Plural of nouns. Nominative

As noted earlier (see paragraph 2.2.1. Gender of nouns), in the form nominative plural(primarily masculine nouns) there is a large number of endings, which is associated with the history of the development of the system of declensions of Russian nouns.

1. Currently, among masculine nouns of the second declension, the two most common endings are: -s/-s And -and I, and in colloquial speech and vernacular the ending is marked with particular productivity -and I. It partially replaces the ending -s/-s and in literary language.

Thus, in the 19th century forms were common houses, trains, and in the twentieth century - houses ́, trains ́. Already in recent decades, forms directors, professors became obsolete, and their place was taken by the versions of the director ́, professor ́.

However, the process of replacing the ending -ы/- and the ending -а/-я in the literary language is much slower than in common speech precisely because forms with -а/-я are in many ways perceived as second-rate, reduced.

The use of either ending is determined by a number of factors:

A) nouns that denote paired concepts have the ending -а/-я:

eyes ́, sleeves ́, cuffs ́;

b) most monosyllabic words have a plural ending -s/-s (cakes, fleets, noises), but exceptions are possible (houses ́, varieties ́);

V) The ending -а/-я, as a rule, is the plural of two-syllable words with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Wed: kater - boats, ramrod - ramrod.

If the stress in the initial form falls on the second syllable, then the ending is common in the plural -s/-s: watermelon - watermelons;

G) in trisyllabic and polysyllabic words the ending is common -s/-s with emphasis on the middle of the word: pharmacists, contracts(form agreement although acceptable, it is still undesirable!);

d) foreign words (usually of French origin) with the final -er/-er and stress on the last syllable usually have the ending -ы/-и:

officer - officers, kiosk - kioskers, driver - drivers (!);

note to the last form. Form used in common and professional speech driver supported by the colloquial singular form with emphasis on the first syllable - chauffeur. But this pronunciation is not literary (!).

e) words of Latin origin with the ending -tor/-sor usually have the ending -ы/-и ( computers, processors), although in animate nouns that are quite frequent and commonly used in speech, the ending -a/-я becomes common.

Wed: commentators, lecturers, new authors - directors, doctors, professors;

and) ending -а/-я usually have two-syllable and three-syllable nouns with stress on the first syllable and with finals -л/-л and -р/-р:

shako - shako, tunic - tunic(permissible - tunics).

Sometimes the same noun is simultaneously subject to several mutually exclusive factors. It is among such words that the largest number of variants in speech is observed.

For example, words factor, vector disyllabic with stress on the first syllable, so in the plural they could have the ending -а/-я. At the same time, these are inanimate nouns of Latin origin with a final -tor, so they can have the ending -ы/-и. In literary language, the action of the second factor wins and the variants are normative vectors, factors.
Noun bunker disyllabic with stress on the first syllable, so it can have the ending -a. But as a word of German rather than French origin in -er, it can have the ending -ы. In literary language, both forms are equal: bunker And bunkers.

Sometimes the use of one or another ending is determined by the meaning and compatibility of the word:

• hog(horizontal parts of chimneys) and hogs(castrated male pigs);
• conductor/tram conductors And conductors in the machine(special devices in mechanisms);
• factory buildings, cadet corps And body of a person or animal;
• fur(tanned animal skins) and bellows;
• images in the novel And images of saints in the church;
• knightly orders And orders for exploits;
• reins for a horse And reasons(motivations);
• belts and robes And Time Zones(permissible - time zones);
• missing letters And factory passes;
• sable(fur) and sables(animals);
• bank accounts - office accounts;
• sons from first marriage And sons of the fatherland;
• electric currents And current in the field;
• tones in music And tones in painting;
• apply the brakes ́ - remove brakes during operation;
• spiritual teachers And school teachers;
• bread in the oven And bread in the field;
• colors(paints) and flowers(plants);
• cadets(large landowners in Germany) and cadet(pupils of military schools).

