How to describe a noun with another noun in Russian?

When a Russian nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. describes or “modifies” another noun, the modifier will be in the genitive case and will normally follow the noun it modifies. The modified noun can be in any case, depending on its function in the sentence.

In this post, I will tell you about all possible situations to use the genitive case with nouns as modifiers and provide plenty of examples.

In Russian, the genitive case is often used when a noun functions as a modifier or describes an attribute of another noun. This construction is called a “genitive construction” or a “noun + noun (in genitive)” construction.

There are several situations in which we use the genitive case with nouns as modifiers. The most common one is to indicate possession, similar to English structures like, “my friend's house” or “the house of my friend.” Other situations will have more abstract meanings to indicate:

• the person after whom something is named

  e.g., St. Matthew’s Cathedral

• the whole in relation to the part

  e.g., a piece of cake

• the agent of an action

  e.g., a bird’s singing

• the agent and an object

  e.g., a truck’s driver

• the object of an action

  e.g., a reading of a poem

• a quality of someone or something

  e.g., John’s forgetfulness

• the quantity of something

  e.g., three of those

See if you can spot some of these uses in the sentence below!

Notice that all of the nouns that describe or modify other nouns are genitive, even when the nouns they describe have some other function in the sentence.

Now let’s talk about each kind of genitive modifier noun in Russian separately!

In this post, we’ve talked about how and when to use the genitive case to modify another noun. Here’s what you should remember!

• In the noun + noun structure, the second noun is the modifier and it is in the genitive case.

• Use nouns as modifiers to indicate:

  • possession

  • the person after whom something is named

  • the agent of an action

  • the object of an action

  • the agent + object

  • someone or something’s quality

  • quantity of an object

  • the whole in relation to the part

• Sometimes one noun may have many genitive modifiers!

Now let’s try to apply the knowledge you gained in this article! Try out the Russian genitive noun modifier exercises below!