3.18 · Learn + reference
Possessive and Mixed-Declension Adjectives
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3.18 · Learn + reference
Possessive and Mixed-Declension Adjectives
Мамин, лисий, individual possession, animacy, capitalisation, and modern alternatives
Мамин, лисий, individual possession, animacy, capitalisation, and modern alternatives
Before you start
- Prerequisites
- Module 3.17
- Estimated time
- 45 minutes
- Lesson steps
- 10
Deliberately not taught here
- Boundary: Possessive adjective formation is restricted and style-sensitive in modern Russian. Personal possessive pronouns such as мой and его belong to the determiner boundary reviewed in Module 3.22.
Small steps
What you will learn
- Three ways to express possession or association Russian distributes English 'possessive' meanings across genitive noun phrases, у + genitive constructions, and a restricted class of possessive adjectives.
- The -ин nominative pattern Possessive adjectives such as ма́мин use noun-like short endings in nominative and certain accusative cells.
- The mixed oblique paradigm Outside the short nominative/accusative cells, possessive adjectives mostly attach familiar long-adjective endings to the stem.
- Names and close-person formations Productive possessive adjectives are most natural from kinship/familiar-person nouns and some personal names, especially those ending in -а/-я.
- Capital letters and lexicalisation Individual possessives in -ов/-ев/-ин from proper names are normally capitalised; relational -ск- adjectives are generally lowercase unless part of an official name.
- The -ий animal/relational family Possessive-type adjectives such as ли́сий use -ий, -ья, -ье, -ьи and retain ь before many endings.
- Declining the -ий family Oblique forms combine a softened possessive stem with long-adjective-like endings.
- Accusative animacy still applies Mixed declension does not cancel the general accusative rule.
- Natural choice and register Modern Russian often prefers a genitive noun where English prefers a prenominal possessive.
- Possessive and mixed-declension assessment Select a natural possession strategy, then apply the correct mixed or -ий paradigm.
Mastery
Ready means you can...
- form and decline -ин/-ов possessive adjectives with their mixed paradigm
- use the -ий animal/relational possessive family accurately
- apply accusative animacy to possessive adjective phrases
- choose naturally among a possessive adjective, genitive noun, and у + genitive construction