Genitive adjectives and possessive adjectives are both very often used in phrases that describe possession or ownership, however they are quite different grammatically.
We use a genitive adjective to describe any genitive noun. In a possessive expression, the genitive adjective provides extra information about the owner / possessor.
genitive adjectivegenitive nounУ его старшего брата есть большая семья.Transcription: oo iVO STARshyva BRAta yest balSHAya simYA.Translation: His older brother has a big family.The genitive adjective старшего meaning older provides more information about the possessor брата meaning the brother.Possessive adjectives directly represent the owner. The noun that a possessive adjective provides extra information about the owned thing and it can be in any case.
possessive adjectivenominative nounпапины вещиTranscription: PApiny VYEshciTranslation: dad’s thingsIn English, possessive adjectives are limited to words that are like pronouns (e.g. “my” or “your”) but in Russian there are more of these words to learn!
In this post, we will briefly review all of the uses and forms of genitive and possessive adjectives in Russian to help clarify the difference between the two. Ready to have a look? Let’s go!Paragraph content
When to use genitive adjectives in Russian?
In Russian, a genitive adjective is used to describe a noun in the genitive case. The genitive case has a wide range of uses. To give a few examples, a genitive adjective might be used to describe…
A noun that is an owner / possessor
genitive adjectivegenitive nounУ его старшего брата есть большая семья.Transcription: oo iVO STARshyva BRAta yest balSHAya simYA.Translation: His older brother has a big family.компьютер моего лучшего другаTranscription: oo iVO STARshyva BRAta yest balSHAya simYA.Translation: my best friend's computerA noun that is absent
genitive adjectivegenitive nounВ этом городе нет ни интересных музеев, ни дорогих ресторанов, ни даже центральной площади.Transcription: v Etom GOradye nyet ni intiRYESnykh mooZYEif ni daraGEEKH ristaRAnaf ni DAzhe tsynTRALnay PLOshchidiTranslation: There are no interesting museums, or expensive restaurants, not even a central square in this city.Nouns that follow certain prepositions
genitive adjectivegenitive nounquantity wordАптека находится около нового театра, справа от справа от картинной галереи, ни даже напротив разных магазинов.Transcription: apTYEka naKHOditsa Okala NOvava tiAtra SPRAva at karTEEnay galiRYEi napROtif RAZnykh magaZEEnafTranslation: The pharmacy is located near the new theater, to the right of the picture gallery, in front of the various shops.Nouns that follow certain quantity words
genitive adjectivegenitive nounquantity wordМного американских студентов учится за границей.Transcription: MNOga amiriKANskikh stooDENtaf OOchitsa za graNEEtseyTranslation: A lot of American students study abroad.Nouns that follow most numbers
genitive adjectivegenitive nounquantity wordВот 20 лучших зарубежных фильмов прошлого года.Transcription: vot DVAtsat LOOCHshykh zarooBYEZHnykh FILmaf PROSHlava GOdaTranslation: Here are the 20 best foreign movies of the last year.
How to form genitive adjectives in Russian?
The chart below illustrates how to form a genitive adjective in Russian by changing the ending on its nominative form.
| Nominative | Genitive | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
Masculine | большой Transcription: balSHOY новый Transcription: NOviy | большого Transcription: balSHOva нового Transcription: NOvava | big new |
лишний Transcription: LEESHniy | лишнего Transcription: LEESHniva | extra | |
Feminine | молодая Transcription: malaDAya | молодой Transcription: malaDOY | young |
нынешняя Transcription: NYnishnyaya | нынешней Transcription: NYnishney | current | |
Neuter | яркое Transcription: YARkaye | яркого Transcription: YARkava | bright |
синее Transcription: SEEniye | синего Transcription: SEEniva | blue | |
Plural | талантливые Transcription: taLANtlivyie | талантливых Transcription: taLANtlivykh | talented |
маленькие Transcription: MAlenkiye | маленьких Transcription: MAlenkikh | small |
What are possessive adjectives in Russian?
