IRREGULAR PLURALS
Discover patterns behind most irregular plural forms in Russian to refine your grammatical skills.
In this lesson:
- Learn the most common irregular plural forms and patterns in Russian.
- Learn irregular plurals for some essential people, family members, and neuter nouns.
Step 1 of 7: Irregular plurals
Irregular plurals
As you might already know, Russian language has lots of exceptions!And there are quite a few irregularities when it comes to forming the plural of nouns.
It would be impossible to cover all of them in one lesson, so today we're going to focus on some of the most common irregular plurals that you're very likely to encounter as you continue learning Russian.
Some of these forms are quite predictable once you recognise the pattern. And others you'll simply have to learn!
The Most Irregular of All!
Some of the most common nouns in Russian have completely different forms in the plural.
челове́к → лю́ди
person → people
ребёнок → де́ти
child → children
You MUST memorise these! And because they are extremely common, you'll have plenty of opportunities to practise them!
Masculine Exceptions
A ending
Some masculine nouns that normally form their plural with -Ы or -И instead take -А
The -А is often stressed, which makes these forms quite easy to recognise once you've heard them a few times.
Here are some common examples:
дом → дома́
го́род → города́
о́стров → острова́
лес → леса́
по́езд → поезда́
па́спорт → паспорта́
глаз → глаза́
профе́ссор → профессора́
ма́стер → мастера́
по́вар → повара́
Another very common one is:
учи́тель → учителя́ (teacher → teachers)
These nouns don't follow the regular plural pattern, so they're worth learning individually.
-ОК → -КИ
Another useful pattern is found in many masculine nouns ending in -ОК.
The -ОК changes to -КИ.
носо́к → носки́
напи́ток → напи́тки
за́мок → за́мки (castle → castles)
замо́к → замки́ (lock → locks)
пода́рок → пода́рки
кусо́к → куски́
ры́нок → ры́нки
Notice that the -О disappears and the К remains:
-ЕЦ → -ЦЫ
Masculine nouns ending in -ЕЦ form their plural by changing -ЕЦ to -ЦЫ.
For example:
оте́ц → отцы́
огуре́ц → огурцы́
коне́ц → концы́
иностра́нец → иностра́нцы
америка́нец → америка́нцы
ме́сяц → ме́сяцы
You'll notice that the stem can change slightly too, so don't try to apply this pattern mechanically to every noun ending in -ЕЦ.
кита́ец → кита́йцы
за́яц → за́йцы
па́лец → па́льцы
ЬЯ ending
Some very common masculine nouns get -ЬЯ ending and sometimes even change their stem when they become plural.
стул → сту́лья
брат → бра́тья
муж → мужья́
сын → сыновья́
друг → друзья́
These are extremely common words, so they're definitely worth memorising.
-ЕНЬ → -НИ
День ("day") is the word you are likely to use every day in Russian (no pun intended). However, it has most unusual ending change in plural as well as in other cases, so it is worth memorising.
день → дни
And here are a few words that have a similar pattern.
па́рень → па́рни
ка́мень → ка́мни
ого́нь → огни́
Notice that these words lose a vowel and the soft sign in the plural.
-ИН → -Е
Words ending in -ИН that refer to people often have a special plural form ending in -Е.
англича́нин → англича́не
россия́нин → россия́не
граждани́н → гра́ждане
Take your time remembering these words, we know, it's a lot!
In the mean time, let's do a quick practice!
Write the plural form of each noun
- дом
- челове́к
- го́род
- брат
- пода́рок
- ребёнок
- день
- учи́тель
- америка́нец́
- стул
Feminine Exceptions
Now let's look at some feminine nouns that don't follow the regular patterns we learned in the previous lesson.
Ё appears
Some very common feminine nouns besides changing the -А ending to -Ы, also change Е to Ё in the stem.
сестра́ → сёстры
жена́ → жёны
слеза́ → слёзы
Mothers and daughters
Here are 2 words that change -Ь to -ЕРИ when making plurals.
мать → ма́тери
дочь → до́чери
Neuter Exceptions
-О → -И
Usually, neuter nouns ending in -О form their plural with -А, but here are some that take -И instead.
я́блоко → я́блоки
очко́ → очки́ (point → points)
плечо́ → пле́чи
And one particularly irregular one:
у́хо → у́ши (ear → ears)
Like masculine?
Similar to masculine nouns, some neuter nouns have -ЬЯ ending in the plural form.
де́рево → дере́вья
крыло́ → кры́лья
перо́ → пе́рья
Like feminine?
And some neuter nouns, also have Е to Ё change, like the feminine nouns.
о́зеро → озё́ра
Neuter Nouns Ending in -МЯ
Remember words вре́мя ("time") and и́мя ("name")? Besides ending with -Я they are both neuter nouns! And also, they have very irregular endings when they become plural!
вре́мя → времена́
и́мя → имена́
These are particularly important because both вре́мя and и́мя are extremely common words.
Now, let's review both feminine and neuter irregular plurals.
Write the plural form of each noun
- сестра́
- дочь
- жена́
- я́блоко
- у́хо
- де́рево
- о́зеро
- и́мя
- вре́мя́
Family Members
Before we wrap up, have you noticed that many words that refer to family members have irregular plurals? Make sure you learn them to be able to speak about your family! Here is the list:
оте́ц → отцы́
мать → ма́тери
дочь → до́чери
сын → сыновья́
ребёнок → де́ти
брат → бра́тья
сестра́ → сёстры
жена́ → жёны
муж → мужья́
Checkpoint
That’s a lot of exceptions, but most of them come in patterns. Let’s check they’ve stuck!
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
1.Стул. What is the plural?
2.Го́род. What is the plural?
3.Мать and дочь. Which plurals are correct?
4.Челове́к and ребёнок. Which pair is right?
5.Вре́мя and и́мя are both neuter. What are their plurals?
That’s Урок 3 done 🎉 You can now tell a noun’s gender and make it plural, even the irregular ones. Молоде́ц!