A monster, animate or inanimate. Animate and inanimate objects - the rule

Animate objects

Animate objects

ANIMATE OBJECTS . Objects with the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. people and animals, in contrast to inanimate objects and abstract or abstract concepts, i.e. signs of objects considered in abstraction from the objects themselves. In Russian category O.P. on the one hand and inanimate. objects and abstract concepts, on the other hand, differ grammatically in that masculine nouns and adjectives agreed with them in the singular and nouns and adjectives in the plural, which are names of O.P., have one common form for the accusative and genitive cases, different from forms of the nominative case, and masculine singular nouns and adjectives and plural nouns and adjectives that are names of inanimate objects and abstract concepts have a common form for the nominative and accusative cases, different from the form of the genitive case. The grammatical distinction between nouns denoting animate objects and nouns denoting inanimate objects and abstract concepts exists in other Slavic languages, and is also known in some non-Slavic languages, for example, Scandinavian.

N.D. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary of literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925

See what “Animate Objects” are in other dictionaries:

Animate objects- ANIMATE OBJECTS. Objects with the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. people and animals, in contrast to inanimate objects and abstract or abstract concepts, i.e. signs of objects considered in abstraction from... ...

animate objects- Objects that have the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. people and animals, as opposed to inanimate objects and abstract or abstract concepts”, i.e., signs of objects considered in abstraction from the objects themselves. In Russian …

INANIMATE OBJECTS. Things or objects that do not have the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. all objects except people and animals. See animate objects. Literary Encyclopedia: Dictionary of Literary Terms: In 2 volumes / Under... ... Literary encyclopedia

Inanimate objects- INANIMATE OBJECTS. Things or objects that do not have the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. all objects except people and animals. See Inanimate Objects... Dictionary of literary terms

inanimate objects- Things or objects that do not have the ability of voluntary movement, i.e. all objects except people and animals. See Inanimate Objects... Grammar Dictionary: Grammar and linguistic terms

Noun endings- 1. In nouns that have a vowel and before case endings, the letter and is written in the prepositional case singular (for feminine words also in the dative case) the letter and, for example: about a genius, in Gogol’s “Viya”, on a billiard cue, to sisters... ... A reference book on spelling and style

A reference book on spelling and style

Gender of indeclinable nouns- 1. Words denoting inanimate objects. Indeclinable nouns of foreign origin, denoting inanimate objects, mostly belong to the neuter gender, for example: healing aloe, Scotch whiskey, ... ... A reference book on spelling and style

1) Lexical and grammatical category of a noun, inherent in all nouns (with the exception of words used only in the plural), syntactically independent, manifested in their ability to combine with certain words for... Dictionary of linguistic terms

Books

• , Vadbolskaya Anna. Some items that we enjoy using do not require complicated instructions for use. A pencil, for example, or a ball. Or our game is a real treasure for those who...

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 because the rules for declension differ in different languages.

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, which are 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 they ask it for advice, and it answers) and the doll (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, the plural of the desired word is put 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. It is interesting that some types of seafood (lobsters, oysters, lobsters) first appeared in Russia as exotic dishes. Therefore, in recipes, they are inflected 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

The accusative form of concordant adjectives determines animate and inanimate nouns. 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 the correct 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.

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 the teacher can highlight especially funny ones. This “by contradiction” method will help you remember the incorrect use of 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 have different options: on one side of the board they 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!

Nouns have a constant morphological sign of animation.

The sign of animacy of nouns is closely related to the concept of living / inanimate. Nevertheless, animacy is not a category of meaning, but a morphological feature itself.

All morphological features are characterized by the fact that they have a typified formal expression - they are expressed by formative morphemes (endings or formative suffixes - see morphemics). Morphological features of words can be expressed

1) intra-word - formative morphemes of the word itself ( table-Ø - tables),

2) extra-wordly - formative morphemes of agreed words ( new coat - new coat),

Both of these means of expression can be presented together. In this case, one grammatical meaning is expressed several times in a sentence - both intra-word and extra-word ( new table-Ø - new tables).

Animacy as a morphological feature also has formal means of expression. Firstly, animateness/inanimateness is expressed by the endings of the noun itself:

1) animate nouns have the same plural endings. numbers V. p. and R. p., and for nouns husband. This also applies to units. number;

2) inanimate nouns have the same plural endings. numbers V. p. and I. p., and for nouns husband. This also applies to units. number.

