if both parts change: my chair-bed - my chair-bed (s.r.), new amphibious aircraft - new aircraft -amphibians (m.r.); 2) according to the second part, if the first does not change: sparkling firebird - sparkling firebird (g.r.), huge swordfish - huge swordfish (g.r.). In some cases, the gender is not determined, since compound word used only in the plural: fairy-tale boots-runners - fairy-tale boots-runners (plural). Number of nouns Nouns are used in the singular when talking about one object (horse, stream, crevice, field). Nouns are used in the plural when talking about two or more objects (horses, streams, cracks, fields). According to the characteristics of the forms and meanings of the singular and plural, the following are distinguished: 1) nouns that have both singular and plural forms; 2) nouns that have only a singular form; 3) nouns that have only a plural form. The first group includes nouns with a concrete object meaning, denoting countable objects and phenomena, for example: house - houses; street - streets; person people; city ​​dweller - city dwellers. The nouns of the second group include: 1) names of many identical objects (children, teachers, raw materials, spruce forest, foliage); 2) names of objects with real meaning (peas, milk, raspberries, porcelain, kerosene, chalk); 3) names of quality or attribute (freshness, whiteness, dexterity, melancholy, courage); 4) names of actions or states (mowing, chopping, delivery, running, surprise, reading); 5) proper names as names of individual objects (Moscow, Tambov, St. Petersburg, Tbilisi); 6) words burden, udder, flame, crown. The nouns of the third group include: 1) names of composite and paired objects (scissors, glasses, watches, abacus, jeans, trousers); 2) names of materials or waste, residues (bran, cream, perfume, wallpaper, sawdust, ink, 3) names of periods of time (vacations, days, weekdays); 4) names of actions and states of nature (troubles, negotiations, frosts, sunrises, twilight); 5) some geographical names (Lyubertsy, Mytishchi, Sochi, Carpathians, Sokolniki); 6) the names of some games (blind man's buff, hide and seek, chess, backgammon, grandma). The formation of plural forms of nouns is mainly done with the help of endings. In some cases, some changes in the base of the word may also be observed, namely: 1) softening of the final consonant of the base (neighbor - neighbors, devil - devils, knee - knees); 2) alternation of the final consonants of the stem (ear - ears, eye - eyes); 3) adding a suffix to the plural stem (husband - husband\j\a], chair - chair\j\a], sky - heaven, miracle - miracle-es-a, son - son-ov\j\a]) ; 4) loss or replacement of formative suffixes of the singular (mister - gentlemen, chicken - hens, calf - tel-yat-a, bear cub - bear cubs). For some nouns, plural forms are formed by changing the stem, for example: person (singular) - people (plural), child (singular) - children (plural). In indeclinable nouns, number is determined syntactically: young chimpanzee (singular) - many chimpanzees (plural). Case of nouns Case is an expression of the relationship of an object called by a noun to other objects. Russian grammar distinguishes six cases of nouns, the meanings of which are generally expressed using case questions: The nominative case is considered direct, and all others are indirect. To determine the case of a noun in a sentence, you need to: 1) find the word to which the noun refers; 2) put a question from this word to the noun: see (who? what?) brother, be proud of (what?) successes. Among the case endings of nouns, homonym endings are often found. For example, in the forms of the genitive case from the door, the dative case to the door, and the prepositional case about the door, there is not the same ending -i, but three different homonym endings. The same homonyms are the endings of the dative and prepositional cases in the forms by country and about country-e. Types of declension of nouns Declension is the change of a noun by case and number. This change is expressed using a system of case endings and shows the grammatical relationship of the given noun to other words in the phrase and sentence, for example: School\a\ is open. Construction of schools has been completed. Graduates send greetings to schools\e\ According to the peculiarities of case endings in the singular, a noun has three declensions. The type of declination can only be determined in the singular. Nouns of the first declension The first declension includes: 1) feminine nouns with the ending -а (-я) in the nominative singular (country, land, army); 2) masculine nouns denote people with the ending -a (ya) in the nominative singular case (uncle, young man, Petya). 3) nouns of the general gender with endings -а (я) in the nominative case (crybaby, sleepyhead, bully). Nouns of the first declension in the oblique singular cases have the following endings: It is necessary to distinguish between the forms of nouns in -ya and -iya: Marya - Maria, Natalya - Natalia, Daria - Daria, Sophia - Sofia. Nouns of the first declension in -iya (army, guard, biology, line, series, Maria) in the genitive, dative and prepositional cases have the ending -i. In writing, mistakes are often caused by mixing the endings of nouns of the first declension into -ee and -iya. Words ending in -eya (alley, battery, gallery, idea) have the same endings as feminine nouns with a base on a soft consonant such as earth, will, bathhouse, etc. Nouns of the second declension The second declension includes: 1) nouns masculine with a zero ending in the nominative singular (house, horse, museum); 