Possessive adjectives in Russian are adjectives that describe a possessed noun and stand for the owner or possessor of the noun they describe. Possessive adjectives are usually formed out of people’s first names or the titles for family members (e.g. mom, dad, grandma,...). They are most common in spoken Russian.
| Name / Title | Possessive Adjective |
|---|---|
мама Transcription: MAma Translation: mom | мамин Transcription: MAmin Translation: mother’s; belonging to mother |
Миша Transcription: MEEsha Translation: Misha | Мишин Transcription: MEEshyn Translation: Misha’s; belonging to Misha |
Besides their meaning, though, possessive adjectives are just like other adjectives in Russian — they can describe nouns in any case and they agree with the noun they describe. For example:
How to form possessive adjectives in Russian?
In Russian, possessive adjectives are formed by adding the suffix -ин transcribed in to nouns that end in -а transcribed a or -я transcribed ya. Here are some examples:
| Noun | Possessive Adjective | Translation |
|---|---|---|
Бабушка Transcription: BAbooshka | Бабушкин Transcription: BAbooshkin | Grandmother → Grandmother’s |
Мама Transcription: MAma | мамин Transcription: MAmin | Mom → Mom’s |
Тётя Transcription: TYOtya | тётин Transcription: TYOtin | Aunt → Aunt’s |
Кошка Transcription: KOSHka | кошкин Transcription: KOSHkin | Cat → Cat’s |
Папа Transcription: PApa | папин Transcription: PApin | Dad → Dad’s |
Миша Transcription: MEEsha | Мишин Transcription: MEEshyn | Misha → Misha’s |
Саша Transcription: SAsha | Сашин Transcription: SAshyn | Sasha → Sasha’s |
Expressing possession with possessive adjectives vs. the genitive case
Most Russian nouns cannot be turned into possessive adjectives. When using a noun that cannot be turned into a possessive adjective you’ll have to use the standard genitive possessive construction. For example:
Possessed Noun
any case
Possessor Noun
genitive case
Let’s do a side-by-side comparison of the possessive with possessive adjectives vs. a noun in the genitive case.
| Possessive adjective (The possessive adjective matches the case of the possessed noun) | Genitive case (The possessor noun is always in the genitive case) |
|---|---|
nominative case папины вещи Transcription: PApiny VYEshci Translation: dad’s things | nominative casegenitive case вещи папы Transcription: VYEshci PApy Translation: dad’s things |
prepositional case в большом дедушкином доме Transcription: v balSHOM DEdooshkinam DOme Translation: in grandpa’s big house | prepositional casegenitive case в большом доме дедушки Transcription: v balSHOM DOme DEdooshki Translation: in grandpa’s big house |
genitive case без бабушкиной еды Transcription: bez BAbooshkinay yidy Translation: without grandma’s food | genitive case без еды бабушки Transcription: bez yidy BAbooshki Translation: without grandma’s food |
For more examples and charts illustrating how to use possessive adjectives, have a look at the Russian possessive adjectives reference sheet at the bottom of this page!
Summary
In this post, we’ve covered two different types of adjectives that are often used when discussing possession in Russian. Here’s what you should remember about the difference between the two:
Genitive adjectives describe the possessor (or any other noun in the genitive case). The genitive adjective endings are:
-ого transcribed ova / -его transcribed yeva for masculine and neuter
-ой transcribed oy / -ей transcribed yey for feminine
-ых transcribed ykh / -их transcribed ikh for plural
Possessive adjectives describe the possessed noun by providing information about who owns it.
Possessive adjectives are formed by replacing the final -а transcribed a / -я transcribed ya from a name or title and replacing it with -ин transcribed in. Then adjective agreement endings are added.
Nouns that don’t end in -а / -я can’t be turned into possessive adjectives, so those will just be in the genitive case.
Now let’s master your adjectives in the genitive case by downloading the exercises below!
:quality(75))
:quality(75))
:quality(75))