About the declension of names and surnames. Declension of foreign names and surnames

Surnames ending in -ov/ev, -in/yn, -skiy/skoy, -tskiy/tskoy make up the bulk of Russian surnames. Their declension usually does not raise questions and occurs with the addition of endings according to the following rules:

Table 1. Surnames starting with -ov/-ova
Case	Case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
			Ivanova	Ivanovs
			Ivanova	Ivanov
				Ivanovs
		Ivanov	Ivanova	Ivanov
		about Ivanov	about Ivanova	about the Ivanovs

Table 2. Surnames in -skiy/-skaya
Case	Case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrskiye
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrskikh
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrskikh
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		about Akhtyrsky	about Akhtyrskaya	about the Akhtyrskys

2. Surnames consonant with adjectives are declined in accordance with the declension of adjectives in the masculine and feminine gender and in the plural: Likhoy, Tolstaya, Bely, Velikiy.

Table 3. Surnames consonant with adjectives
Case	Case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
	Who? which one?
	whom? which one?
	to whom? which one?
	whom? which one?
	by whom? which one?
	about whom? about which one?

3. Surnames consonant with nouns are declined according to gender; grammatical gender does not affect the declination. Including foreign languages ​​without stress on the last syllable. Examples of surnames: Melnik, Guitar, Bull, Vorona, Chernous, Shcherba, Kafka. Masculine surnames (Melnik, Trus) are declined for men according to the rule of declension of masculine nouns, but for women they are not declined in the plural. Feminine surnames (Gitara, Friday) for men and women are declined according to the rules of declension of feminine nouns; in the plural, the surname has the form of the nominative case in men and is not declined according to cases.

Table 5. Surnames consonant with feminine nouns
Case	Case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural

Note 1. It is worth clarifying the emphasis in surnames ending in -a, since the ending of the instrumental case depends on this. Compare: Left-handed - Left-handed, Left-handed - Left-handed. Note 2. French surnames with the accent ending -a, -ya are not declined: Emile Zola, Pierre Broca, about Alexandre Dumas.

Surnames that coincide with nouns with a fluent vowel are also declined with the loss of the vowel. Examples: Hare - Hare, Forehead - Forehead, Leo - Leo. However, family traditions may dictate an exception; the vowel is not dropped. For example: Lapot - Lapotya (instead of Laptya).

Russian surnames ending in -o, Ukrainian surnames ending in -ko, as well as foreign surnames ending in -o, -e, -i, -u, -yu are not declined. Examples: Swamp, Gold, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Zhivago, Dali, Ordzhonikidze, Gandhi.

Surnames formed from the genitive case of a personal name, nickname or family are not declined . Their genus is not determined. They end in -vo, -i/s. Examples: Khitrovo, Sedykh, Malykh.

7. In double surnames, each part is declined by case separately in accordance with the rules described above.

P.1. Foreign names and surnames naming male persons ending in a consonant and an unstressed vowel are declined - A.

Foreign-language female surnames are not declined.

Ashot Petrosyan – opinion of Ashot Petrosyan ( But: Galina Petrosyan); George Byron - poems by George Byron(But: Ada Byron); Anatoly Belaga – textbook Anatoly Belaga.

Foreign-language surnames ending in vowels are not declined (except for the unstressed vowel - A; Eugene Delacroix– drawings by Eugene Delacroix, Alphonse Daudet – novel by Alphonse Daudet, Giuseppe Verdi – music by Giuseppe Verdi, Jorge Amadou – the talent of Jorge Amadou, Sergo Zakariadze – the role of Sergo Zakariadze.

Notes Declension of male surnames ending in a consonant or unstressed vowel -A, is explained by the analogy of these foreign-language surnames with Russian surnames ending in a consonant (Smirnov, Sinitsyn), as well as in an unstressed vowel - A(Smirnova, Sinitsyna).

The invariability of surnames in the feminine gender is explained by the tendency to differentiate between male and female persons when calling them by their surname.

Nevertheless, there is a tendency to decline foreign-language female names and surnames ending in an unstressed vowel -A: Mariette Chikobava – the role of Mariet Chikobava and the role of Mariet Chikobava. Songs of Edita Piekha.