Nouns are represented in the Russian language with fluctuations in animation: their V. p. can coincide with both I. p. and R. p., for example, (I see) microbes / microbes, describe characters / characters, creatures / creatures-Ø;

In feminine and neuter nouns that have only singular forms, animation is not formally expressed ( youth, students), they are not formally characterized by their animation.

Animacy has non-verbal expression: the ending of an adjective or participle that agrees with a noun in a v. p. differs depending on the animate or inanimate nature of the noun, cf.: (I see) new students, But new tables.

The extra-verbal expression of the animacy of nouns is more universal than the intra-verbal one: it expresses animacy even in the case of the immutability of the noun: (I see) beautiful madam, But beautiful coats.

The animacy of most nouns reflects a certain state of affairs in extra-linguistic reality: animate nouns are mainly called living beings, and inanimate are inanimate objects, but there are cases of violation of this pattern:

Animation, as already mentioned, is a constant feature of a noun. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind that different meanings of one word can be differently framed in terms of animation, for example: I see genius(person) - I appreciate it genius-Ø (mind).

Gender as a morphological feature of a noun

Nouns have a constant morphological gender marker and are classified as masculine, feminine or neuter.

The main expression of morphological gender is extra-verbal - the endings of adjectives, participles in the position of the attribute that agree with the noun, and words with an inconstant gender marker in the position of the predicate, primarily of a verb in the past tense or conditional mood, as well as a short adjective or participle.

Masculine, feminine and neuter gender include words with the following compatibility:

Male

new student has arrived-Ø

Female

new student has arrived

Average

the big window is open

Some nouns ending - A, denoting signs, properties of persons, in I. p. have a double characterization by gender depending on the gender of the designated person:

is yours-Ø the ignoramus has come-Ø,

your ignoramus came.

Such nouns are classified as general family

There are nouns in the Russian language that denote the name of a person by profession, which, when denoting a male person, act as words of the masculine gender, that is, they attach agreed words with masculine endings; when they denote a female person, the definition is used in the masculine gender, and the predicate is used in the feminine gender (mainly in colloquial speech):

the new doctor has arrived-Ø (male),

a new doctor has arrived(woman).

These words are “candidates” for the general gender; their gender is sometimes called transitional to the general, but in dictionaries they are characterized as words of the masculine gender.

There are about 150 words in the Russian language that vary in gender, for example: coffee- masculine/neuter gender, shampoo- masculine/feminine.

Nouns are plural only ( cream, scissors) do not belong to any of the genders, since in the plural the formal differences between nouns of different genders are not expressed (cf.: desks - tables).

Thus, the main expression of gender is non-verbal. Intra-word gender is consistently expressed only in nouns - substantivized adjectives and participles: sentry, ice cream, dining room: in singular forms these words have endings that clearly indicate their gender. For nouns of the 2nd declension masculine and 3rd declension feminine, the entire system of their endings is specific; as for the endings of individual case forms, they may not be indicative, cf. table-Ø - night-Ø.

For all inanimate nouns (and there are about 80% of such nouns in the language), the gender is conditional and is in no way connected with extra-linguistic reality.

Among animate nouns - names of persons or animals, gender is often associated with the gender of the designated creature, cf.: mom - dad, son - daughter, cow - bull. However, it is necessary to understand the difference between grammatical gender and ungrammatical gender. Thus, in the Russian language there are animate neuter nouns ( child, animal), in nouns - names of animals, male and female individuals are often called the same ( dragonfly, crocodile), among words - names of persons there is also not always a correspondence between gender and gender. Yes, word individual feminine, although it can mean both a woman and a man (see, for example, A. S. Pushkin: Someone wrote to him from Moscow that a famous person would soon enter into legal marriage with a young and beautiful girl).

Determining the gender of compound words (abbreviations) and indeclinable nouns presents a certain difficulty. The following rules are established for them.

Generic characteristics abbreviations depends on what type the given compound word belongs to.

A type of abbreviation formed by adding the initial parts ( caretaker), the initial part of the first word with the second unabridged ( Sberbank) and the beginning of the first word with the beginning and/or end of the second ( trade mission → trade mission), is determined by the gender of the main word in the original phrase: good organizational work, Russian trade mission, new Sberbank.

