Do cities decline by case? How geographical names are declined

The rules for declination of a surname cannot depend on the desire or unwillingness of the bearer of the surname.

Don't bow:

1. female surnames ending with a consonant and a soft sign

(Anna Zhuk, family of Maria Mitskevich, appoint Lyudmila Koval).

2. Female names ending with a consonant

(Carmen, Gyulchatay, Dolores, Helen, Suok, Edith, Elizabeth).

(Hugo, Bizet, Rossini, Shaw, Nehru, Goethe, Bruno, Dumas, Zola).

4. Male and female names ending with a vowel sound, excluding –a(–я)

(Sergo, Nelly).

5. Surnames ending in –а(–я) with a preceding vowel and

(sonnets by Heredia, poems by Garcia, stories by Gulia).

6. Russian surnames, which are frozen forms of the genitive singular with endings: –ovo, –ago, –yago

(Durnovo, Sukhovo, Zhivago, Shambinago, Debyago, Khitrovo);

and plural with endings: –i, –ih

(Twisted, Ostrovsky, Polish, Long, Gray).

In colloquial speech, surnames can be inclined to –i, –i.

(Sergei Zhivago, Irina Zhivago, Galina Polskikh, Viktor Polskikh).

7. Ukrainian surnames with accented and unstressed –ko ( Golovko, Lyashko, Franko, Yanko, Shevchenko’s anniversary, Makarenko’s activities, Korolenko’s works).

8. The first part of a double surname, if it is not used as a surname by itself

(V roles of Skvoznyak-Dmukhanovsky, research by Grun-Grizhimailo, sculpture by Demut-Malinovsky).

Declining:

(Institute named after S. Ya. Zhuk, poems by Adam Mickiewicz, meet Igor Koval).

2. Female names ending with a soft sign

(Love, Judith).

3. As a rule, surnames are inclined to unaccented ones - and I

(mostly Slavic, Romanesque and some others)

(article by V. M. Ptitsa, works by Jan Neruda, songs performed by Rosita Quintana, conversation with A. Vaida, poems by Okudzhava).

Fluctuations are observed in the use of Georgian and Japanese surnames, where cases of inclination and indeclinability occur:

(game nar. USSR artist Kharava; \(100\) years since the birth of Saint-Katayama, Kurosawa films; works by A. S. Chikobava (and Chikobava); creativity of Pshavela; minister in Ikeda's cabinet; Hatoyama's performance; films of Vittorio de Sica (not de Sica).

4. Slavic surnames with accents - and I

(with the writer Mayboroda, with the philosopher Skovoroda, with the director Golovnya).

5. The first part of Russian double surnames, if it itself is used as a surname

(poems by Lebedev-Kumach, production by Nemirovich-Danchenko, exhibition by Sokolov-Skal).

A foreign name ending in a consonant preceding a surname is declined

(novels by Jules Verne, stories by Mark Twain).

But, according to tradition: novels by Walter (and Walter) Scott, songs about Robin Hood.

6. When declension of foreign surnames and names, forms of Russian declension are used and the peculiarities of declension of words in the original language are not preserved.

(Karel Capek - Karela Capek [not Karla Capek]).

Also Polish names

(at Vladek, at Edek, at Janek [not: at Vladek, at Edk, at Jank]).

7. Polish female surnames in – A tend to follow the pattern of Russian surnames - and I

(Bandrovska-Turska - tours of Bandrovska-Turska, Czerni-Stefanska - concerts of Czerni-Stefanska).

At the same time, it is possible to design such surnames according to the Russian model and in the nominative case

(Opulskaya-Danetskaya, Modzelevskaya).

The same is appropriate for Czech surnames starting with – A

(Babitskaya - Babitskaya, Babitskaya).

8. Slavic male surnames in – and, –s it is advisable to incline, following the example of Russian surnames, to - yy, -yy

Tell me, uncle, it’s not for nothing
- Moscow, burned by fire,
Given to the Frenchman?
After all, there were battles,
Yes, they say, even more!
It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers
About Borodin Day!