2. Neuter nouns of the second declension usually have a plural ending -а/-я: ring ́ - rings, porch ́ - porch.

This ending (unlike masculine nouns) is usually unstressed: villages, glass, buckets.

In the initial form the stress usually falls on the last syllable: village, glass, bucket.

But the stressed ending -а/-я is also possible - mirrors(in the initial form such nouns usually have a stress based on - mirror).

Much less often, neuter nouns have the ending -ы/-и: shoulder - shoulders.

Sometimes in speech there is an erroneous use of the ending -ы/-и in a number of neuter nouns instead of the normative ending -а/-я.

For example: mirrors instead of normative mirrors; spots instead of normative spots; eggs instead of normative eggs.

3. A number of nouns are characterized by non-standard formation of the nominative plural form:

Masculine nouns ending in -yonok in the plural have the suffix -yat- and the unstressed ending -a:

foal - foals, child - guys;

nouns ending in -anin/-yanin in the plural end in -ane/-yan:

citizen - citizens, peasant - peasants, Armenian - Armenians (!);

note to plural forms of nouns: owner - owners(very bad mistake - owners!), bottom - donya, awl - shilya, chicken - chickens, ship - ships, child - children, person - people.

4. In addition, it should be remembered that not all nouns have two forms - singular and plural.

Collective, abstract nouns have only the singular form:

goodness, faith, youth, linen.

A number of concrete nouns do not have a singular form:

scissors, trousers.

The names of substances also usually have one form: either a singular form or a plural form.

Wed: sugar, coal, jam; ink, sawdust.

Therefore, it would be incorrect to use an abstract noun in the plural morality in a sentence: The word “morality” refers to generally accepted forms of morality protected by the state.

1. List of words with the normative ending -ы (-И) in the nominative plural:

2. List of words with the normative ending -A (-Я) in the nominative plural

Note:

1) It is necessary to remember the following forms:

BODIES (torso) - BODIES (buildings)

CAMPS (political groups) - CAMPS (tourist)

HUSBANDS (state) - HUSBANDS (in families)

TEETH (in humans, animals) - TEETH (in a saw)

BLANKS (spaces) - BLANKS (documents)

ORDERS (knightly, monastic) - ORDERS (awards)

IMAGES (artistic) - IMAGES (icons)

TONES (sounds) - TONES (shades of color)

BREAD (food products) - BREAD (cereals)

BOTTOM - DONYA

CHICKEN - CHICKENS

PERSON PEOPLE

CHILDREN

LOG - LOGS

VESSEL - VESSELS

The noun NEDRA (earth) is used only in the plural and with the ending -A in the nominative case.

The following rhymes help you remember the normative formation of the nominative plural form of a number of nouns:

Our children know:

There is a professor at the university!

Conducted negotiations -

We signed contracts.

2, Standard formation of the GENTIVE PLURAL forms of some NOUNS

1. Nouns denoting the name of vegetables and fruits, mainly in the genitive plural form, have the ending -OV:

2. Nouns denoting the names of paired objects, mainly in the genitive plural form, have a zero ending:

Note:

The following mnemonic device allows you to remember the correct formation of the genitive plural form of the nouns SOCKS and STOCKINGS - a method of facilitated memorization:

SOCKS are short, but in the genitive plural we use the long word SOCKS;

STOCKINGS are long, but in the genitive plural we use the short word (zero ending) STOCKINGS.

In other words, the shorter, the longer, that is, the shorter the object, the longer the word: a pair of SOCKS - a pair of STOCKINGS.

If you are in doubt about how to correctly form the genitive plural form of the nouns SOCKS, STOCKINGS, then remember the following quatrain:

I left her inpledge

A couple of fashionable onesstocking

And he immediately left forPskov

With a box of coloredsocksOV .