A type of abbreviation consisting of initial sounds ( GUM) or letters ( Moscow State University), as well as mixed abbreviations in which the initial part of the first word is combined with the first letters or sounds of other words ( Glavk), is defined ambiguously. Initially, they also acquire the gender of the main word in the original phrase, for example, Bratsk hydroelectric power station. However, during the process of use, the original generic characteristic is consistently retained only by abbreviations from the first letters of the original phrase. Abbreviations consisting of the first sounds behave differently. Some of them acquire a generic characteristic in accordance with the appearance of the word. Yes, words BAM, university, MFA, NEP, registry office and some others became masculine words and acquired the ability to decline in the second declension, like nouns like house. Other abbreviations ending in a consonant with a neuter and feminine stem word may have hesitation: they may have a gender characteristic in accordance with the gender of the main word and not be inflected ( in our housing office) or, when inclined, used as masculine words ( in our housing office). Abbreviations ending in a vowel are not inflected and are predominantly neuter ( our RONO - district department of public education).

Indeclinable nouns, getting into the Russian language or being formed in it, must acquire a generic characteristic, which will manifest itself only when choosing adjectives, participles and verbs that agree with the noun.

There are the following patterns in the choice of gender characteristics by such nouns: gender depends either on the meaning of the word or on the gender of another Russian word, which is considered as a synonym or as a generic name for a given unchangeable word. For different groups of nouns, different criteria are leading.

If a noun denotes an object, then it usually acquires a neuter characteristic: coat, muffler, metro. However, feminine Avenue(because Street), kohlrabi(since it's cabbage), coffee- with hesitation - masculine / neuter, masculine - penalty, euro.

If a noun denotes an animal, it is usually masculine: chimpanzee, cockatoo. Exceptions: Iwasi, Tsetse- feminine gender (since herring, fly).

If a noun denotes a person, then its gender depends on the gender of this person: words Monsieur, couturier masculine, as they denote men; words madam, mademoiselle feminine, since they denote women, and the words counterpart, incognito of a general gender, since they can designate both men and women.

If a noun denotes a geographical object, then its gender is determined by the gender of the Russian word that denotes the type of object: Tbilisi masculine, since it is city(masculine), Mississippi feminine, as it is river, Lesotho neuter, since it is state. Everything that has been said applies only to inflexible words, therefore Moscow- a noun is not masculine, but feminine, although it is a city, since it is inflected.

Russian language lesson in 5th grade

Textbook: “Russian language: textbook for grade 5
educational institutions"
/ T.A. Ladyzhenskaya, T.M. Baranov and others

Nouns, animate and inanimate.

Target: As a result of the lesson, students should learn:

• understand animate and inanimate as a grammatical category of nouns;
• be able to divide nouns into animate and inanimate, determine the case of a noun;

Formed UUD: regulatory (goal setting)

Communication (planning)

Lesson script.

1. Updating knowledge.

Before you are nouns, divide them into 2 groups and justify your choice.

The words are written on the board:willow, spring, mermaid, rooks, drops, hare, forester, corpse, dead man.

Students put forward hypotheses, the teacher records their answers on the board. As a result, students come to the conclusion that the words should have been grouped based on animate/inanimate. They name the signs by which the animate/inanimate nature of a noun is determined (questions WHO? WHAT?, animate nouns denote living beings, they breathe, walk, etc.)

Most likely, students will make a mistake when determining the animation of the word DECEASED.

2. Students formulate the topic of the lesson, which is written on the board and in notebooks.

3. Creation of a problematic situation.

The teacher shows on the board (or on a slide) the correct division of nouns into animate/inanimate. It may surprise students that the word DECEASED refers to animate nouns. The teacher asks: “Why does this word refer to animate nouns?” Students do not have a question to answer this question.

So, there is some other sign besides the questions WHO? WHAT?, which helps determine the animate/inanimate nature of a noun.

4. Formation of UUD: goal setting.

Formulate a learning goal for yourself, continuing the words: LEARN, LEARN.

What needs to be done to achieve your goals?

5. Learning new material.

1) Reading text using insert technique.

‒ You must not only read the text, but also mark your understanding of the text with the appropriate signs.

\/ - “already knew”, + “new”, (-) – “I thought differently or didn’t know”, ?- I didn’t understand, I have questions.

TEXT that students read.

THE SECRET OF THE NOUN.

ANIMATE AND INANIMATE NOUNS.