P.2. Foreign language inflected surnames and given names in the instrumental case have the ending - ohm, -eat. Meeting with President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Friendship between Ogarev and Herzen.

P.3. Mostly Slavic surnames bow down.

Leaning male and female surnames ending in -th(by type of declension of adjectives): Met Vasily Zadorozhny – Anna Zadorozhnaya; opinion Alexandra Pshenichny – Lyudmila Pshenichnaya.

Leaning male surnames ending in a consonant: Andrey Marchuk – knows Andrey Marchuk(But: I know Alena Marchuk).

Leaning male and female surnames ending in an unstressed vowel -A. Composer Mayboroda – music by Mayboroda, figure skater Padalka – Padalka’s performance. Vasily Yarga, Olga Yarga - a story by Vasily Yarga, Olga Yarga.

Don't bow Slavic surnames ending in

-ago, -ago (Dr. Dubyago's opinion);

-y, -them (letter from Peter Sedykh);

-ko, -o (poems by Taras Shevchenko, works of professor Nikolai Durnov).

P.4. Problems of declension/non-declension of Slavic surnames arise when Slavic (and some foreign language) surnames coincide with common nouns ( Andrey Selezen, Alla Music, Stanislav Uchenik, Andre Stahl).

Note. Linguistic experts point out the need for such surnames incline. In particular, in the Handbook of Practical Stylistics of the Modern Russian Language, Doctor of Philology, Professor of Moscow State University Yu.A. Belchikov points out: “ Indeclination male surnames like Sheremet, Hare, Wolfconsidered an error, violation of the norm." And further: “Surnames that coincide in spelling with common nouns, as well as with personal names and toponyms, are perceived as a deviation from the norm that has developed in the Russian language and in the linguistic consciousness of its speakers. In accordance with this norm, in order to avoid unwanted homonymy and inappropriate associations, the surname, if possible, should be somehow different from words denoting specific objects, body parts, abstract concepts, living beings, a person’s profession, position, rank, social status, etc. .p., as well as from personal names (both passport and unofficial, e.g. Pavlik, Lyubochka). The bearers of such surnames – as required by the norm – strive to separate them from homonymous common nouns and proper names by formal features.”

change the emphasis in the surname. Alexey Berlin - the city of Berlin, Irina Verba - blooming pussy willow;

when declension of surnames, leave the letter composition unchanged (in cases where letters are dropped when declension of a common noun). Pyotr Koren is a root, if there is no Peter Koren, there is no root.

Note.“When declining surnames of the named types in order to reduce the possibility of inappropriate associations and unwanted homonymy, a noun or phrase with nouns is placed before the surname as the main word denoting the position, rank, profession, social status of the bearer of this surname. Book by writer Peter Sokol. Interview with the laureate of the singing competition Boris Pavlik, visiting the composer Andrei Melnik” (Cit. Recommendation by Yu.A. Belchikov);

“In documents, business papers, in information genres of the media (especially in news materials, in newsreels), in general in official situations in order to preserve for accuracy of information the original (passport) form of the surname of a given person (in the nominative singular case) male surnames of the type in question don't bow. In such situations and contexts, it is recommended to use before the surname the designation of the official, social status of the bearer of this surname and / or his first name and patronymic. In connection with the anniversary of the Institute of Linguistics, award a certificate of honor to the head of the laboratory of applied linguistics, Professor A.V. Marshal. A group of French scientists led by academician Albert Cote took part in the conference. Roberta Sherif's dissertation defense. Discussion of the story by Stefan Korzh." (Quoted by Yu.A. Belchikov);

Surnames that can cause ridicule, and therefore disrespect for the bearers of these surnames, for ethical reasons or in accordance with the family traditions of bearers of a problematic surname, may don't bow down. I don’t hear Seryozha Poganets answer. Misha Sliznyak was not in class today.

P.5. Female surnames of Slavic origin that coincide with common nouns do not decline with a consonant (including -y). T Irina Rekemchuk's phone, the role of Elena Solovey, Alla Zaigray's address.

P.6. Double first and last names. In double names and surnames, both parts are declined if they are independent proper nouns. Novels by Mamin-Sibiryak, fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, books by Pierre-Henri Simon. If the first part of the first or last name is not perceived as an independent proper name, then it is not declined. Meeting with Bonch-Bruevich. Laugh at Gogol's mayor Skvoznik-Dmukhanovsky.

