Nominative subject

The nominative case is the foundation of Russian grammar. Its primary function is to mark the grammatical subject—the person or thing performing the action or being described. It answers the questions Кто? (Who? — for animate subjects) and Что? (What? — for inanimate subjects).

• Determining Gender: The nominative singular is the 'dictionary form' of a noun. This form determines the noun's gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), which is essential for verb and adjective agreement. While basic endings are a good starting point, learners must also watch out for the gender of soft-sign nouns (-ь), which can be masculine or feminine, as well as masculine nouns ending in а or я (e.g., папа) and neuter nouns ending in -мя (e.g., время).
• The Grammatical Subject: In the sentence Я читаю (I am reading), 'Я' is the subject.
• Personal Pronouns: The core nominative pronouns are я (I), ты (you, singular informal), он, она, оно (he, she, it), мы (we), вы (you, plural/formal), and они (they).
• Forming the Plural: To form the nominative plural, regular nouns typically take a plural ending ы or и (for masculine and feminine) or a plural ending а or я (for neuter).
• Existential Sentences: In the У меня есть... construction, the object owned is the grammatical subject and takes the nominative case.
• Predicate Nominative (Note): While this topic focuses on the subject, the nominative case is also used for the predicate noun in sentences without a present-tense verb (e.g., Москва — столица).
• Passive Voice: In passive constructions, the object receiving the action becomes the grammatical subject and takes the nominative case (e.g., Дом строится).

Note on Numbers: When a subject includes numbers like два, три, четыре or пять, the noun shifts to the genitive case, but the entire phrase acts as the nominative subject. However, the number 1 (один, одна, одно, одни) acts like an adjective and declines to agree with the noun's case, gender, and number.

Verb Agreement: The verb must agree with the nominative subject. In the present tense, it agrees in person and number. In the past tense, it agrees in gender and number. When the nominative subject is a numeral phrase (e.g., пять студентов), the past tense verb frequently defaults to the neuter singular (e.g., Пришло пять студентов), but plural agreement is also highly common and grammatically correct, especially for animate subjects (e.g., Пришли пять студентов).

Adjective Agreement: Adjectives modifying the subject must also be in the nominative case and agree with the noun in gender and number (see adjective agreement in the nominative).

Warning on Impersonal Sentences: English speakers often mistakenly use a nominative subject for physical states, feelings, and needs (e.g., 'I am cold', 'I need'). However, Russian requires the Dative case for the logical subject in these impersonal sentences (e.g., Мне холодно, Ему нужно), and there is no nominative subject.