Masculine -ый, -ий, and stressed -ой
The visible masculine ending identifies a diagnostic form, but -ий does not name one single pattern.
- Learn masculine nominative together with later diagnostic forms. A word ending in -ий may be genuinely soft or may contain и only because Russian spelling prohibits ы after particular consonants.
| Type | Masculine | What to store |
|---|---|---|
| transparent hard | но́вый | но́вого, но́вых |
| genuinely soft | си́ний | си́него, си́них |
| velar spelling | ру́сский | ру́сского, ру́сских |
| sibilant spelling | хоро́ший | хоро́шего, хоро́ших |
| stressed ending | большо́й | большо́го, больши́х |
Read the model
3.01 · Masculine -ый, -ий, and stressed -ой · table 1
transparent hard · но́вый · но́вого, но́выхgenuinely soft · си́ний · си́него, си́нихMini-check
Which is genuinely soft: си́ний or ру́сский? Why is -ой easy to recognise in the masculine nominative?
Apply this next
- Say the Russian examples aloud, cover the model, and retrieve the pattern once before continuing.