2) masculine nouns with the ending -о (-е) in the nominative singular (domishko, saraishko); 3) neuter nouns with the ending -о, -е in the nominative singular case (window, sea, gorge); 4) noun journeyman. Masculine nouns of the second declension have the following endings in the oblique singular cases: In the prepositional singular case, the ending -e predominates for masculine nouns. The ending -у (у) is accepted only by inanimate masculine nouns if: a) they are used with the prepositions in and on; b) have (in most cases) the nature of stable combinations denoting a place, state, time of action. For example: eyesore; remain in debt; on the verge of death; grazing; to follow the lead; stew in own juice; be in good standing. But: work by the sweat of your brow, in the sunshine; grammatical structure; V right angle; in some cases, etc. It is necessary to distinguish between the forms of nouns: -ie and -ie: teaching - teaching, treatment - treatment, silence - silence, torment - torment, radiance - radiance. Nouns of the second declension ending in -i, -i in the prepositional case -i. Words ending in -ey (sparrow, museum, mausoleum, frost, lyceum) have the same endings as masculine nouns with a base on a soft consonant such as horse, elk, deer, fight, etc. Nouns of the third declension The third declension includes names feminine nouns with a zero ending in the nominative singular (door, night, mother, daughter). Nouns of the third declension in the oblique singular cases have the following endings: The words mother and daughter belonging to the third declension, when changed in all cases except the nominative and accusative, have the suffix -er- at the base: Declension of nouns in the plural B case endings plural differences between separate types Declensions of nouns are insignificant. In the dative, instrumental and prepositional cases, nouns of all three declensions have the same endings. In the nominative case, the endings -и, -ы и|-а(-я) predominate. The ending -e is less common. You should remember the formation of the genitive plural forms of some nouns, where the ending can be zero or -ov. This includes words naming: 1) paired and composite objects: (not) felt boots, boots, stockings, collars, days (but: socks, rails, glasses); 2) some nationalities (in most cases, the stem of the words ends in n and r): (no) English, Bashkirs, Buryats, Georgians, Turkmens, Mordvins, Ossetians, Romanians (but: Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Yakuts); 3) some units of measurement: (five) amperes, watts, volts, arshins, hertz; 4) some vegetables and fruits: (kilogram) apples, raspberries, olives (but: apricots, oranges, bananas, tangerines, tomatoes, tomatoes). In some cases, plural endings perform a semantic distinguishing function in words. For example: dragon teeth - saw teeth, tree roots - fragrant roots, sheets of paper - tree leaves, scratched knees (knee - “joint”) - complex knees (knee - “dance move”) - trumpet knees (knee - “ joint at the pipe"). Indeclinable nouns Indeclinable nouns include: 1) ten nouns ending in -mya (burden, time, udder, banner, name, flame, tribe, seed, stirrup, crown); 2) noun path; 3) noun child. Diversified nouns have the following features: 1) ending - both in the genitive, dative and prepositional cases of the singular - as in the III declension; 2) the ending -еm in the instrumental case of the singular as in the 2nd declension; 3) the suffix -en- in all forms, except for the nominative and accusative cases of the singular (only for nouns ending in -mya). The word path has case forms of the third declension, with the exception of the instrumental case of the singular, which is characterized by the form of the second declension. Wed: night - nights, path - paths (in the genitive, dative and prepositional cases); steering wheel - steering wheel, path - path (in the instrumental case). The noun child in the singular retains the archaic declension, which is currently not actually used, but in the plural it has the usual forms, except for the instrumental case, which is characterized by the ending -mi (the same ending is characteristic of the form by people). Indeclinable nouns Indeclinable nouns do not have case forms, the endings of these words are not highlighted. The grammatical meanings of individual cases in relation to such nouns are expressed syntactically, for example: drink coffee, buy cashews, novels by Dumas. Indeclinable nouns include: 1) many nouns of foreign origin with final vowels -о, -е, -и, -у, -у, -а (solo, coffee, hobby, zebu, cashew, bra, Dumas, Zola); 2) foreign-language surnames denoting female persons ending in a consonant (Michon, Sagan); 3) Russian and Ukrainian surnames with -o, -ih, -yh (Durnovo, Krutykh, Sedykh); 4) compound words of alphabetic and mixed nature (Moscow State University, Ministry of Internal Affairs, head of department). Syntax function indeclinable nouns are determined only in context. For example: The Walrus asked the Kangaroo (RP): How can you stand the heat? I'm shaking from the cold! - Kangaroo (I.p.) said to Walrus. (B. Zakhoder) Kangaroo is an indeclinable noun, denotes an animal, masculine, in a sentence it is the object and subject. Morphological analysis of a noun Morphological analysis of a noun includes identifying four permanent signs(proper noun, animate-inanimate, gender, declension) and two non-constant ones (case and number). The number of constant features of a noun can be increased by including features such as concrete and abstract, as well as real and collective nouns. Scheme morphological analysis noun.