3. Nouns denoting the names of nationalities, mainly in the genitive plural form, have a zero ending:

4. Neuter nouns ending in -CE in the nominative singular case, and in the plural genitive case, as a rule, ending in -ETS:

5. Nouns denoting the name of a group of people by occupation most often have a zero ending:

6. Neuter nouns ending in the nominative singular in -БЭ without stress, and in the feminine in -БЯ without stress, have the ending -II in the genitive plural:

7. Nouns of the neuter gender, ending in the nominative singular case in -Ё, as well as in the feminine and general gender in -Ё under stress, in the genitive plural case have the ending -ЭИ:

9. The following nouns in the genitive plural have the ending -Эй:

10. The following nouns in the genitive plural have a zero ending:

11. The following nouns have the ending -OV in the genitive plural:

Note:

Remember the standard formation of the genitive plural of the following nouns.

The state of linguistic culture in modern Russia leaves much to be desired. And the reason for this is not an orientation towards Western culture or a lack of desire for reading, as the media lament.

A wide range of dictionaries in which you can find different spellings of the same word, heated debates among linguists over the spelling of individual words, a huge flow of literature that has not been reviewed by a competent proofreader, the clogging of speech with inappropriate slang words - this is the true reason for the flourishing of illiteracy. Linguistic norms exist not for their own sake, but, first of all, so that people understand each other, avoid ambiguity and, finally, preserve the national linguistic wealth.

How often in offices can you hear ringing instead of ringing, catalog instead of catalogue, etc. Moreover, more and more often interlocutors are beginning to think about the pronunciation of words in the plural: director or directors, accountant or accountants, agreements or agreements? All this is slowly but surely shaking the traditional literary norms of the Russian language and leading to a general decline in culture.

In modern Russian there are approximately 300 words in which the nominative plural is “fluctuating”, with variations. Moreover, the norm of stress in some words has changed over time, reflecting the development of the system of declensions of Russian nouns. So, for example, at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th century, directors were called directors, and professors were called professors. Over the past century, irreversible changes have occurred. Endings with -а (-я) began to reign in common speech and “professional” jargon, and forms with -ы (-и) turned out to be more neutral, more traditional for the literary language (editors, instructors, proofreaders). But do not forget that there are exceptions to all rules.

Directors, contracts, accountants - these are the norms that have become the ONLY POSSIBLE ones!

• The directors of large factories arrived, the directors gathered, we wrote a letter to the directors.
• Our company has concluded agreements.
• The accountants calculated the estimate, etc.

The spelling (ending and stress) of the words director, accountant, contract, etc. is subject to the rule “Endings of the nominative plural of masculine nouns -ы(-и) – -а(-я)”. This rule is quite complicated. If the ending -or/-er/-er is stressed, then it is often preserved in the plural form, i.e. gives -ers, -ors: contracts, drivers, gliders, engines, fences, engineers, gentlemen. In other cases, nouns, especially animate ones, with -or/-er in the plural have a strong tendency to shift the emphasis to the ending: doctor, cadet, boat, etc. But there are also a lot of opposite examples, in particular, accountants, coaches, etc. In addition, there are a number of factors that directly influence the spelling of one or another ending in a word. All this is described in detail (with numerous examples) in spelling reference books.

However, it will be difficult for an ordinary person (not a philologist) to form the plural form of the nominative case, guided by the points of the rules. Therefore, take my word for it - it’s better to just remember some words. Otherwise, you can easily “confuse” the desired rule. Better yet, at least occasionally, look into the dictionary.

A little humor

When memorizing, you can be guided by association rhymes:

• directorA – masterA
• contracts are thieves
• accountants - planners

Difficult plural forms of nouns

Among the forms of nouns, the formation of which may be associated with certain difficulties, include the plural forms of the nominative case ( directors or directors, valves or valve?) and the plural forms of the genitive case of some nouns ( five grams And five grams, five oranges or five orange?)

1. Plural forms of the nominative case of nouns: directors or directors?

The nominative plural form of nouns is checked in dictionary order (according to the dictionary). See section "Word Check" on our portal. Please note: searching for a word in dictionaries is carried out using the initial form (nominative case, singular)!

