The Russian accusative case: people, animals and pronouns (вижу брата, знаю Анну, люблю тебя)

Я вижу брата. Я знаю Анну. Я люблю тебя.I see my brother. I know Anna. I love you.

For things, the accusative looks mostly like the nominative (The accusative case: inanimate objects). When the direct object is a person or an animal, Russian does one more thing: masculine singular nouns change too. The personal pronouns also have their own accusative forms.

Quick shortcut: for a masculine noun denoting a person or animal, add -а, or replace -ь / -й with -я (брат → брата, учитель → учителя); for a feminine noun, -а becomes -у and -я becomes -ю (Анна → Анну); pronouns change completely (я → меня, ты → тебя).

Masculine nouns: the genitive form

A masculine noun for a person or an animal takes -а after a hard consonant; a final -ь or -й is replaced by -я:

This is the same form that the genitive case uses, which you meet in The genitive case: possession and "у меня есть". Compare Я вижу стол (a thing, no change) with Я вижу брата (a person, -а).

Feminine nouns: -у and -ю

Feminine nouns for people and animals follow the same pattern as for things:

• мама → маму: Я жду маму. (I'm waiting for Mum.)
• Анна → Анну: Я знаю Анну. (I know Anna.)
• кошка → кошку: Мы любим кошку. (We love the cat.)
• Наталья → Наталью: Он видит Наталью. (He sees Natalya.)

A few masculine nouns end in -а / -я and change like feminine ones: папа → папу, дядя → дядю.

Plurals of people and animals

The animate plural also differs from the nominative: it uses the genitive plural form, for example студенты → студентов, учителя → учителей, братья → братьев, мамы → мам, кошки → кошек (Мы знаем студентов. We know the students.). The genitive plural has its own endings, which come in later lessons, so at this stage it is enough to recognise these forms.

The question "кого?"

The question for a person or an animal as the object is кого? (whom?), and for a thing it is что?: Кого ты видишь? — Брата. (Whom do you see? My brother.) Что ты видишь? — Стол. (What do you see? A table.)

Personal pronouns in the accusative

The nominative pronouns are in Personal pronouns.

Verbs often used with people

• видеть (to see): Я вижу брата.
• знать (to know): Она знает Анну.
• любить (to love): Он любит маму.
• ждать (to wait for): Мы ждём друга.
• понимать (to understand): Я понимаю тебя.

The verbs are conjugated as in Present tense: first-conjugation verbs and Present tense: second-conjugation verbs.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Я вижу брат. → ✅ Я вижу брата. (a masculine person needs the accusative form)
• ❌ Я знаю Анна. → ✅ Я знаю Анну. (a feminine name in -а takes -у)
• ❌ Я люблю ты. → ✅ Я люблю тебя. (the object needs the accusative pronoun)
• ❌ Мы видим студент. → ✅ Мы видим студента. (a person, so -а)
• ❌ Я знаю она. → ✅ Я знаю её. (она becomes её as an object)

Quick check

Which form fits each gap?

1. (брат) Я вижу ____.
2. (Анна) Мы знаем ____.
3. (ты) Я люблю ____.
4. (учитель) Она ждёт ____.
5. (мы) Они знают ____.

Key takeaways

• The question for a person or an animal as the object is кого?
• Masculine singular nouns for people and animals take the genitive form: -а or -я (брата, учителя).
• Feminine nouns take -у or -ю (Анну, Наталью), as for things.
• The animate plural uses the genitive plural form (студентов, мам).
• The pronouns have special forms: меня, тебя, его, её, нас, вас, их.