How do you determine whether a noun is animate or inanimate?

An animate noun is one that has a living component.

For example: man, hare, grasshopper, etc. (therefore the question is asked who?).

An inanimate noun is one that does not have a living component.

For example: table, house, car, etc. (so the question is asked what?).

In general, we intuitively, knowing the language well, can define most words without rules. But there is still a rule that will help distinguish an animate noun from an inanimate one. So, for example, let's take two words for comparison: corpse and dead man. They must be put in the plural first in the genitive case, and then in the accusative case. If they are the same, then the word is animate. R.p. dead bodies, corpses. V.p. dead people, corpses. It turns out that a dead person is animate, but a corpse is inanimate

If a noun answers the question Who?, then it is animate. For example, a person, a cat, a bird, a girl. If a noun answers the question What?, then it is inanimate. For example, a house, a tree, a city.

For schoolchildren this is often a big problem. But there is no difficulty here. The first thing to do to determine whether a noun is animate or not is to ask a question. For example: who is a person, a fox, a dog; what - a flower, a forest, a sky. All nouns that answer the question who are animate, and those that answer the question what are inanimate.

IN primary school Children are taught a simplified rule: What question does this noun answer? To whom or what?

And children intuitively divide everything around into animate and inanimate.

But in higher grades one comes to understand that there is more complex cases this rule. Do plants have a soul: a flower, a bush, a tree? After all, they breathe, grow, get sick like us, die... that is. alive, but why then are they inanimate? But the soul has already left the dead man, and he is still animated?

That’s when the plural genitive and accusative cases help. If the words match, we have an animate object in front of us.

To determine whether a noun is animate or inanimate, just ask a question. Answers the question Who? - animate noun, answers the question What? - inanimate noun. For example,

dog - Who?

pillar - What?

Questions will help us with this. Animate nouns include all living beings and the question is asked who?. For example, fox, human, hedgehog, hippopotamus, etc.

Inanimate nouns are objects and answer the question what??. An example is a large set, a stool, a table, a chair, a floor, a ceiling, a lamp.

The simplest example that was drilled into us from school is to ask a question about a word, and if it turns out that the word answers who? we attribute it to the living (animate), and what if for what? to the non-living (inanimate). Later, the following rule was added: take a noun and present it as the genitive case in the plural, and then compare it with the accusative case, also in the plural. If you see the same word in form, it means it is animate. If not, on the contrary, it is inanimate.