M. Yu. Lermontov. Borodino

There are not very many such places in Chelyabinsk and the surrounding area; they are mentioned infrequently. In Moscow, every third metro station has a similar name in honor of the corresponding place, so you hear their names from people all the time.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Muscovites do not decline these names: he lives in Tsaritsyno, he came from Strogino. On the “Echo of Moscow”, on the other hand, these names are always declined: in Tsaritsyn, from Strogin. “Gramota.ru” says that recently non-declension has become more frequent, and on this alone, as far as I can see, it recognizes both options as acceptable.

Even if you believe the “Certificate” and consider that these options are equal today, you still need to decide, at least for yourself, how to speak. After all, almost any rule that recognizes two options for anything as true, however, does not imply the possibility of their absolutely random use. (I’m ready to forgive some publications for writing the word “Internet” with a capital letter, but when different materials from one publication spell it differently, this is absolutely unacceptable.)

Lenta.ru. Screenshot of one of the pages.

I think I will not be mistaken if I say that many of the readers do not decline these names and even experience a certain feeling of the “incorrectness” of the declension, and therefore will immediately decide this issue for themselves in favor of non-declension. I will note, however, that it is easiest to continue speaking as you are used to, even if it suddenly turns out to be incorrect. But once you get used to putting stress correctly in words like: casing, apostrophe, blinds, you immediately stop paying any attention to the fact that someone around you says differently.

To determine my own point of view on this issue, I decided to turn to common sense and some other credible sources.

Common sense says: there is absolutely no grammatical reason not to inflect these words. In russian language does not exist Russian words that would not decline: metro, coffee and other coats are borrowed words, and, more importantly, it is specifically said about them that these are such amazing words that do not decline. And words that one could choose to incline or not incline do not exist at all, even among borrowed ones.

Children distort indeclinable words in any way they like (“they passed it on radially”) just to deflect them, because they have already managed to feel the language and simply do not expect that there are words that would not give a damn about this language.

Here's what Dahl writes about the coat:

Coat, Wed inclined French very inconvenient for us the name of the outer dress, male and female in the genus of a wide frock coat; chapan.

Blinds, blinds pl. inclined French window grilles, in which, sometimes, transverse planks are placed, at will, flat or on edge, for light and shadow. People are talking. blinds, kind blinds; unyielding words are of no use to us; enlightenment? Zatinniki?

I’ll tell you (for the sake of secret) that I wrote in Boldin, as I haven’t written for a long time... (from a letter from A.S. Pushkin to P.A. Pletnev).

On the “Certificate” they write that if such names are declined, it will be impossible to distinguish the neuter from the masculine. Like, if you say “in Strogin”, then it seems that the nominative case is “Strogin”, not Strogino. This is precisely what they see as the reason for the reluctance.

Cause and effect are confused here. It is precisely because many people stopped inflecting such words that the inflected version began to be perceived in the masculine gender. After all, we are inclining Krylatskoye, but by the way, if it were the Krylatsky district, it would be inclined the same way. When they say “in Krylatskoye”, don’t you think it’s “Krylatsky”? Maybe, so that it doesn’t seem like it, let’s stop persuading him: “I live in Krylatskoye,” “I came from Kruglenkoye”? (Does it hurt your ears? Doesn’t “from Lyublino” hurt your ears?)

In general, this happens not only in the neuter gender. When they talk about Prague, Madrid, Warsaw or Beijing, we don't think of Prague, Madrid, Warsaw and Beijing. You can, of course, “to avoid confusion”, also stop inflecting the feminine gender: “in Prague”, in Madrid, “in Warsaw” and in Beijing. (Not in Russian, but the nominative case is immediately obvious!) Fortunately, no one agrees to this.

