In Russian, when you use adjectives, they must match the nouns they describe in three important ways: gender, number, and case. This article will help you understand how adjectives change when talking about the noun "студент," which means "student," in the genitive case.

1. What are Gender, Number, and Case?

• Gender: "Студент" is a masculine word.

• Number: A noun can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). The singular form is "студент," and the plural form is "студенты."

• Case: The genitive case answers questions like "of whom?" or "of what?"

2. Changes in the Genitive Case:

In the genitive case, "студент" changes to:

• Singular: студента (meaning "of a student")
• Plural: студентов (meaning "of students")

3. Adjective Agreement in the Genitive Case:

When you use adjectives with "студент," they need to match in gender, number, and case. Here are the rules and examples to make it easier to understand.

a. Singular Form (Masculine):

For one male student, use these patterns:

• Hard-stem adjectives: If the adjective ends in a consonant, it usually changes to "-ого."
  • Example: хороший (good) → хорошего студента (meaning "of a good student")
• Soft-stem adjectives: If the adjective ends with a soft sound, it changes to "-его."
  • Example: умный (smart) → умного студента (meaning "of a smart student")

b. Plural Form:

For talking about several students, the adjective ends in "-ых" or "-их," depending on the stem:

• Hard-stem adjectives:

  • Example: хорошие (good) → хороших студентов (meaning "of good students")

• Soft-stem adjectives:

  • Example: умные (smart) → умных студентов (meaning "of smart students")

4. Some Easy Examples:

• Singular Forms:

  • Студент (student) → хорошего студента (of a good student)
  • Студент (student) → умного студента (of a smart student)

• Plural Forms:

  • Студенты (students) → хороших студентов (of good students)
  • Студенты (students) → умных студентов (of smart students)

5. Practice Exercises:

Try changing the following by putting the adjectives in the genitive case:

1. Студент (student) + умный (smart) → _________
2. Студенты (students) + новый (new) → _________
3. Студент (student) + талантливый (talented) → _________
4. Студенты (students) + интересный (interesting) → _________

By practicing how adjectives agree in the genitive case, you can get much better at describing things in Russian!