The nouns dead, deceased are animate, and corpse is inanimate. How to determine this? All you need to do is put the noun in the genitive plural and accusative plural form. If these forms coincide, we have an animate noun.

No dead people = see dead people

No dead people = I see dead people

But there are no corpses, I see corpses.

Using this formula Rod.p.pl.h. = Vin.p. pl. h., we will accurately identify an animate or inanimate noun. Inanimate nouns have the same forms of the nominative plural case and the accusative plural case.

I.p.what? chamomile = vin.p. see what? daisies

On the issue. Animate answers the question who, inanimate what

At school we were very simply taught to distinguish animate and inanimate nouns from each other. All living things are animate nouns (for example, man, astronaut, cat, dog, professor, and so on). These nouns answer the question WHO?.

And everything inanimate is inanimate nouns (for example, table, chair, apple, weather, and so on). These nouns answer the question What?.

Word check:

Letterman

Grammar

Study microbes or microbes? Animation of nouns

1. What is the animation of nouns?

“The category of animate-inanimate nouns is a grammatical expression of the opposition between living and inanimate, but understood not in a scientific sense (in the sense of living and inanimate nature, that is, the organic and inorganic world), but in an everyday, everyday sense.”

(Eskova N.A. Brief dictionary of difficulties of the Russian language. 6th ed., revised M., 2008.)

2. How is animation expressed?

“Firstly, animate-inanimateness is expressed by the endings of the noun itself:

1) animate nouns have the same plural endings for the accusative and genitive cases, and for masculine nouns this also applies to the singular;

2) inanimate nouns have the same accusative and nominative plural endings, and for masculine nouns this extends to the singular.

Animacy has non-verbal expression: the ending of an adjective or participle in the accusative case that agrees with a noun varies depending on whether the noun is animate or inanimate, cf.: (I see) new s students, But new s tables».

(Litnevskaya E.I. Russian language. A short theoretical course for schoolchildren. M., 2006.)

3. When do hesitations and options arise?

“All fluctuations between grammatical animation and inanimateness (found in the variable formation of the accusative case) are explained precisely by the ambiguity in the assessment of an object as living or inanimate.

Some of these cases relate to those objects whose belonging to animals or plants may not seem obvious: amoebas, bacteria, bacilli, vibrios, viruses, ciliates, microbes and etc. ( study microbes And microbes).

The second typical case is the name of those living creatures that we tend to perceive primarily as food: squid, shrimp, mussels, lobster, sea cucumber, oysters and etc. ( eat oysters And oysters).

Another clear case is the names of inanimate objects that imitate living beings: kite (paper), doll, puppet, robot, sphinx and etc. ( make dolls And dolls)».

(Eskova N.A. Brief dictionary of difficulties of the Russian language. 6th ed., Spanish M., 2008.)

Separate mention should be made about seafood. Words like squid, crabs, shrimp, mussels, lobster, oysters, according to most reference books, they can be used as inanimate and animate nouns when talking about food, but only as animate ones when talking about living beings. However, in the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak the words squid, crab, mussel, lobster are given as animate in all meanings (we reproduce the recommendations of this dictionary below in the answers of the “Reference Bureau”) .

Titles canned fishsprats, gobies, sprat, sardines(plural) are used as inanimate nouns: open sprats, eat sprat, love sardines.

QUESTIONS FROM THE INFORMATION BUREAU

Anchovy

How to correctly: cook anchovy or cook anchovy?

Answer: Noun anchovy in the meaning of "food" inanimate. Right: prepare anchovy, salt the anchovies. However, it is true to say about a living being: catch anchovy, breed anchovies.

Daughter

Would the phrase be correct? along with Gazprom decided to support its daughters, if the word daughter used to mean "subsidiary"?

Answer: Word daughters in the meaning of "subsidiaries" is used as an inanimate noun: Gazprom decided to support its daughters.

Bunny

How to correctly: catch a sunbeam or sunny bunny?

