First declension nouns

Masculine stems in ж, ч, ш, щ

Russian stems that end in sibilants have slightly different endings depending on whether they are end stressed or stem stressed because they are subject to a spelling rule:

Spelling rule 2: After ж, ч, ш, щ, and ц— never write an unstressed о, instead use е.

One cannot tell if a noun is end stressed or stem stressed simply by looking at the nominative singular. The stress patterns have to be memorized on a case by case basis. When in doubt, assume the noun is stem stressed, which is true for the vast majority of nouns. Also bear in mind that spelling rule 1 applies to four of the sibilants as well, and that that all nouns whose nominative singular end in ж, ч, ш, or щ have genitive plural in ей. Many fonts do not display accents well, so for these pages to look their best, please download one of these fonts.

Stem stressed

	Inanimate		Animate
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	марш	ма́рши	за́вуч	за́вучи
Accusative	марш	ма́рши	за́вуча	за́вучей
Genitive	ма́рша	ма́ршей	за́вуча	за́вучей
Prepositional	ма́рше	ма́ршах	за́вуче	за́вучах
Dative	ма́ршу	ма́ршам	за́вучу	за́вучам
Instrumental	ма́ршем	ма́ршами	за́вучем	за́вучами
Other inanimate nouns that work like this: пейзаж, плач, финиш, овощ. Other animate nouns that work like this: страж, королевич, душ, товарищ.

End stressed

	Inanimate		Animate
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	гара́ж	гаражи́	врач	врачи́
Accusative	гара́ж	гаражи́	врача́	враче́й
Genitive	гаража́	гараже́й	врача́	враче́й
Prepositional	гараже́	гаража́х	враче́	врача́х
Dative	гаражу́	гаража́м	врачу́	врача́м
Instrumental	гаражо́м	гаража́ми	врачо́м	врача́ми
Other inanimate nouns that work like this: монтаж, меч, карандаш, плащ. Other animate nouns that work like this: морж, горбач, латыш, хрущ.

Masculine stems in ц

Stems that end in ц are subject to spelling rule 2, but not to spelling rule 1. Their genitive plurals end in ов when stressed and in ев when unstressed.

Stem stressed

	Inanimate		Animate
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ме́сяц	ме́сяцы	принц	при́нцы
Accusative	ме́сяц	ме́сяцы	при́нца	при́нцев
Genitive	ме́сяца	ме́сяцев	при́нца	при́нцев
Prepositional	ме́сяце	ме́сяцх	при́нце	при́нцах
Dative	ме́сяцу	ме́сяцм	при́нцу	при́нцам
Instrumental	ме́сяцем	ме́сяцами	при́нцем	при́нцами
Other inanimate nouns that work like this: абзац, блиц. Very few other animate nouns work like this; one is фриц. There are hundreds of nouns that follow these patterns but that also have the complication of a fleeting vowel in the stem.

End stressed

	Inanimate		Animate
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nominative	чисте́ц	чистецы́	жрец	жрецы́
Accusative	чисте́ц	чистецы́	жреца́	жрецо́в
Genitive	чистеца́	чистецо́в	жреца́	жрецо́в
Prepositional	чистеце́	чистеца́х	жреце́	жреца́х
Dative	чистецу́	чистеца́м	жрецу́	жреца́м
Instrumental	чистецо́м	чистеца́ми	жрецо́м	жреца́ми
There are only a few nouns that precisely follow these patterns in ц, but there are hundreds that follow this pattern with the additional complication of a fleeting vowel in the stem.