Note. In Korean and Vietnamese compound names and surnames, only the last part is declined. Kim Il Sung – speech by Kim Il Sung. Also, the first part of double names like Ahmad Shah, Zakir Khan. Negotiations with Ahmad Shah Masud, come to Zahir_Khan Mamedov.

P.7. Surnames denoting several persons.

If non-Russian surnames refer to two or more persons, it is possible to use the surname in the singular and in the plural.

Plural form only with words father And son: father and son Schlegel.

Only singular form with word sisters: Fisher sisters.

In other cases, both singular and plural variants are used. Prize of the Goncourt and Goncourt brothers. Reception of the Nixon and Nixon spouses. Album with the coats of arms of Friesengoff and Friesengoff.

Note.Preference is given singular forms and the invariability of surnames denoting female persons, including in combination with male persons. Spouses Mariengof, Husband and wife Rosenberg. Father and daughter Ulrich.

P.8. When declension in the form of the instrumental case singular, foreign-language names and surnames have the ending - oh, -eat: Be friends with Karel Gott, with Bill Clinton, with George Bush.

(Compare with Russian surnames: Be friends with Ivanov, Pavlov).

Instructions

All Russian surnames containing -ov- (-ev-), -in-, -sk- (Belov, Ignatieva, Baturin, Glinskaya) are declined. In the plural, the forms of female and male surnames coincide (Belovs, Glinskys). Surnames ending in -ой, -й, -й (Lanovoy, Dikiy, Zapashny) are declined in the same way as adjectives.

The rest, ending in consonants or the letters “ь”, “й” (except for surnames with -ы, -ы), have the instrumental ending -ом, (-м): Gaidar, Babel. In this case, women's surnames are not declined: with Anna Kern, for Marina Golub. In the plural, surnames of this type are also declined as masculine: visited the Herzens.

Russian surnames ending in -y, -i (Belykh, Dolgikh) are not declined.

When declension of surnames ending in -a, it matters which letter (vowel or consonant) comes before this -a, as well as whether the final -a is stressed. If in a surname there is a vowel before the final -a, such a surname is not declined (Maurois).

Surnames ending in unstressed -a after consonants are declined according to the first declension: Kafka (Kafka's novel), Okudzhava (Okudzhava's song).

If the final -а (or -я) is stressed, such surnames may or may not be declined depending on the . Surnames of French origin are not declined (Dumas, Petipa, Zola). Surnames of other origins (Slavic, from eastern languages) are declined according to the first declension, that is, the stressed ending -a is isolated in them: Kvasha - Kvashi, Kvashe, Kvasha, Kvashoy (here Golovnya, Shengelaya, Beria, etc.).

If the surname is compound, and the first part of the surname is not in itself as a surname (Demut-Malinovsky), then only the second part of the surname is declined (sculpture of Demut-Malinovsky). If the first part of the surname is itself a surname, in this case both parts are declined (Lebedeva-Kumacha).

Helpful advice

There are a number of surnames, the declination of which causes difficulties and is not regulated by general rules. To resolve such difficulties, a dictionary of surnames is needed, giving normative recommendations for each specific word.

Sources:

• Declension of surnames. Reference and information portal GRAMOTA.RU
• Declension of masculine surnames
• Declension of proper names

The Russian language has its own peculiarities of declension of surnames and personal names, which are so difficult for foreigners learning our language. However, sometimes these questions cause difficulties even for those for whom Russian is their native language. One of these questions is how to persuade - diy in Russian, we will now consider.

Instructions

According to the rules, and having the ending - diy, incline towards . Women's surnames don't bow, but men's surnames, in the nominative case ending in -y, are declined in the same way as nouns with a second masculine gender. By ear they are often perceived as foreign.

Women's surnames with this ending they are declined neither singular nor plural. For example: Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, Svetlana Kon diy, about Svetlana Kon diy. Likewise, and in the plural: the Cohn sisters diy, Kon sisters diy, to the Kon sisters diy, Kon sisters diy, by the Kon sisters diy, about the Cohn sisters diy.