Answer: Both options are correct. “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak indicates that the word bunny in the meaning of “light spot” can be used both as an animate and as

Germ

Is the word animate? embryo?

Answer:Germ – inanimate noun.

Serpent

At school there was an assignment to make a sentence out of words. The child composed: The boy bought a kite. The teacher corrected it to The boy bought kite . Who is right?

Answer: According to dictionaries, the word snake in all meanings The children launched a kite.

Squid

How to correctly: cook squid or cook squid?

Answer:Squid – cook squid.

Goat

How to correctly: kill the goat or goat(about the game of dominoes), jump over the goat or through the goat?

Answer: Noun goat can be used either animate or inanimate, depending on the meaning. In meaning "animal" as well as "a card game or a game of dominoes" is an animate noun: feed the goat, slaughter the goat, play goat. In the meaning of “sports equipment” the following options are possible: jump over the goat And jump over the goat. See: Zaliznyak A. A. Grammar dictionary of the Russian language. 5th ed., rev. M., 2008.

Crab

How to correctly: export crabs or crabs?

Answer:Crab – animate noun. Right: export crabs.

Shrimp

How to correctly: ate shrimp or did you eat shrimp?

Answer: Noun shrimp is animate if we are talking about a living shrimp ( I saw tiny brown shrimp in the aquarium). If we are talking about shrimp like food, possible options: word shrimp in this case it can also be declined as an animate noun ( I ate with pleasure tiny brown shrimp), and as an inanimate noun ( enjoyed eating tiny brown shrimp).

Doll

How to correctly: love dolls or love dolls?

Answer: doll in the meaning of “toy” it can be used both as an animate and as an inanimate noun. And here doll in the meaning of “man” (a doll can be called a soulless and empty person, as well as a person blindly acting according to the will of another) - only animate.

Face

How to say: We invite interested parties or interested parties?

Answer: Word face in the meaning of “person” – an animate noun. Right: We invite all interested parties. N. A. Eskova writes: Noun face in the meaning of "man" behaves like an animate, but in combination actor experiences oscillations between animate and inanimate (cf. character).

Salmon

How to correctly: catch salmon or catch salmon?

Answer:Salmon - animate noun . Right: catch salmon.

Maksim

How to correctly talk about a machine gun: tapes are inserted into the Maxima or in "maxim"?

Answer: Word " Maksim" in the meaning of "machine gun" it is declined as an inanimate noun. This means that the accusative case form will coincide with the nominative case form. Therefore it is true: tapes are inserted into the "maxim".

Mussel

Who do I eat: mussels or mussels?

Answer: Mussel– animate noun; eat mussels. See: Zaliznyak A. A. Grammar dictionary of the Russian language. 5th ed., rev. M., 2008.

Microbe

How to say: studying microbes or studying microbes?

Answer: Word microbe can be used both as an animate and an inanimate noun. Both options are correct.

Moskvich

Which is correct when it comes to cars: assassination attempt on "Muscovites" or assassination attempt on "Muscovites"?

Answer:Moskvich in the meaning of "car" is an inanimate noun: assassination attempt on "Muscovites".

An object

How to correctly: or consider pathogenic biological objects?

Answer: Word an object is not animate. Right: consider pathogenic biological objects.

Oscar

How to correctly: the film won an Oscar or Did the film win an Oscar?

How to write in an essay: introduce comic character or introduce a comic character?

Answer: Variations are possible. This is what N. A. Eskova writes about the word character: Word character simultaneously names a person and expresses a certain literary concept. Hesitation portrays a character, characters And depicts a character, characters It is obviously connected with the fact that it is the writer (or speaker) who wants to emphasize (Eskova N.A. Concise Dictionary of Difficulties of the Russian Language. 6th ed., revised. M., 2008).

Parsley

How to write: make parsley or parsley(about dolls)?

Answer: Noun parsley used as an animate in the meaning of “doll; theatrical character” (correctly: make parsley). In the meanings of "puppet theater; absurd business" and "plant" parsley - inanimate noun.

