Instrumental -ццю/-ллю

Doubled Consonants in the Instrumental

Level 3Sounds Like tvorny na -ccû -llû

Feminine nouns that end in a consonant, such as ноч or соль, form the instrumental with -у/-ю and double that consonant: ноч → ноччу, соль → соллю. The spelling shows the long sound you hear.

How It Works

1. The pattern. These are feminine nouns with no ending in the nominative, like ноч and соль. In the instrumental singular they add -у after ж, ш, ч and -ю after soft consonants, and the consonant becomes long:

  • ноч → ноччу (at night)
  • печ → печчу (stove)
  • мыш → мышшу (mouse)
  • соль → соллю (salt)
  • памяць → памяццю (memory)
  • восень → восенню (in autumn)

2. No doubling after another consonant. If a consonant already comes before the last one, write it once: радасць → радасцю (joy), косць → косцю (bone), чвэрць → чвэрцю (quarter). Only с, з, л, н, ц, дз, ж, ш and ч double at all: ў and lip sounds stay single, so любоў (love) gives з любоўю (with love).

3. Only the instrumental singular. The other forms of these nouns have a single consonant: ночы, солі, памяці.

4. The same spelling rule elsewhere. Belarusian writes a long consonant between vowels as a double letter, so you also see it in жыццё (life), вяселле (wedding) and in numerals such as пяццю (with five). See doubled consonants.

Tip: some of these instrumentals work as time words: ноччу (at night), восенню (in autumn). See seasons and parts of the day.

Examples (6)

  1. Сёння ноччу ішоў снег.

    It snowed last night.

    Ноч → ноччу: ч doubles after the vowel о.

  2. Гасцей сустракаюць хлебам і соллю.

    Guests are welcomed with bread and salt.

    Соль → соллю: л doubles and the soft sign disappears.

  3. Кот гуляў з мышшу.

    The cat was playing with a mouse.

    Мыш → мышшу: ш doubles.

  4. Восенню ў лесе шмат грыбоў.

    In autumn there are lots of mushrooms in the forest.

    Восень → восенню: н doubles.

  5. З такой памяццю ты ўсё запомніш.

    With a memory like that, you will remember everything.

    Памяць → памяццю: ц doubles after the vowel я.

  6. Мы з радасцю вам дапаможам.

    We will gladly help you.

    Радасць → радасцю: с comes before ць, so there is no doubling.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to double the consonant.

    Ён прыехаў позна ночу.
    Ён прыехаў позна ноччу.

    After a vowel, the single consonant doubles in the instrumental: ноч → ноччу.

  • Writing a single л in соллю.

    Пасып бульбу солю.
    Пасып бульбу соллю.

    Соль ends in one soft consonant after a vowel, so the instrumental is соллю.

  • Doubling after another consonant.

    Мы з радасццю вам дапаможам.
    Мы з радасцю вам дапаможам.

    In радасць the ць follows с, so it is written once: радасцю.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Instrumental -ццю/-ллюLevel 3Doubled Consonants in the Instrumental

Learn This First

Doubled instrumental consonants need instrumental endings and softness.