Men's surnames on - diy are declined in both singular and plural. Singular: Evgeniy Kon diy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, Evgeniy Kondiy, about Evgeniy Kondiy. In the plural: the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, the Kondi brothers, about the Kondi brothers.

Accordingly, in order to write such a surname, we must have information about the gender of this . The absence of such information can put the writer in a difficult situation. Accordingly, in which the surname ending in – is indicated diy, carries information about the field.

There is one more, rather syntactic, nuance. When mentioning male and gender with a surname - diy, she doesn't bow either. For example: Victor and Elena Kan diy, Victor and Elena Kan diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, Victor and Elena Kon diy, about Victor and Elena Kon diy.

Sources:

• N. A. Eskova. Difficulties in inflecting nouns. Educational and methodological materials for practical classes in the course “Language of Modern Printing”. State Press Committee of the USSR. All-Union Institute for Advanced Training of Print Workers. M., 1990.

Declension of adjectives is carried out by cases, gender and numbers. There are also indeclinable adjectives in the Russian language, but they are a minority.

Instructions

There are two types of declension: adjective and mixed. Most adjectives are declined according to the first type. The adjective declension is divided into the declension of adjectives with the ending –ой and adjectives with the endings –й and –й.

The declension of adjectives ending in –ой is also divided into subtypes based on the final sound of the stem. This sound can be velar, hard hissing or paired.

The declension of adjectives with endings –й and –й has more varieties according to the final sound of the stem. The ending can appear after iota, after ts, after hard sibilants, after velar, after soft paired consonants, after hard paired consonants.

The mixed type of declension is divided into the first pronominal, second pronominal and possessive. Possessive adjectives with bases ending in –iy and –in, as well as the countable adjective third, are inflected according to the first pronominal. All other possessive adjectives are inflected according to the possessive subtype.

The declension of adjectives with a stem to a paired-hard consonant occurs as follows. In the masculine gender and singular, the case endings are as follows: -й/-ой in the nominative and accusative, -ого in the genitive, -ом in the dative, -ом in the instrumental, -ом in the prepositional. In the neuter gender and singular the endings are similar, except for the ending –о in the nominative and accusative cases.

In the feminine gender and singular the endings are as follows: -aya in the nominative, -ой in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -о/-оу in the instrumental, -ой in the prepositional. The plural of adjectives with a base on a paired hard consonant is declined as follows: -y in the nominative and accusative, -y in the genitive and prepositional, -y in the dative, -y in the instrumental.

Based on a soft-paired consonant, the masculine gender in the singular has the following endings: -й in the nominative and accusative, -ee in the genitive, -im in the dative and accusative, -im in the instrumental, -em in the prepositional. The singular number is neuter: -ee in the nominative and accusative, -ee in the genitive, -im in the dative, -im in the instrumental, -em in the preposition. Feminine singular: -yaya in the nominative, -ey in the genitive and dative, -yuyu in the accusative, -ey/-ey in the instrumental, -ey in the prepositional.

The plural of this variety of adjectives is declined as follows: -ie in the nominative and accusative, -i in the genitive and prepositional, -im in the dative and instrumental.

Adjectives with a sibilant stem in the masculine gender and singular change by case as follows: -й/-ой in the nominative, -его in the genitive, -ем in the dative, -й/-ой and –и/-ой in the accusative, - im in the instrumental, -em in the prepositional. In the neuter singular: -ee/-oe in the nominative and accusative, -ogo in the genitive, -om in the dative, -im in the instrumental, -om in the accusative. Feminine singular: -aya in the nominative, -е/-оь in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -е/-ей and –ой/-ою in the instrumental, -е/-оь in the prepositional.

Adjectives with a sibilant stem in the plural are declined according to the following scheme: -ie in the nominative, -ikh in the genitive and prepositional, -im in the dative, -ie/-ikh in the accusative, -imi in the instrumental.

If an adjective has a stem with the sound g/k/x, in the masculine gender and singular it has the following endings. In the nominative case –й/-ой, in the genitive –ого, in the dative–ом, in the accusative –й/-ом/-ом, in the instrumental –im, in the prepositional –ом. In the neuter singular: -oe in the nominative and accusative, the rest as in the masculine gender.