Police officer

How to correctly: drive over a speed bump or over a speed bump(about a road obstacle)?

Answer: Both options are possible (cf.: goat as a title sports equipment can also be used as animate and inanimate) .

Ghost

How best to write: believe in ghosts or believe in ghosts?

Answer: According to the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak ghost can be animate or inanimate.

Prototype

How to do it right: created prototypes or created prototypes?

Answer:Prototype – inanimate noun meaning “original sample, prototype of something”: I see a prototype of a new weapon. In meaning “a person who served the author as an original for creating a literary image” prototype can be used as an animate noun.

Robot

How to correctly: or use robots for body welding?

Answer: Word robot– an animate noun. Right: use robots to weld the body.

Snowman

How to correctly: the guys made a snowman or did the guys make a snowman?

Answer:Snowman– an animate noun. Right: the guys made a snowman.

Subject

What to do with the subject? I see a suspicious person or Do I see a suspicious subject?

Answer:“Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak indicates that the word subject(in philosophy, in law) can be used both as an animate and as an inanimate noun. When used in other meanings: subject(in logic, in grammar) – only inanimate, subject(personality, person) – only animate.

Creature

Answer: According to the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak, the word creature in the meaning of “something living” it can be used both as an animate and as an inanimate noun.

Talent

How the word declines talent? As an animate or as an inanimate noun?

Answer:Talent – inanimate noun (including about a person). Right: He came to support people's talents.

Ace

How to correctly: draw an ace or draw an ace(in a card game)?

Answer: Word ace– an animate noun meaning " playing card" and "important person". Correct: pull out an ace, turn into a financial ace.

Tuna

How to correctly: cut tuna or cut tuna?

Answer:Tuna– animate noun, correct: cut tuna.

Snail

Is snail an animate noun?

Answer: Yes, even when it comes to snails used for food. Right: I eat snails.

Oyster

How they behave oysters? As animate nouns or as inanimate?

Answer: Noun oyster is animate if we are talking about a living oyster ( raise oysters). If we are talking about an oyster as food, possible options: buy oysters And buy oysters.

Embryo

How to correctly: carries an embryo or an embryo?

Answer:Embryo – inanimate noun. Right: carries an embryo.

References:

Belchikov Yu. A. Practical stylistics of the modern Russian language. 2nd ed., M., 2012.

Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. Dictionary of grammatical variants of the Russian language. –3rd ed., erased. M., 2008.

Zaliznyak A. A. Grammar dictionary of the Russian language. 5th ed., rev. M., 2008.

Eskova N. A. A short dictionary of difficulties in the Russian language. 6th ed., rev. M., 2008.

Russian grammar / Ed. N. Yu. Shvedova. M., 1980.

Nouns are divided into two large groups: animate and inanimate. The main difference between the words included in them lies in the names of these communities of nouns. Let's get to know highlights related to this topic (categories, rules, examples).

In contact with

Animate and inanimate objects

Animate objects are part of living nature, something that lives, breathes, moves, grows, reproduces and develops, etc. And inanimate are objects of inanimate nature, that is, the antonym to the previous concept.

What are animate and inanimate nouns? In order to designate objects endowed with life, nouns of the first type are used.

They answer the question “who?” and designate those objects that possess its characteristics (breathe, feed, reproduce, move, etc.). For example: student, Petya, mother, kitten, etc.

To designate objects that belong to the second category, that is, those that do not have signs of life, inanimate nouns are used. For example: table, sofa, road, stone, jacket, etc.

Note! Animate nouns answer the question “who?”, and those belonging to the category of inanimate nouns answer the question “what?”.

Category of animate and inanimate nouns

But, for example, during the game the doll is assigned the properties and qualities of a child or an adult. In this case, you can consider the doll as an animated creature (Nutcracker, Steadfast Tin Soldier, etc.). Therefore, in order to determine the category of animation, should be based on context.

What about “tree”? From a biological point of view, a tree is part of living nature. But wood can also mean a material for construction (wood), and this is inanimate nature. Sometimes in fairy tales a tree is a character; it can think, speak, even move, that is, it becomes animated. To correctly determine the category, you need to carefully read the text.