It just so happened that in the Russian language it is not always possible to determine the original form of a word by its indirect form. It is assumed that if you speak Russian, then it is already obvious to you.

One more (it seems the last) argument in favor of non-declension: sometimes, they say, there is a populated area And in the neuter gender And in masculine, and therefore if inclined, it is unclear which of them we are talking about. But distorting the entire language for the sake of a little more certainty is a more than dubious idea, and there are not so many such pairs of settlements to do this because of them (and, again, you can find similar pairs not only with settlements on -O, and this is not considered a reason not to persuade them). There are many more places in the country that are generally called absolutely the same, and there is no confusion. Do you know how many civilians there are in Russia? In those rare cases when there is both the city of Pushkin and the village of Pushkino, and at the same time we can talk about both, you can always simply construct the phrase a little differently and avoid ambiguity. (But, in general, not everyone is destined to face this problem even once in their life.)

Of course, language lives and changes, and this is normal. When coffee becomes neuter, this can at least be justified by the fact that the word coffee With all his appearance he says: “I am neuter,” and it is more convenient for any Russian-speaking person to perceive him that way. But in the case of Poletaev and his brothers, the trend, on the contrary, is “anti-Russian” and unnatural.

You just need to accustom yourself to inclination and love it.

The television center is located in Ostankino, the airport is in Domodedovo, and the tunnel is near Lefortovo. If the idea of ​​declination of Yasenev or Medvedkov ever seems wrong to us, the problem is not in Yasenev or Medvedkov, but in us.

Let's first deal with place names ending in -ov(o), -ev(o), ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o), or, more simply, ending in -O. These are nouns - geographical names such as Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Ostankino, Priyutino, Medvedkovo, Abramtsevo, Peredelkino, Tsaritsyno, Pushkino, Kemerovo, Chudovo, Avtovo, Perovo, Komarovo, Murino and others. What is the correct way to say: in Kemerovo or in Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Geographical names of settlements, stations, cities starting with -O in modern Russian are gradually moving into the category of nouns that do not change by case. This is probably explained by the fact that in recent decades in colloquial speech these toponyms are increasingly used as indeclinables.

Directories from seven to ten years ago strictly demanded that these words be changed according to cases, while modern publications note a tendency towards inclination of geographical names to -O, which is now especially widespread. From oral speech, the unchangeable form penetrated into written sources, in particular into journalism. Stylistic dictionary of variants by L.K. Graudina, V.A. Itskovich and L.P. Katlinskaya gives the following examples of newspaper headlines:

"The Tragedy of Kosovo", "From Pushchino to Colorado".

Let us recall that initially indeclinable forms were used only in the professional speech of geographers, military officers and in the official business style of speech. The norm for using Russian geographical names in -o in an indeclinable form is also registered in the academic “Grammar of the modern Russian literary language” (M., 1970):

“In modern language, there is a tendency to replenish the group of words of zero declension with words - toponyms with finals -ov (o), -ev (o), -ev (o) and -in (o), for example: Ivanovo, Biryulyovo, Knyazevo, Boldino, Lyublino, Golitsyno and others." Perhaps, only the requirements for the declension of the names of settlements remain strict if they are used as an application with a generic name (city, village, town, etc.) and have options:

in the village of Pushkino (with the original form Pushkino) and in the city of Pushkin (with the original form Pushkin).

Now - the most important thing. Which is correct: to Kemerovo or to Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Currently, both variants are in free use - inflected and indeclinable, therefore, both can be considered normative. However, it should be remembered that there are several cases when place names ending in -o are used in an unchangeable form:

* when the gender of the geographical name and the generic name do not coincide: in the village of Bosovo, at the Sinevo station, from the village of Likhovo.