Hello guys! I am very glad to see everyone in my lesson! Today we will talk about animate and inanimate nouns,” Professor Link began her lesson at the school of Russian language lovers with these words.

What can I say? And so everything is clear: if a word denotes a living object, then the noun will be animate, and if inanimate, then it will be inanimate,” someone’s voice rang out.

Uh... not everything is so simple... - answered the professor. - What does it mean - a living object? For example, where should the words “plant, tree” be included? Who would dare say that a plant is something inanimate? But in Russian these words refer to inanimate things.

Well, this is probably due to the fact that plants cannot move on their own. So they seem to be lifeless,” the girl sitting on the first desk timidly suggested.

To correctly determine whether a noun is animate or inanimate, you need to remember a few rules:

Animate nounsidentify persons and animals and answer the question WHO? ;

Inanimate nounsdesignate objects, plants and inanimate phenomena and answer the question WHAT?

But there are still exceptions from this rule. There is a very convenient way to distinguish between animate and inanimate nouns, especially if you don’t know exactly what type a given word belongs to. The fact is that animate and inanimate nouns have different accusative plural forms. For animate, the form of the accusative case coincides with the form of the genitive, and for inanimate - with the form of the nominative. For example:

2) What new did you learn from what you read? How to determine the animate/inanimate nature of a noun?

THAT. In Russian, the division of nouns into animate and inanimate occurs according togrammatical feature.

3) Let's convert our output into a formula. The result of this work should be the following formula:Odush: V.p. = R.p. (plural)

Neodush: V.p. = I.p. (plural)

4) Let's see how this formula works using the words CORPSE and DEAD as an example.

6. Practical work.

Carrying out a little research work in pairs.

Now you will need to do some research. You will have to determine whether the nouns given to you on the cards are animate or inanimate. As a result of our work, a table “Animate and inanimate nouns” will appear on the board. And then one of your couple will defend their work. But before you get started, remember how to work in pairs. In front of you on your desks is a memo “How to work in pairs in a lesson”, read it, and then start completing the task.

Formation of UUD: planning.

Memo “How to work in pairs in a lesson”

1. Read the assignment carefully.
2. If you are completing a task with a friend who is approximately equal in strength to you, then try to divide all the work equally. Help each other in case of difficulties.
3. If your friend is doing better than you, don’t be shy to ask him for help, to ask him to explain something. Don’t be offended by your friend if he corrects this or that mistake.
4. If you see that your friend is doing worse than you, help him, but try to do it in such a way that he himself works with full effort. If your friend makes mistakes, correct them tactfully and kindly.

Remember the main rule: in any collective endeavor you need coordination of actions and a willingness to help your friend. You are responsible for him. He is for you.

MATERIALS for research:

What category of nouns (animate or inanimate) do they belong to?

1 row

• Names of gods and mythical creatures: mermaid, goblin.
• Names of chess and card pieces: lady, queen.

2nd row

• Nouns naming toys: doll, matryoshka
• Nouns denoting a collection of living beings: battalion, people.

3rd row

• Collective nouns:youth, humanity.
• Nouns for plants: chamomile, birch.

As two pairs from each row perform, a table is filled out on the board.

7. Exercising control.

1) Next to the noun, put the letter O if the noun is animate, and N if it is inanimate.

2) Self-assessment: 0 mistakes – 5 points

1-2 mistakes – 4 points

3-5 points – 3 points

8. Practical work (if time permits).

Read the poem by S. Yesenin. Determine whether the nouns in bold are animate or inanimate. Why are they spoken of as animate? What is this technique called?

The stars dozed off gold,
The mirror of the backwater trembled,
The light is dawning on the river backwaters
And blushes the sky grid.

The sleepy birch trees smiled ,
Silk braids were disheveled.
Green earrings rustle
And the silver dews burn.

The fence is overgrown with nettles
Dressed in bright mother of pearl
And, swaying, whispers playfully:
"Good morning!"

9. Summing up the lesson. Reflection

Let's return to the objectives of the lesson. Have they been achieved?

Answer the questions:

1. What was the most useful thing for me in the lesson?

2. What was the most interesting thing for me in the lesson?

3. What was difficult for me in the lesson?

10. Homework (differentiated).

Paragraph 91 ex. 480, 481

OR write a story or poem using personification.

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.

This is often a big problem for schoolchildren. 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 elementary 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, the understanding comes that there are more complex cases of 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?.