What category does the word “herd” belong to? Based on the data indicated above, we will analyze this problem.

A herd is a community, a collection of living organisms, is part of living nature. Therefore, this word belongs to the animate. noun names

Another word that causes difficulty in defining the category is youth. Based on the previous paragraph, we can conclude that this word also refers to animate.

After all, the word “youth” means a group of young people, the younger generation, etc.

Let's summarize. Animating nouns - part of living nature, and inanimate. - vice versa. Words belonging to the first group answer the question “who?”, and those belonging to the second answer the auxiliary question “what?”.

• animate (groups of living and inanimate beings that attributed to the qualities of living organisms);
• inanimate.

In order to correctly identify a group, it is necessary to rely on context. It is worth remembering a rule that will help you avoid mistakes in declension of words by case.

Types of nouns, learning Russian

Animate and inanimate nouns in Russian

Have you ever heard words put in inappropriate cases? This is the sin of surzhik - a mixed speech of Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish words. This happens due to the fact that the rules of declension in different languages are different.

To choose the correct case of nouns, you need to know what type they belong to.

Animate and inanimate nouns

Words used incorrectly hurt the ear. For their proper use there are certain rules, not that complicated. Since ancient times, in Rus', living and nonliving things have been changed by case in different ways. When the language was systematized, it was determined that there are proper and common nouns, animate and inanimate. Moreover, it is not always possible to independently determine what type a particular word belongs to. The dead man is inanimate, has no soul, but the word is grammatically animated. But plants are alive - they grow, they breathe. But inanimate. Why?

There is one aspect of this issue that has its roots in mythology. In ancient times, people held different ideas about living and nonliving things. Hence many well-established expressions showing the inanimateness of the sun (it looks out, gets up, sets, wakes up, in fairy tales it is asked for advice, and it answers) and dolls (in games it eats, sleeps, walks, talks, cries). Previously, they were indeed considered alive and this was reflected in linguistic forms. The word “corpse” has always been considered inanimate, because under it only the shell of a creature is considered, but there is no personality. How can we identify animate and inanimate nouns?

Rule

Since living and nonliving things answer different questions, it is good to use this method. Then check the obtained result. We can then refine our study according to exceptions that are best remembered.

1. So, first we should find out who or what is in front of us. This way, in most cases, we can understand what type the word we need belongs to.

2. In the future plural put the desired word in the accusative case (for simplicity, it can be designated VP) and find out which case it coincides with. If with a nominative (IP) it is inanimate.

• Toys.
• Armchairs.
• Games.
• Noses.
• Nicknames.

If with the genitive (RP) - animation.

• Puppies.
• Birdie.
• Animals.
• Chickens.
• Friends.

This is often enough to identify animate and inanimate nouns. The rule has exceptions.

Living inanimate

These are dolls, Teddy bears, dogs, bunnies, robots and the like. That is, those toys with which actions are performed as if they were alive. The resulting word forms will look like this:

• Dolls.
• Bears.
• Zaychikov.
• Dogs.
• Robots.

Some symbols in games are also considered animate. This should be remembered:

• Kings.
• Valtov.
• Queen.

People who have died or perished are considered animate: suicide, deceased, deceased, deceased.

• Suicide
• Deceased.
• Passed away.
• Dead.

There are many such words, but they are all animated. When we are talking about the mortal coil (corpse, body, carrion, carcass) - it is already inanimate.

Fairy-tale and immaterial characters (angels, demons, nymphs) are also animated. There is a pattern: if in the minds of the people something is alive, in the declension of such a word VP = RP.

Living inanimate

A group, any set, a collection of people, animals or living beings are considered to be inanimate. This is a crowd, an army, a people, a herd, a flock, a host. It is correct to say: “I see crowds, armies, nations, herds, flocks, hosts.”

All plants and mushrooms are inanimate. They have long been viewed as food, and not as part of wildlife. Interestingly, some types of seafood (lobsters, oysters, lobsters) first appeared in Russia as exotic dishes. That's why in recipes they are used according to the inanimate principle: boil the squid and cut it into noodles.

