Russian Plurals
Russian learning path · Unit 2 of 6
Everyday Life
Lesson 15 of 63: One Book, Many Books · A1
English adds -s. Russian swaps the ending — and which ending depends on gender and spelling. Two rules plus a short irregular list cover almost everything.
The Core Endings
Masculine and feminine nouns share the same plural endings: -ы (default) or -и (after soft letters and the 7-letter rule below).
| Noun type | Change | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| masc. ending in consonant | add -ы | стол → столы, дом → дома́* (see irregulars) |
| fem. ending in -а | -а → -ы | машина → машины, газета → газеты |
| fem. ending in -я | -я → -и | неделя → недели, кухня → кухни |
| any noun in -ь | -ь → -и | словарь → словари, дверь → двери |
| masc. ending in -й | -й → -и | музей → музеи, трамвай → трамваи |
- Noun type
- masc. ending in consonant
- Change
- add -ы
- Examples
- стол → столы, дом → дома́* (see irregulars)
- Noun type
- fem. ending in -а
- Change
- -а → -ы
- Examples
- машина → машины, газета → газеты
- Noun type
- fem. ending in -я
- Change
- -я → -и
- Examples
- неделя → недели, кухня → кухни
- Noun type
- any noun in -ь
- Change
- -ь → -и
- Examples
- словарь → словари, дверь → двери
- Noun type
- masc. ending in -й
- Change
- -й → -и
- Examples
- музей → музеи, трамвай → трамваи
Один стол, два стола… нет — столы!
One table, two tables… no — tables!
Note: Careful: after numbers 2–4 Russian uses a different form (стола). That's the numbers lesson. Plain plural = столы.
The 7-Letter Spelling Rule
This rule will follow you through all of Russian, so meet it early: after к, г, х, ж, ш, щ, ч you can never write ы — write и instead.
| Singular | Plural | Why |
|---|---|---|
| книга (book) | книги | г + и, never гы |
| девочка (girl) | девочки | к + и |
| нож (knife) | ножи | ж + и |
| карандаш (pencil) | карандаши | ш + и |
- Singular
- книга (book)
- Plural
- книги
- Why
- г + и, never гы
- Singular
- девочка (girl)
- Plural
- девочки
- Why
- к + и
- Singular
- нож (knife)
- Plural
- ножи
- Why
- ж + и
- Singular
- карандаш (pencil)
- Plural
- карандаши
- Why
- ш + и
It's not grammar, it's spelling — Russian simply never writes ы after those seven letters.
Neuter Plurals
Neuter nouns flip their vowel: -о → -а and -е → -я.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| окно (window) | окна |
| слово (word) | слова |
| место (place) | места |
| море (sea) | моря |
- Singular
- окно (window)
- Plural
- окна
- Singular
- слово (word)
- Plural
- слова
- Singular
- место (place)
- Plural
- места
- Singular
- море (sea)
- Plural
- моря
Это новые слова.
These are new words.
Note: слово → слова. The adjective новые is plural too — everything agrees.
Irregulars You Can't Avoid
A handful of very common nouns have irregular plurals — exactly the words you'll use most, of course:
| Singular | Plural | Note |
|---|---|---|
| дом (house) | дома́ | stressed -а, masculine! |
| город (city) | города́ | same pattern |
| глаз (eye) | глаза́ | same pattern |
| друг (friend) | друзья́ | |
| брат (brother) | бра́тья | |
| ребёнок (child) | де́ти | completely different word |
| человек (person) | лю́ди | completely different word |
- Singular
- дом (house)
- Plural
- дома́
- Note
- stressed -а, masculine!
- Singular
- город (city)
- Plural
- города́
- Note
- same pattern
- Singular
- глаз (eye)
- Plural
- глаза́
- Note
- same pattern
- Singular
- друг (friend)
- Plural
- друзья́
- Note
- Singular
- брат (brother)
- Plural
- бра́тья
- Note
- Singular
- ребёнок (child)
- Plural
- де́ти
- Note
- completely different word
- Singular
- человек (person)
- Plural
- лю́ди
- Note
- completely different word
Мои друзья живут в Москве.
My friends live in Moscow.
Note: друг → друзья. You'll say this word so often the irregular form will stick by itself.
Это твои друзья?
Are these your friends?
Да! А это мои братья.
Yes! And these are my brothers.
Большая семья! А это чьи дети?
Big family! And whose kids are these?
Это дети моей сестры.
They're my sister's kids.
Common Mistakes
- Writing ы after к, г, х, ж, ш, щ, ч. книгы is impossible — книги.
- Adding an ending instead of replacing. машина → машины, not машинаы. The -а leaves before -ы arrives.
- Regularizing человек and ребёнок. The plurals are люди and дети — different words entirely.
- Confusing plural with the after-numbers form. Два стола (two tables) is not the plural — столы is. Numbers play by their own rules (next lesson).
What You Can Do Now
You can talk about more than one of anything: книги, друзья, города. Combined with Это… and У меня есть…, your sentence range just doubled.