Remember that, unlike in English, the modifying noun in Russian usually comes after the noun it modifies.
When a Russian 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.
noun
modifier noun
genitive
Остановка автобуса за домом.
astaNOFka afTOboosa za DOmam.
The bus stop is behind the house.
→ modifies a nominative noun
средство от укусов комара
SRYETstava at ooKOOsaf kamaRA
mosquito bite remedy
→ modifies a genitive noun
Important
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.
When do we use the genitive case with nouns as modifiers?
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!
modified noungenitive modifier
Окна дома моего друга, который работает директором Национального архива, и который живёт на улице Лермонтова, выходят на север.
OKna DOma maiVO DROOga kaTOryi raBOtait diRYEKtaram natsiaNALnava arKHEEva i kaTOryi zhyVYOT na OOlitse LYERmantava vyKHOdyat na SYEvir.
The windows of my friend's house, who works as the director of the National archive and who lives on Lermontov Street, face north.
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.
Important
Note that the same kinds of relationships sometimes can be expressed using that come from nouns.
adjective
noun
автобусная остановка
afTOboosnaya astaNOFka
a bus stop
французское посольство
franTSOOskaye paSOLstva
French Embassy
noun
genitive noun
остановка автобуса
astaNOFka afTOboosa
a bus stop
посольство Франции
paSOLstva FRANtsyi
The Embassy of France
Sometimes we also use a possessive adjective. For example:
possessive adjective
noun
мaмина машина
MAmina maSHYna
mom’s car
Женин адрес
ZHYEnin ADris
Zhenya’s address
noun
genitive noun
машина мамы
maSHYna MAmy
mom’s car
адрес Жени
ADris ZHYEni
Zhenya’s address
Now let’s talk about each kind of genitive modifier noun in Russian separately!
To indicate the possessor of something
The expression of possession is one of the main functions of the genitive case in Russian.
Specifically, we use the genitive when in English you express possession through the use of…
an apostrophe + s after a noun
e.g., Mark’s house
the use of the preposition “of”
e.g., the house of Mark
In Russian we do it like this:
possessed noun
possessor
genitive
книга учителя
KNEEga ooCHEEtilya
the teacher’s book
Машина моего соседа за домом.
maSHYna maiVO saSYEda za DOmam.
My neighbor's car is behind the house.
lit. The car of my neighbor is behind the house.
Где вещи детей?
gdye VYEshchi diTEY?
Where are the things/belongings of the children?
Деньги родителей легко тратить.
DYENgi raDEEtilyei likhKO TRAtit.
It’s easy to spend parents’ money.
Remember that any words that modify a genitive noun should also be genitive:
genitive case
улыбка моей мамы
ooLYPka maYEYMAmy
my mom’s smile/smile of my mom
телефонный номер моего лучшего друга
tilFOniy NOmir maiVO LOOCHshyva DROOga
the telephone number of my best friend
перекрёсток пятидесятой улицы и Бродвея
piriKRYOStak pitidiSYAtay OOlitsy i bradVYEya
50th street and Broadway intersection
Exception!
If possession is expressed in English through the use of possessive adjectives (“my,” “his,” “their”...) or possessive pronouns (“mine,” “hers,” “theirs”...), then you do not need the genitive in Russian because the possessive pronouns мой[moy](my/mine), ваш[vash](your/yours), etc. already indicate possession.
To learn more about other ways to express possession in Russian, check out our post on how to express possession in Russian!