Feminine singular: -aya in the nominative, -ой in the genitive and dative, -уу in the accusative, -о/-оу in the instrumental, -оу in the prepositional. Plural: -ie in the nominative, -ikh in the genitive and instrumental, -im in the dative, -ie/-ikh in the accusative, -imi in the instrumental.

Video on the topic

Sources:

• Declension of adjectives in Russian
• Declension of adjectives

Citizens of Veliky Novgorod and its subordinate lands acquired surnames and nicknames. Chronicle evidence draws our attention to this fact, telling about the Battle of the Neva in 1240.

Later, in the 14th – 15th centuries, princes began to acquire family names. Called by the name of the inheritance they owned, having lost it, the princes began to reserve its name for themselves and their descendants as a family name. This is how the Vyazemsky (Vyazma), Shuisky (Shuya) and other noble families appeared. At the same time, they began to take hold, originating from the nicknames: Lykovs, Gagarins, Gorbatovs.

Boyar and then noble families, due to their lack of inheritance status, were formed largely from nicknames. The formation of a surname on behalf of the ancestor has also become widespread. A striking example of the family that reigned in Russia is the Romanovs.

Romanovs

The ancestors of this ancient boyar family were ancestors who at different times bore the nicknames: Mare, Koshka Kobylin, Koshkins. The son of Zakhary Ivanovich Koshkin, Yuri Zakharovich, was already called by his father and by his nickname - Zakharyin-Koshkin. In turn, his son, Roman Yuryevich, bore the surname Zakharyev-Yuryev. The Zakharyins were also the children of Roman Yuryevich, but with their grandchildren (Fyodor Nikitich - Patriarch Filaret), the family continued under the name of the Romanovs. With the surname Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich was chosen to the royal throne.

Last name as personal identification

The establishment of passports by Peter I in 1719 for the convenience of collecting poll taxes and carrying out recruitment gave rise to the spread of surnames for men of all classes, including peasants. At first, along with the name, a patronymic and/or nickname was written in, which then became the owner’s surname.

Formation of Russian surnames into –ov/-ev, -in

The most common Russian surnames are derived from personal names. As a rule, this is the name of the father, but more often the grandfather. That is, the surname was fixed in the third generation. At the same time, the personal name of the ancestor became a possessive adjective, formed from the name using the suffixes –ov/-ev, -in and answering the question “whose?”
“Whose Ivan? - Petrov."

In the same way, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Russian officials formed and recorded the surnames of the inhabitants of the Russian Transcaucasus and Central Asia.

Often, secretaries and clerks, when drawing up protocols, are faced with the manager’s requirement not to decline the surnames being declined. We will tell you in the article which surnames actually do not decline.

From the article you will learn:

What are some misconceptions about the declination of surnames?

Most Russian speakers are completely unaware of the laws of declension of given names and surnames. Despite the fact that there are a large number of reference books and manuals on this topic, the issue of declension of surnames remains complex and controversial.

In many ways, the solution to this issue is hampered by misconceptions regarding the rules of declension of surnames, which are widespread among Russian speakers. Let's look at some of them.

There is a widespread misconception that the declension of a surname depends on its linguistic origin. This leads to the incorrect conclusion that, for example, all Georgian, Polish or Armenian surnames are not declined.

Another misconception is that the declination of a surname depends on the gender of its bearer.

If the surname coincides with a common noun (Volya, Svoboda, Zhuk), then it is not declined.

However, probably the most common misconception is that there are so many rules for declension that there is simply no point in memorizing them.

In order to refute these misconceptions, let's consider the basic rules for changing surnames by case. We have formulated them in the form of step-by-step instructions, with which you can quickly conclude whether the surname changes by case or not.

How to determine whether a surname is declining: step-by-step instructions

A. If the surname ends in -ov, -in, but is foreign (For example, Chaplin or Darwin), then it will change according to cases as a noun of the second declension (for example, table) - Chaplin, Darwin.

B. Women's surnames in -ina (Smorodina, Zhemchuzhina) change depending on how the male version of the same surname changes. If the male version sounds like Smorodin or Zhemchuzhin, then the female surname in the instrumental case will sound like Smorodina or Zhemchuzhina, and if the male version coincides with the female surname - Zhemchuzhina or Smorodina, then the female surname will be declined as a common noun - Zhemchuzhina or Smorodina.