Here the words are generic names of the feminine gender (village, station, village), but with them the names retain the neuter form; another example:

on the shore of Lake Kaftino, in the village of Sinyavino, from the port of Vanino - words - geographical names retain the form of the nominative case, while generic names change according to cases;

* when little-known settlements are named together with the words village, settlement, camp, as a rule, in order to avoid coincidence with the identical names of cities in the masculine gender:

in the village of Buyanovo, but in the city of Buyanov; in the village of Pushkino, but in the city of Pushkin;

* when the name is enclosed in quotation marks. In this case, it is acceptable to use it as an indeclinable:

the stud farm in "Kashino" was one of the best in the Tver region; Construction of a new camp site has begun near the Golovlevo farm, etc.

Russian geographical names used with generic names such as city, hamlet, village, town, village, village, settlement, river and acting as appendices (standing after the named words) are declined if they are toponyms of Russian (as well as Slavic) origin or represent is a name long borrowed and mastered by the Russian language. So to the question “to incline or not to incline?” We answer: incline. The standard forms are:

in the city of Suzdal, from the city of Krasnoyarsk, etc.

Authors of the reference book "Grammatical Correctness of Russian Speech. Stylistic Dictionary of Variants" (M., 2001) Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. believe that “it is advisable to follow two basic rules for the use of compatible forms and inconsistent forms.”

1. Declined: a) simple (not complex and not expressed in word combinations) Russian, Slavic and developed names of cities, rivers, villages, hamlets, settlements, hamlets, estates, villages, except for those ending in vowels -о, -е, -и, -s:

in the city of Moscow, in the city of Sofia, from the city of Ufa, near the city of Rybinsk, from the city of Kustanaya, in the city of Perm, on the Svetlaya River (but in the city of Sumy, to the village of Dibuny, in the city of Mytishchi, in the village of Gorki).

b) simple foreign language names of capitals, large or famous cities, rivers, except for those ending in vowels -у, -о, -е, -и, -ы:

in the capital of England London, in the cities of Prague and Budapest, in the city of Marseille, on the Seine River (but from the city of Delhi, on the Mississippi River).

2. Do not bow:

a) names of stations, towns, resorts, villages, villages, outposts:

near the village of Terek, at Bologoye station;

b) names of lakes, tracts, islands, mountains, deserts:

to Cape Chelyuskin, on Lake Baikal, in the Sahara Desert, to Mount Beshtau. However, in colloquial speech, compatible forms can be used, especially if these are Russian names that are full forms of adjectives: on Mount Zheleznaya, to Kamenny Island, at the Vysokaya Hill, to Lake Shchuchye, at Tikhoretskaya station.

c) foreign language names of principalities, kingdoms, duchies, states, provinces, little-known cities, rivers, settlements:

in the Principality of Liechtenstein, in the Kingdom of Nepal, in the state of California. d) complex names-applications and toponyms, expressed by phrases:

in the town of Santa Barbara, to the village of Upper Balkaria, in the city of Velikiye Luki, in the village of Bolshie Drynduny (since the external form of the name corresponds to the plural form, such toponyms are used in an unchangeable form. Without a generic word it is necessary to say: in Velikiye Luki, in Big Drynduny).

The exception is the names in the construction “place name on the river”: from the city of Frankfurt am Main.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that in complex toponyms and toponyms expressed by combinations of words, parts of the name are usually declined:

in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, in the city of Vyshny Volochyok.

However, in colloquial and professional speech, as well as in official business style, the inflexible version of the toponym has spread and strengthened:

in the city of Leninsk-Kuznetsky, in the city of Vyshny Volochek, in the village of Dolgiye Borody. Let us recall in conclusion that in a number of complex names the first part is not inflected at all:

Ust-Kamensk, Gus-Khrustalny, Korsun-Shevchenkovsky.

Dr. names: SGNZS

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The Russian language is replete with many rules that regulate the correct use and spelling of words. But besides this, a literate person must be able to inflect various words. This topic usually raises many questions and doubts not only among schoolchildren, but also among adults. Surnames and geographical names are especially difficult for most people. We will talk about this today in our article.

Toponyms: what are they?