To indicate something’s namesake
Often the namesake of something (the person or thing something is named after) will be in the genitive case. In Russian, when you say the name of a street, a park, or the name of a school or other establishment, you have to put the namesake second. Be careful not to follow the English pattern!
noun
namesake
genitive
улица Некрасова
OOlitsa nikRAsova
Nekrasov street
парк Горького
park GORkava
Gorky Park
консерватория (имени) Чайковского
kansirvaTOriya EEmini chiyKOFskava
Tchaikovsky Conservatory
lit. the Conservatory named after Tchaikovsky
→ Officially, Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory is a musical educational institution located in Moscow
площадь Независимости
PLOshchit nizaVEEsimasti
Independence Square
To indicate the agent of an action
Sometimes we use a “noun + noun” structure to show who performs the action. The agent (doer) is in the genitive.
action
agent (doer)
genitive
пение птиц
PYEniye pteets
birds’ singing
Мы аплодировали выступлению клоунов.
ma aplaDEEravali vystooPLYEniyu KLOoonaf.
We applauded the clowns’ performance.
Во всех газетах сегодня пишут о побеге заключенных.
va vseykh gaZYEtakh siVODnya PEEshoot a paBYEgye zaklyuCHYOnykh.
All the papers today are writing about prisoners’ escape.
To indicate the object of an action
Here is another set of examples when we use “noun + noun (in genitive)” in relation to present the object of an action.
action
object
genitive
открытие фестиваля
atKRYtiye fistiVAlya
festival opening
чтение книги
CHTYEniye KNEEgi
reading of the book
изучение космоса
izooCHYEniye KOSmasa
study of space
Exception!
There are some “action noun + object noun” phrases that require the second noun to be in the instrumental case, not in the genitive. This happens when the first noun comes from a verb that requires the instrumental case after it.
action noun + object in instrumental | verb + object in instrumental |
|---|---|
обмен опытом abmyen opytam experience exchange | обмениваться опытом abmyenivatsa opytam to exchange experience(s) |
торговля людьми targovlya lyudmee human trafficking | торговать людьми targavat lyudmee to trade people |
управление страной oopravlyeniye stranoy country governance | управлять страной oopravlyat stranoy to govern a country |
To indicate the object acted on by another noun
You can also use the genitive case to connect a noun to who or whatever typically does something to that noun. In other words, the agent noun (doer) is a genitive modifier.
object
agent (doer)
genitive
водитель грузовика
vaDEEtil groozaviKA
truck driver
директор музея
diRYEKtar mooZYEya
museum director
глава государства
glaVA gasooDARstava
a head of state
To indicate a quality of someone or something
In Russian, we also use the genitive case with nouns as modifiers when we express a quality of someone or something.
quality
possessor of the quality
genitive
красота и глубина Байкала
krasaTA i gloobiNA bayKAla
the beauty and depth of (Lake) Baikal
честность человека
CHYESnast chilaVYEka
a person’s honesty
To indicate the whole in relation to the part
When we talk about something that is a part of a whole, for example a piece of a pie or the handle of a bag, the word for the noun that follows "of" in English will be in the genitive case in Russian.
part
whole
genitive
окно дома
akNO DOma
the window of a house
карман сумки
karMAN SOOMki
the pocket of a bag
обложка журнала
abLOSHka zhoorNAla
the cover of a journal
To indicate the quantity of something
We have to use the genitive case after numbers and quantities (read: words indicating quantity).
quantity/container
substance
genitive
бутылка молока
booTYLka malaKA
a bottle of milk
три пачки макарон
tree PACHki makaRON
three packs of pasta
литр кваса
leetr KVAsa
a liter of kvass
→ Kvass is a non-alcoholic beer that is slightly sour. It has Slavic origin and is commonly made from rye bread or flour.
What about layered modifiers?
When a noun modifies a noun that, in turn, modifies a third noun, every modifier noun will be in the genitive case. So when you have a long list of nouns, only the main noun (the first noun) can be in some non-genitive case. For instance:
genitive case
Портрет жены художника
parTRYET zhiNY khooDOZHnika
a portrait of a painter’s wife
Общество защиты животных республики Казахстан
OPshchiSTVA zaSHCHEEty zhyVOTnykh risPOObliki kazakhSTAN
the Society of protection of animals of the republic of Kazakhstan
Summary
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!