Step #2.

Non-standard surname

The main rule that should be followed is that the type of declension is primarily influenced by what sound - vowel or consonant - the surname ends with. Let us note once again that neither the gender of the bearer nor the origin influences the inclination or indeclinability of a surname.

Step #3.

Groups of indeclinable surnames

All Russian surnames ending in -y, -ikh (Sukhikh, Belykh), as well as surnames that end in vowels e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, are not subject to change by case.

For example, the performance of Loye, Gramigna, Ceausescu, Lykhny, Maigret and Liu.

Note. In everyday speech and in the language of literature, where it is depicted Speaking, sometimes you can find the declination of male surnames into -y or -i. For example, Chernykh's report. Sometimes you can find the declination of Ukrainian surnames to - ko - Chernenka or Shevchenka. The latter option for changing surnames was common in the 19th century, but at present both the first and second options are undesirable.

Step #4.

If the surname ends with a consonant sound (except for cases with -i and -ih), then whether it will be declined or not depends on the gender of its owner.

Men's surnames will be inclined to a consonant sound, but women's surnames will not. It is important to note that the linguistic origin of the surname is not decisive in this case.

If the surname ends in a consonant (except for surnames ending in -y, -i, which were mentioned above), then here - and only here! - the gender of the bearer of the surname matters. All male surnames ending in a consonant are declined - this is the law of Russian grammar. All female surnames ending in a consonant are not declined. In this case, the linguistic origin of the surname does not matter. Male surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.

For example, reports by Krug, Shock, Semenyuk, Martirosyan (for male surnames) and reports by Krug, Shock, Semenyuk and Martirosyan (for female surnames).

Note 1. There are male surnames of East Slavic origin that can be inclined in two ways. We are talking about surnames that, when changed, have a fluent vowel - Zhuravl - Zhuravel or Zhuravlem. Most reference books recommend preserving the fluent vowel (Zhuravel) when declining, since from a legal point of view it is important to preserve the integrity of the surname. However, the owner of the surname may insist on the option he has chosen. The main thing in this case is to adhere to the uniformity of changing the surname by case in all legal documents.

Note 2. Last names starting with -th (Shahrai) deserve special mention. Here we are also faced with the possibility of double changing the surname. If the surname is perceived as an adjective, for example, Topchiy, then it changes as Topchego, Topchyu, etc. If the surname is perceived as a noun, it changes as Topchiya, Topchiyu. Such complex cases concern only those surnames in which the consonant “th” is preceded by the vowels “o” or “i”. In all other cases, the surname changes according to the general rules (Shahrayu, Shakhraya, etc.)

Step #5.

If a surname ends in a vowel -я, preceded by another vowel (for example: Shengelaya, Lomaya, Reya, Beria, Danelia), it is declined.

Examples: Inna Shengelaya’s notebook, diploma issued to Nikolai Lomaya, meeting with Anna Reya; crimes of Lavrentiy Beria, meeting with Georgy Danelia.

Step #6.

If a surname ends in the vowel -a, preceded by another vowel (eg: Galois, Maurois, Delacroix, Moravia, Eria, Heredia, Gulia), it is not declined.

Examples: Nikolai Galois’s notebook, diploma given to Irina Eria, meeting with Igor Gulia.

A. French surnames with an emphasis on the last syllable do not decline: the books of Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Anna Gavalda, the aphorisms of Jacques Derrida, the goals of Diarra and Drogba.

B. Mostly Finnish surnames ending in -a are unstressed: meeting with Mauno Pekkala (although a number of sources recommend declining them too).

All other surnames (Slavic, Eastern and others; ending in stressed and unstressed -a, -ya) are declined. Contrary to popular belief, surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.

Examples: Irina Groza’s notebook, a diploma issued to Nikolai Mukha, a lecture by Elena Kara-Murza, songs by Bulat Okudzhava, roles by Igor Kvasha, films by Akira Kurosawa.

Note. There used to be fluctuations in the declension of Japanese surnames, but reference books note that such surnames have recently been consistently declined.

Why is it important to follow the rules for declension of surnames?

