15.6 - More about masculine nouns
First declension masculine nouns were covered in Unit 6. To revise the forms
of these nouns go to page 6.5. In spite of their various forms and grammatical
rules, all masculine nouns belong to the first declension. There are, however, a
small number of masculine nouns which require particular attention, and these
are presented here.
Nouns with the ending -анин, -янин, denoting
"inhabitant of" or
"belonging to", drop the -ин in the masculine plural, for example:
киянин – Kyivite, inhabitant of Kyiv
N. G. D. A. I. L. V. |
singular киянин киянина киянинові/‑у киянина киянином киянинові киянине! |
plural кияни киян киянам киян киянами киянах кияни! |
Feminine forms of this type of noun end in ‑ка ( minus -ин) and decline normally, e.g. киянка – киянки. There are many nouns like this, including громадянин, слов'янин, львів'янин, селянин, марсіанин, росіянин, християнин, галичанин, полтавчанин, молдаванин, мусульманин. |
A small number of nouns are declined only in the plural:
штани – trousers
N. G. D. A. I. L. V. |
plural штани штанів штанам (штаням) штани штанами (штанями, штаньми) штанах (штанях) штани! |
Alternative forms for some cases of the noun штани are given in brackets. The noun ворота (gates, entrance) is also declined in the plural only and has analogous alternative forms. There are also a number of nouns which acquire an additional meaning in the plural only. For example, хор is a choir, whilst the plural хори can denote either choirs or the gallery in the church where the choir sings. |
A few other points are worth mentioning in relation to masculine nouns:
- In овес (oats), the initial o- in the nominative singular changes to ві- in all other cases (gen. вівса).
- Although the genitive plural ending of masculine nouns is -ів, the historical form of the genitive plural, with a zero ending, has been retained in some cases, particularly when used with numerals or quantities as, for example, десять чоловік, пара чобіт.
- The noun пан has two plural forms: when it means "lord" or "master", the plural is пани; in its meaning of "Mr", "Sir" or "gentleman" (polite word for "man"), the plural is панове.
- A number of short nouns, mainly denoting place and space, have the locative singular in -у / -ю, rather than the more normal -і / -ї (although some have retained both endings); examples are: на шляху, в снігу, у степу, в бою, на льоду, в Криму etc.