Animate Accusative
When you see, love or invite a person or animal, a masculine noun takes its genitive ending: Я бачу брата (I see my brother). In the plural this happens for every gender: Я люблю сабак (I love dogs).
How It Works
1. Masculine singular: accusative = genitive. An inanimate masculine noun keeps its dictionary form: Я бачу дом (see inanimate accusative). A masculine noun for a person or animal takes its genitive ending -а/-я instead:
- брат → Я бачу брата. (I see my brother.)
- кот → Я кармлю ката. (I am feeding the cat.)
- Алесь → Мы ведаем Алеся. (We know Ales.)
2. Plural: accusative = genitive for all animate nouns. Masculine, feminine and neuter nouns for living beings all use the genitive plural: сяброў (friends), сясцёр (sisters), кароў (cows), дзяцей (children). Inanimate plurals keep the nominative: Я люблю кнігі (I love books).
3. Feminine singular: no change. Feminine nouns in -а/-я keep their own accusative in -у/-ю (see feminine accusative): Я бачу сястру, Я люблю бабулю. A feminine noun that ends in a consonant keeps its dictionary form: Кот бачыць мыш (The cat sees a mouse). Masculine nouns that end in -а, such as тата and дзядзька, also take -у here: Я бачу тату. A neuter singular such as дзіця (child) keeps its dictionary form: Я бачу дзіця.
4. Words that describe the noun follow it. A possessive or adjective with an animate masculine or plural object also takes the genitive ending: Ты ведаеш майго брата? (Do you know my brother?)
Tip: the question word shows the pattern. For people and animals you ask каго? (whom?), which is also the genitive; for things you ask што? (what?).
Examples (6)
- Я бачу брата.
I see my brother.
Брат is a person, so it takes the genitive ending -а.
- Ты ведаеш майго сябра?
Do you know my friend?
Сябар → сябра, and мой → майго takes the genitive ending too.
- Я кармлю ката.
I am feeding the cat.
Кот → ката: animals count as animate.
- Мы запрашаем сяброў.
We are inviting our friends.
The plural сябры becomes the genitive plural сяброў.
- Я люблю сабак.
I love dogs.
The plural сабакі becomes the genitive plural сабак.
- У полі я бачу кароў і коней.
In the field I see cows and horses.
Feminine карова and masculine конь both use the genitive plural: кароў, коней.
Common Mistakes
Using the dictionary form for a masculine person or animal.
Я бачу брат.Я бачу брата.Брат is animate, so as a direct object it takes the genitive ending -а. Only inanimate masculine nouns stay unchanged.
Using the nominative plural for people or animals.
Я люблю сабакі.Я люблю сабак.In the plural, every animate noun uses its genitive plural form as the direct object.
Giving a feminine singular noun the genitive ending.
Я бачу сястры.Я бачу сястру.The animate rule covers masculine singular and plural nouns. A feminine singular noun in -а/-я takes -у/-ю as a direct object, even when it names a person.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The animate accusative needs the genitive and the inanimate accusative.
Related Patterns
- Accusative for the Direct Object
The general rule for the direct object that this entry refines for people and animals.
Level 1 - Feminine Accusative -у/-юFeminine Accusative -у and -ю
Feminine singular nouns keep -у/-ю even when they name people.
Level 1 - Genitive Plural Endings
The genitive plural endings that animate plural objects borrow.
Level 2 - Masculine Nouns in -аMasculine Nouns Ending in -а
Masculine nouns like тата take -у, not the genitive, as objects.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Animate Accusative in Bubblegum
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