The need to follow the rules for declension of surnames is determined not only by decency, but by the fact that failure to comply with these rules can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings.

For example, consider this situation. You have received a letter signed as follows: “letter from Vasily Groz.” Following the laws of Russian grammar, you will most likely assume that a man's surname, which in the genitive case has the ending -a, will have a zero ending in the nominative case and conclude that the author of the letter is Vasily Groz. Such a misunderstanding would not have arisen if the letter had been signed correctly - “letter from Vasily Groza.”

Another example. You have been given an article by A. Pogrebnyak. It is natural to assume that the author of the article is a woman. If it later turns out that the author is a man, Anatoly Pogrebnyak, this may lead to misunderstanding.

Results

1. The declension of any surname is determined by the rules of the modern Russian language.
2. The declension of a surname depends on what sound - vowel or consonant - it ends with.
3. The rule “men's surnames change according to cases, but women's surnames do not” applies only to surnames ending in a consonant.
4. If the surname coincides with a common noun (Nora, Bear or Hare), then this is not an obstacle to its declension.

In the Russian language, the declension of any words occurs according to cases, the same rule applies to the declension of surnames. We all studied the rules for declension of words back in school, but declension of our middle name or the name of a neighbor always interested us; we didn’t want to make a mistake when filling out documents, questionnaires, or just look funny. To do this, we need to remember that declension always occurs according to cases that have long been familiar to us.

• nominative- Who? Simakova;
• genitive- whom? Simakova;
• dative- to whom? Simakova;
• accusative- whom? Simakov;
• instrumental- By whom? Simakova;
• prepositional- about whom? about Simakova.

It is imperative to take into account the form of the number, singular or plural.

In the Russian language there are additional cases - locative, vocative, initial, quantitative and separative.

Surnames are divided into female and male. There is no neuter gender, because there are an insignificant number of nouns that have a neuter gender, for example: animal, monster, face. They are gender inflected nouns, they can be Russian and foreign.

Common endings for Russian surnames:

• -ov - -ev;
• -sky - -sky;
• -yn - -in;
• -tskoy - -tsky.

Without the presence of a suffix, they are declined in the same way as any adjectives: Vesyoly - Vesyoly, Svetlov - Svetlov, Zeleny - Zeleny.

People like Glinskikh and Sladkikh are invincible and are considered frozen form, this rule applies to foreign surnames ending in -ee and -ikh: Freundlich, Kiyashkikh. Surname with the ending -yago - -ago: Zhiryago, Dubrago.

Declension rules

This should be remembered:

1. Atypical Russians, just like foreign ones, must be declined as a noun, and typical ones as an adjective.
2. Feminine surnames with a zero ending -й, -ь or ending with a consonant sound - do not decline! Fisherman, Blacksmith, Valdai. For example: Call Marina Melnik! Anastasia Bartol is not at home!
3. If the surname has the ending -a - -ya, it is not declined in Russian (Kantaria, Kuvalda), neither masculine nor feminine, which cannot be said about Ukrainian and other Slavic languages, it is declined there: Gunko - Gunku, Matyushenko - Matyushenko, Petrenko - Petrenka.
4. Foreign variants with a vowel ending (except -a) are not declined. Jean Reno, Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Alexander Rowe.

Masculine endings in –a change: Beygora - Beygore, Beygoroy; Mayvoda - Mayvode, Mayvodoy; Crow - Crow, Crow, Crow; Varava - Varavoy, Varava; Guitar - Guitar, Guitar, Guitar.

Foreign surnames that came to us ending in -ov, -in, in the instrumental case will have the ending -om, like any nouns: Kron - Kron, Chapkin - Chapkin.

Pseudonyms are inclined in the same way: Dryn - the song was sung by Dryn.

How to decline feminine

Feminine ones ending in –ina: Zhuravlina, Yagodina. Tatyana Zhuravlina, Oksana Yagodina. If initially the surname Zhuravlina is male, then it will be correct: Tatyana Zhuravlina, Oksana Yagodina.

It is important to remember that the declension does not always depend on the gender of its bearer; the main thing that matters is the ending - a consonant or a vowel.

There are several groups that not subject to inclination, those end in -y, -i, -i, as well as -e, -u, -o, -e, -yu, -y. Example: performed by Lyanka Gryu, Mireille Mathieu, Bruce Lee, Hercule Poirot.