The dictionary entry is read as follows: if the entry does not specifically indicate the plural form (mark pl.), then to form the nominative plural, the ending is used -And or -s. If a different ending is required (or options are acceptable), then a mark is placed: pl. -A. For example:

In the modern Russian literary language, variants fluctuate in the form named after. p.m. hours, number over 300 words. The center of the spread of inflexion -and I) are the areas of vernacular and professional language. In this regard, the forms on -and I) often have a colloquial or professional connotation: contract, mechanic, turner. The forms are on -s(s) more neutral and for most words meet the traditional norms of the literary language. However, in some cases the forms on -and I) have already replaced forms with -s(s).

In addition, you can remember a number of patterns that make it easier to choose the inflection (ending) of the nominative plural:

Declined neuter nouns, the initial form of which ends in -KO, have an unstressed plural inflection. h. them. P. -And (faces, feathers, apples). The exception is nouns with stressed plural endings. h.: troops And clouds.

The remaining neuter nouns are in the plural form. h. accept the ending -and I): swamps, fields, seas, windows.

Form on -and I for some words it may be the only or predominant: side - sides (sides only in phraseological combination hands on hips); century - centuries (eyelids only in phraseological combinations for once, forever and ever, forever and ever), eye - eyes, meadow - meadows, fur - furs, snow - snow, haystack - haystacks, silk - silk.

Shapes can have different meanings: tones(about color) and tones(about sound) of bread(about cereals) and breads(about baked bread), workshops And workshops(at the enterprise) and workshops(medieval organizations of artisans).

Forms of nouns can differ in stylistic coloring: sides and outdated sides; Houses and outdated houses; stern and outdated stern; horns and outdated and poet. horns; varieties and outdated varieties; volumes and outdated then we, and thunder and poet. thunder; coffins and poet. coffin

Finally, the forms of nouns can be equivalent and interchangeable: of the year And years(But: years of youth, severe hardships; nineties, zero years), workshops And workshops(at the enterprise), storms And storms.

To resolve the issue of the status of a “controversial” form of a word (non-normative, variant, stylistically colored, etc.), in any case, you need to consult a dictionary.

Non-standard plurals are formed for words child - children, person - people, bottom - donya and some others.

2. Plural forms of the genitive case of nouns: five grams or five grams?

For most masculine nouns ending in a hard consonant ( orange, tomato, fly agaric, computer, sock), the ending is typical -s in the genitive plural form: oranges, tomatoes, fly agarics, computers, socks etc. A wide range of exceptions can be identified from this rule - similar nouns, but having a zero ending in the genitive plural form: one stocking - no stockings, one Ossetian - five Ossetians, one gram - five grams And five grams etc. Such words include:

Names of people by nationality and by belonging to military units, mainly used in the plural forms in the collective meaning: Magyars - Magyars, Turkmens - Turkmens, midshipmen - midshipmen and midshipmen, partisans - partisans, soldiers - soldiers; This also includes the form p. p.m. h. Human.

Names of paired items: boots - boots, eyes - eyes, cuffs - cuffs, shoulder straps - shoulder straps, stockings - stockings, epaulettes - epaulettes, boots - boots.

Names of measures and units of measurement: 220 volts, 1000 watts, 5 amps, 500 gigabytes. If such names are used outside the “measuring” context (in other words, the genitive case form is not countable), then the ending is used -s: live without excess kilograms, not enough gigabytes.

It should be noted that the names of fruits, fruits and vegetables, which are masculine nouns, ending in a hard consonant ( orange, eggplant, tomato, tangerine), in the genitive plural form. hours have an ending -s: five oranges, a kilogram of eggplants, New Year without tangerines, tomato salad.

For some nouns, plural forms are formed. h. birth n. difficult; these are words dream, prayer, head. On the contrary, the words shchetz And firewood have no other forms except the plural form. h. birth case.

See: "Russian Grammar", M., 1980.

