Adjective Agreement (Nominative) in Russian

Overview

Russian adjectives must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. At the A1 level, mastering the nominative case endings is the first step -- these are the forms you encounter in dictionary entries and simple descriptive sentences. Since adjectives appear in virtually every sentence beyond the most basic, learning their agreement patterns is essential for meaningful communication.

Russian adjectives come in two main stem types: hard-stem (the majority) and soft-stem (a smaller group). Hard-stem adjectives like новый (new) follow one set of endings, while soft-stem adjectives like синий (blue) follow a slightly different pattern. Both types agree with their noun in the same way -- only the specific vowels in the endings differ.

Adjectives can be used attributively (before the noun: новый дом) or predicatively (after the noun: дом новый). In the predicative position, either the full (long) form or the short form can be used, with subtle differences in meaning and register.

How It Works

Hard-Stem Adjective Endings (Nominative)

Gender	Ending	Example (новый = new)
Masculine	-ый / -ой (stressed)	новый дом, большой дом
Feminine	-ая	новая книга
Neuter	-ое	новое окно
Plural	-ые	новые книги

Soft-Stem Adjective Endings (Nominative)

Gender	Ending	Example (синий = blue)
Masculine	-ий	синий цвет
Feminine	-яя	синяя ручка
Neuter	-ее	синее небо
Plural	-ие	синие глаза

Spelling Rules

After г, к, х, ж, ш, щ, ч: use -ий (not -ый), -ие (not -ые):

• русский (Russian), хороший (good), маленький (small)

Attributive vs. Predicative

• Attributive: Красивый дом стоит на горе. (A beautiful house stands on the hill.)
• Predicative: Дом красивый. / Дом красив. (The house is beautiful.)

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
новый дом, новая книга, новое окно	new house, new book, new window	Three genders
красивые цветы	beautiful flowers	Plural
синий цвет, синяя ручка	blue color, blue pen	Soft-stem
Дом большой.	The house is big.	Predicative use
маленькая собака	a small dog	Spelling rule: -ький → -ькая
старый друг	an old friend	Hard-stem masculine
русский язык	Russian language	After К: -ий not -ый
хорошая погода	good weather	After Ш: -ая
Книга интересная.	The book is interesting.	Predicative
молодые люди	young people	Plural

Common Mistakes

Ignoring gender agreement

• Wrong: новый книга (masculine adj. + feminine noun)
• Right: новая книга
• Why: The adjective ending must match the gender of the noun it modifies.

Using -ый after spelling rule consonants

• Wrong: русскый, хорошый
• Right: русский, хороший
• Why: After г, к, х, ж, ш, щ, ч, the masculine ending is -ий, not -ый.

Confusing hard and soft stem patterns

• Wrong: синый (applying hard-stem ending to soft-stem adjective)
• Right: синий
• Why: Soft-stem adjectives use -ий/-яя/-ее/-ие instead of -ый/-ая/-ое/-ые.

Practice Tips

• Practice describing everything you see with adjectives, matching the gender: большой стол, красивая картина, новое здание, старые книги.
• Group adjectives into hard-stem and soft-stem categories and drill their forms across all genders.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender -- you must know a noun's gender to choose the correct adjective ending
• Next steps: Short-Form Adjectives -- predicative adjective forms
• Next steps: Basic Adverbs -- adverbs derived from adjectives
• Next steps: Adjective Case Endings -- adjective declension across all cases
• Next steps: Comparative Degree -- comparing qualities