Genitive Plural Endings

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Most masculine nouns take -аў or stressed -оў (студэнтаў, сяброў). Most feminine nouns drop their ending (кніга → кніг).

How It Works

1. -аў / -оў (and -яў / -ёў). This is one ending. By akanye it is written -аў when unstressed and -оў when stressed:

  • Unstressed: студэнт → студэнтаў, аўтобус → аўтобусаў, трамвай → трамваяў
  • Stressed: сябар → сяброў, стол → сталоў, год → гадоў
  • Some neuter nouns too: акно → вокнаў, мора → мораў

2. -ей / -эй. A small group of nouns: людзі → людзей, дзеці → дзяцей, госць → гасцей, конь → коней, ноч → начэй, мыш → мышэй.

3. No ending. Most feminine nouns in -а/-я and many neuter nouns simply lose their ending:

  • кніга → кніг, хвіліна → хвілін, школа → школ
  • A vowel sometimes appears between two consonants: сястра → сясцёр, вёска → вёсак
  • A soft stem keeps its softness with ь: яблыня → яблынь

Some nouns have two accepted forms, such as сясцёр and сёстраў, or вокнаў and акон. The special noun дзень has дзён.

4. When you need it:

Examples (6)

  1. У групе дзесяць студэнтаў.

    There are ten students in the group.

    Word by Word: In group ten students.

    Unstressed ending: -аў.

  2. Колькі ў цябе сяброў?

    How many friends do you have?

    Word by Word: How-many at you friends?

    Stressed ending: -оў.

  3. На вуліцы шмат людзей.

    There are a lot of people on the street.

    Word by Word: On street many people.

  4. Я прачытаў пяць кніг.

    I read five books.

    Word by Word: I read five books.

    Кніга loses its ending: кніг.

  5. Мы не бачыліся некалькі гадоў.

    We haven't seen each other for a few years.

    Word by Word: We not saw-each-other several years.

  6. Тут няма вокнаў.

    There are no windows here.

    Word by Word: Here there-are-no windows.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing -оў when the ending is unstressed.

    У групе дзесяць студэнтоў.
    У групе дзесяць студэнтаў.

    In студэнтаў the ending is unstressed, so akanye requires -аў.

  • Writing -аў when the ending is stressed.

    У пакоі пяць сталаў.
    У пакоі пяць сталоў.

    In сталоў the stress is on the ending, so it keeps о.

  • Using the Russian form людей.

    Тут шмат людей.
    Тут шмат людзей.

    The Belarusian form is людзей, with дз.

How It Connects

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Genitive Plural EndingsLevel 2

Learn This First

The genitive plural needs the singular genitive and the plural.

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Patterns that build on this one.