The gender of the bearer of the surname is significant only if it ends in -ih, -yh: Mnich - for Mnich, Belykh - for Belykh. Any masculine, if it ends in a consonant, is inclined, this is the rule of Russian grammar. Feminine ending in consonant, will never bow down! And it doesn't matter what origin your middle name comes from. The masculine ones that coincide with common nouns will be inclined, for example: poems by Alexander Blok, songs by Mikhail Krug, trophies by Sergei Korol.

Some women's Armenian surnames are unbreakable: prepared by Rimma Ameryan, belongs to Karina Davlatyan.

It is noteworthy that masculine ones, having East Slavic roots and a fluent vowel, can be inclined in two ways - without loss or with loss of the vowel sound: Roman Zayets or Roman Zayats - either way will be correct, and you can choose how the second name will sound only to its owner. But it is advised to stick to one type of declination when receiving all documents in order to avoid confusion.

There is one more feature that you need to know for options that end in -iy, less often -oi. Here there is also a variant of declension in two ways: if the ending is -iy oh, then declension is like an adjective: masculine - Ivan Likhoy, in Ivan Likhoy; female - Inna Likhaya, to Inna Likhaya. Or it can be considered as a zero ending, then it will turn out: Ivan Likhoy, from Ivan Likhoy; Inna Likhoy, to Inna Likhoy.

If the ending is -ey, -ai, then it is inclined according to the general rules: Ivan Shakhrai; Maria Shakhrai.

If the surname ends with two vowels, the last of which is -я, it is declined, for example: David Bakaria, Georgy Zhvania. It will turn out: to David Bakaria, with Georgy Zhvania.

When the surname has an ending of two vowels with the last -a: Maurois, Delacroix, it does not decline! Fidel Maurois, Fidel Maurois, Irina Delacroix, Irina Delacroix.

If the ending has a consonant and -a, -ya, then in these cases the place of stress and origin matters. There are only 2 exceptions:

• You cannot inflect French surnames with the emphasis on the last syllable: Zola, Dumas.
• most often the middle names of Finns are not inclined: Dekkala, Paikalla, lunch with Rauno Dekkala, I’ll go to Renata Paikalla.

Other surnames that end in -a and -ya, regardless of whether they are stressed or unstressed, are inclined! Despite the general misconception, those who coincide with the common noun are inclined, for example: Tatyana Loza’s pen, give the notebook to Nikolai Shlyapa, read Bulat Okudzhava’s poems.

It is noteworthy that previously unyielding Japanese surnames nowadays tend to decline, for example: I became engrossed in the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa and the films of Akira Kurosawa.

These are, in principle, all the basic rules, and as we can see, there are not so many of them. We can argue with the listed misconceptions associated with the myth of surname declination, so:

• there is no basic rule that indeclinable surnames are all Polish, Georgian, Armenian and others; declension is subject to the rules of Russian grammar and is subject to inflection;
• the old rule that all males bow, but females do not, does not apply to everyone, but to those who have a consonant at the end;
• the fact that this word coincides with a common noun cannot be an obstacle to declension.

Do not forget that this is just a word that is subject to the laws of grammar, like all other words. For example: passport issued to Muka Ivan, instead of the correct torment to Ivan, and the wounded experienced torment, instead of torment. Both there and there are grammatical errors.

It is also important to follow the rules of declension because the opposite can lead to incidents and misunderstandings.

For example: photo by Peter Loz. Everyone who went to school knows that a man's surname in the genitive case ending in -a will remain with a zero ending when moving to the nominative case, and any literate person will conclude that the author of the photo is Peter Loz. The work submitted for inspection by A. Prisyazhnyuk will look for his owner: Anastasia or Anna. And Anatoly will have to prove that he decided and wrote it.

Important to remember

There is a truth that needs to be learned by heart!

• The declension of all surnames in the Russian language is subject to the laws of grammar.
• You need to decline, starting first of all from what sound is at the end: a consonant or a vowel.
• The rule that only male surnames are declined, and female surnames are not, does not apply to everyone, but only to those ending in a consonant.
• They are not an obstacle to declension of variants similar to a common noun.