Nominative plural endings for nouns

Setting the correct ending for masculine nominative plural nouns often causes difficulty. Selecting ending type (-ы/-и or -а/-я ) is determined by the following factors:

- number of syllables in a word and stress location

a) Monosyllabic words more often form forms in -and I : snow - snow, house - houses, forest - forests, variety - varieties .

b) Monosyllabic words can also have endings - s/-s : court - courts, soup - soups, knife - knives, cat - cats . Frequent speech errors are caused by the word cake . The plural of this word is cakes .

c) Two-syllable words with stress on the 1st syllable usually have an ending -and I : evening - evenings, passport - passports, voice - votes, bill - bills.

d) Polysyllabic words with emphasis on the 2nd, 3rd, etc. syllables usually form forms on -s/-s : pharmacist - pharmacists, librarian - librarians, computer - computers, engineer - engineers.

Please note that the emphasis in these singular and plural forms is kept in the same place.

Exceptions: cuff - cuffs, sleeve - sleeves .

- origin of the word and its structural elements

a) Words with elements -er/-er have an ending - s/-s : actor - actors, driver - drivers, director - directors, conductor - conductors, etc. These are words of French origin.

b) Words of Latin origin with the element - torus – inanimate (objects) have the ending -ы: reflectors, detectors, refrigerators, capacitors .

c) Words with -tor animate (persons) have an ending -s : authors, lecturers, rectors, designers and ending -A : doctor, director, professor .

- difference in the meaning of words

In some cases the end -s And -A serve to distinguish the meaning of a word:

images (artistic) – image (icons);
farewell (upon departure) – wires (electric);
flowers (plants) - colors (color);
omissions (oversights) – passes (documentation);
belts (geographical) – belts (clothes), etc.

There are normative variant forms (i.e. both forms are correct):

bunkers – bunkers
years - years
instructors - instructors
valves – valves (technical term)
tunics - tunics
spotlights – spotlights
sectors – sectors
workshops - workshops

The most frequently used words with both types of endings.

Forms on -i/-s

Forms on -and I

Genitive plural endings

When choosing an ending, you should be guided by the following rules:

Masculine

1. All names of paired items have a zero ending: shoe, boot, stocking, trousers, shoulder straps, scissors .

Exception: socks .

2. The names of nationalities are subject to the following rules:

a) words with a base on -n, -r have null endings: Englishmen, Armenians, Georgians, Lezgins, Ossetians, Romanians, Turkmens, Gypsies, Bashkirs, Bulgarians.

Exception: blacks .

b) words with stems starting from other letters have endings -s : Kirghiz, Kalmyks, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Mongols, Yakuts.

Exception: Turk, Buryat .

3. The names of military groups and former branches of the military require the following endings:

a) without numerals they have a zero ending: partisan, soldier, grenadier, midshipman, hussar, dragoon, lancer;

b) the previous types of troops with numerals have endings -s : 10 hussars, 5 midshipmen, 6 hussars, 7 lancers.

4. The names of units of measurement vary:

A) ampere, watt, gram, kilogram, x-ray, coulomb ;

b) amperes, watts, grams, kilograms, roentgens, coulombs .

5. The names of the "vegetables - fruits" group have endings -s : oranges, tangerines, bananas, tomatoes, eggplants.

Feminine

1. Nouns on -lya, -nya have a null ending: waffles, roofs, gossip, nannies, cherries, apple trees .

2. Some nouns have an ending -to her : candles, rakes, sheets .

There are also variant forms: The game is worth the candle , But: There are no candles in the house . However, the word candle is used here in literal and figurative (phraseological) meanings (indicate which).

3. Nouns ending in -ia -th : auditoriums, academies, conservatories.

Neuter gender

1. A number of names have a zero ending: apples, shoulders, saucers of towels, mirrors .

Pay attention to the shape of the shoulders ( Dress with and without shoulders!)

2. Forms on -th : coasts, outbacks, drugs .

3. There are also forms on -ev : mouths, swamps, upper reaches, lower reaches .

Nouns that are always used only in the plural (without gender) form the genitive case using different types of endings:

zero: twilight; days ;

-s : frost ;

-to her : everyday life, nursery, sleigh .