The primary use of the genitive case is to express the “of” idea:
Это карта Москвы. | This is a map of Moscow |
Это пакет молока. | This is a carton of milk. |
The genitive case is used to express possession. It corresponds to the 's in English. Notice that the possessor comes after the thing possessed:
Мы катались на машине Ивана. | We drove around in John's car. |
Где очки мамы? | Where are Mom's glasses? |
The genitive case is used to express relationships like mother, father, boss:
Это мама Ивана. | This is John's mom. |
Я работаю с сестрой Ларисы. | I work work with Larisa's sister. |
Вчера в кино я увидел босса брата. | Yesterday I saw my brother's boss at the movies. |
The genitive case is used after certain prepositions, including без, после, из, от, and с (in the sense of “from”):
Я пью чай без сахара. | I drink tea without sugar. |
После лекции я пойду домой. | After the lecture I will go home. |
Я иду из магазина. | I'm coming from the store. |
Она идёт с почты. | She is coming from the post-office. |
Мы идём от Тани. | We are coming from Tanya's place. |
The genitive case is used after the preposition у in the Russian construction that is equivalent to the English “have”.
У Ивана есть машина? | Does Ivan have a car? |
У Тани была ручка. | Tanya had a pen. |
У нас будет свободное время через неделю. | We will have free time in a week. |
The genitive case is used to indicate that a zero quantity of something:
В нашем доме нет иностранцев. | There are no foreigners in our apartment building. |
На письменном столе не было принтера. | There was no printer on the desk. |
Скоро не будет возможности ездить за границу. | Soon there won't be any opportunity to travel abroad. |
This negation of existence concept also applies in sentences where someone does NOT HAVE something:
У Тани нет братьев. | There are no foreigners in our apartment building. |
У меня вчера не было денег. | Yesterday I didn't have any money. |
В будущем не будет питевой воды около этого завода. | In the future there won't be any drinking water near this factory. |
The genitive case is used after most words and phrases that indicate quantity
After the numbers два/две, три and четыре the genitive singular of nouns is used:
В нашем доме два холодильника. | Our house has two refrigerators. |
На письменном столе было три принтера. | There were three printers on the desk. |
Завтра у них будет четыре гостя. | Tomorrow they will have four guests. |
If you put an adjective between the number and the noun, then the adjective goes in the genitive plural:
два больших холодильника | two large refrigerators. |
три новых принтера | three new printers |
четыре интересных гостя | four interesting guests |
These rules also apply for compound numbers whose spoken forms end in два/две, три and четыре:
двадцать два больших холодильника | twenty-two large refrigerators. |
семьдесят три новых принтера | seventy-three new printers |
девяносто четыре интересных гостя | ninety-four interesting guests |
The genitive singular rule does not apply to the numbers двенадцать, тринадцать or четырнадцать.
After the numbers five through twenty the genitive plural of nouns is used:
В нашем доме пять холодильников. | Our house has five refrigerators. |
На письменном столе было восемь принтеров. | There were eight printers on the desk. |
Завтра у них будет тринадцать гостей. | Tomorrow they will have thirteen guests. |
If you put an adjective between the number and the noun, then the adjective goes in the genitive plural:
пять больших холодильников | five large refrigerators |
восемь новых принтеров | eight new printers |
тринадцать интересных гостей | thirteen interesting guests |
These rules also apply to all other numbers that do not end in forms of один, два, три or четыре.
The genitive is used after these generic quantity words:
сколько | how much, how many |
столько | so much, so many |
много | much, many, a lot of |
мало | little, few, not much |
несколько | several |
немного | a little bit of |
Examples:
Сколько машин производит фабрика? | How many cars does the factory produce? |
Я там видел столько больших собак! | I saw so many big dogs there! |
У меня много денег. | I have a lot of money. |
У меня мало времени. | I have little time ≈ I don't have much time. |
Она взяла у меня несколько яиц. | She borrowed a few eggs from me. |
Хочу пить немного воды. | I want to drink a little water. |
Packages, cartons, and boxes of goods are followed by the genitive to indicate what they contain. Weights and measures are also followed by the genitive form of the goods they measure.
Я купил пачку сигарет. | I bought a package of cigarettes. |
Таня купила две коробки конфет. | Tanya bought two boxes of candy. |
Купи бутылку водки. | Buy a bottle of vodka |
Мне нужно три килограмма яблок. | I need three kilos of apples. |
Нам нужно пять литров бензина. | We need five liters of gasoline. |
The genitive case is used to express the date on which something happens. No preposition is used.
Мы были в Москве пятого числа. | We were in Moscow on the fifth. |
Где ты будешь тридцатого? | Where will you be on the thirtieth? |
If you also specify the month, then the month also goes into the genitive:
Мы были в Москве пятого января. | We were in Moscow on the fifth of January. |
Где ты будешь тридцатого июля? | Where will you be on the thirtieth of July? |
If you also specify the year, then the year also goes into the genitive:
Мы были в Москве пятого января тысяча девятьсот восемьдесят девятого года. | We were in Moscow on the fifth of January. |
Где ты будешь тридцатого июля две тысячи двадцать первого года? | Where will you be on July 30th, 2021? |