What is not visible to the eye is considered inanimate.

These are microorganisms, viruses, embryos, yeast, bacteria. Although there are interesting exceptions here too. For example, the attitude towards the embryo changes when it becomes visible - in vitro.

When it is impossible to determine animate and inanimate nouns

Examples showing the impossibility of assigning a word to one division or another:

• repair automation
• see swordfish.

These words are not declined according to numbers. When changing by case, they have their own form of endings. Therefore they stand outside of animation.

Helping adjectives

Animated and inanimate nouns are determined by the accusative case form of concordant adjectives. Examples:

• We saw a new student - we saw a new table.
• Petted a beautiful puppy - petted a beautiful blouse.
• If you get big calves, you get into big trouble.

First there is a phrase where the accusative case is equal to the genitive (VP = RP), and then to the nominative (IP).

These adjectives will make it easier to identify animate and inanimate nouns.

Own and common nouns

All proper nouns received such a name because they are unique in their kind. Usually these are names, but there can also be nicknames and nicknames. If there is a coincidence, it is rather nonsense. For such cases there is the word “namesake”, for example. Even if this is the nickname of an inanimate toy, it is still animate. There are also inanimate proper names. These are names given to an institution, work of art or composition. There are also geographical names.

Common nouns - from the Old Church Slavonic “named” (to call) - are the names of groups of objects or concepts.

The table will help you change them correctly by case.

Skills develop well when filling out such a table. You can fill it out by putting all words in the accusative case, although this is not necessary. You can simply divide the sheet into four parts and write down the proposed words in groups.

Special exercises will help you understand this topic even better.

Exercises

Exercises will help you consolidate skills on how to identify animate and inanimate nouns. You need to substitute the correct word, select the correct case, or check the literacy of the written phrase.

Exercise 1

Substitute Right words in the following sentences.

• Coming to school, students see (teachers, principal, new desks, posters, friends, duty officer, old doors, school crayons).
• We purchased (songbirds, carousels, benches, visitors) for the city park.
• Being late for work, I had to catch up (trolleybus, tram, taxi driver I knew).

Exercise 2

Choose the correct case in the following sentences.

• We placed (the kittens) and in addition gave them (bags of food) for them.
• Coming out into the clearing, we saw (boys and baskets of mushrooms).
• At the zoo, keepers feed (the birds) and water (the trees).

Exercise 3

Give examples of animate and inanimate nouns that are suitable in the following cases:

• He sits at the table... and dreams.
• The doctors said that... he was no longer breathing.
• Ours... completely crumbled.
• How brightly this one burns... today.
• The old one... completely fell apart.

Lesson

In order for students to remember the above rules well, the teacher can devote a lesson to animate and inanimate nouns. It is good to use a scheme indicating equality of cases.

Shower	Inanimate.
VP = RP	VP = IP

Recalling that the plural is being tested, as an exercise you can ask to name five animate and five inanimate nouns while looking at the picture. A photo of a puppy with a toy chicken in its teeth will do.

The resulting phrases will not always be correct, this is natural. But especially funny teacher can emphasize. This “by contradiction” method will help you remember misuse cases.

Examples of animate and inanimate nouns that are substituted for the missing words will help you understand the rule well. For this exercise, sentences with missing words are written out on a piece of paper in advance. In their place, you should insert one of the suggested words written on the board. The teacher makes sure that the students are different variants: on one side the boards are animated, on the other - not.

As one of the options, the following set of words can be used:

Suitable text for this exercise:

The weather was beautiful on the weekend. The guys ran out into the yard. (?) fed and dressed their (?). (?) were not attracted to such games, they launched (?) from the mountain. (?) and (?) made the old (?) happy. “Where else can you find such (?),” they said, and were in no hurry to call their (?) and (?) home. And the guys have already taken (?) and (?) and made a noisy (?).

The kids will really like this lesson. The main thing is to prepare visual material and diagrams well. Good luck!

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