The declension of geographical names is subject to certain rules that you simply need to know by heart. Otherwise, you will find a lot of funny cases that will characterize you from a not very good side in front of your friends or colleagues.

Quite often, when talking about the declension of geographical names in Russian, we mean toponyms. This term refers to all geographic identifiers in general. This word came to us from the ancient Greek language; it was formed from two different words, meaning “place” and “name” in translation. Nowadays, many information sources use the word “toponyms”.

Where can I look up the rules for declension of place names?

Of course, in order to correctly decline geographical names, it is necessary not only to know the rule, but also to apply it to the place. After all, quite often even a person who considers himself literate doubts the spelling of a particular word. In this case, special dictionaries will help you, using which you can check the declension of geographical names. for example, he created an excellent assistant for schoolchildren of all ages - “Dictionary of Difficulties of the Russian Language”. This wonderful reference book can also be used by adults who want to improve their literacy level.

Types of toponyms

Before diving into a topic called “Declination of Place Names,” it’s worth finding out what toponyms are. After all, this significantly changes the rules for their declination. At the moment, the following types of toponyms are distinguished in the Russian language:

• Slavic - these include native Russian names or those that have long been mastered in the Russian language;
• compound - this type of toponym usually consists of two words;
• names of the republics;
• foreign - such names have their own categories, for each of which there is a separate declension rule.

Declension rules for Slavic toponyms

The declension of geographical names with Slavic roots is subject to a simple rule: the name always agrees with the word applied to it. These words include:

• city;
• village;
• village;
• street, etc.

In these cases, the toponym is placed in the declension of the defining word. For example, you will always say “in the city of Samara” and “in the city of Moscow”. Please note that the qualifying word “city” almost always declines the toponym that follows. This also applies to exceptions. These include the following cases:

• Place names that have a different gender with a defining word are not declined (for example, it would be correct to say - on Lake Salekhard);
• most often, plural toponyms are not subject to declension (for example, in the village of Topotishchi).

If we are talking about street names, then there are different rules for declension of geographical names. A feminine toponym always agrees with the word “street” being defined. In this case, names of the masculine gender are not declined; compound place names are also subject to a similar rule. As an example, the following combinations can be given:

• along Cherry Orchards Street;
• on Kaltuk street;
• to Melodichnaya street.

Place names in the form of an adjective are most often declined: on the Yellow River, at Cape Verde, etc.

Declension of geographical names ending in "o", "e"

For some reason, adults quite often forget about this rule. Even famous TV presenters and journalists make annoying mistakes. To be considered a literate person, remember that Slavic place names of the neuter gender are not declined in Russian. It would be correct to say:

• in the city of Kemerovo;
• near the city of Grodno;
• in the village of Komarkovo.

Oddly enough, this simple rule always causes a lot of difficulties. Although there is nothing complicated about it, the main thing is to remember the correct spelling.

Toponyms ending in “ov”, “ev”, “in”, “yn”: declension rules

The declension of geographical names with endings so common in the Russian language causes serious confusion. The fact is that the rules for declension of such toponyms have changed more than once over the past decades. Historically, geographical names with the endings “ov”, “ev”, “in”, “yn” have always been declined. For example, a house in Ostashkov or a dacha in Mogilev.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a tendency not to decline such geographical names. This was due to a series of military operations, when, in order to avoid confusion in reports, names were used only in the nominative case. The military sought to ensure that place names in maps and various orders were identical. Over time, this approach began to be considered the norm and even used on television.

In recent years, journalism has begun to return to the original form of declension of geographical names. But using them in the nominative case is also considered normal and correct.

Complex Slavic place names

The declension of geographical names consisting of several words follows a certain rule. If we are talking about a complex toponym, then its first part is always declined, regardless of the presence or absence of a defining word. As an example, the following names can be given:

• in Rostov-on-Don;
• in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, etc.

There is one exception to this rule - the name of the city Gus-Khrustalny. The first part of this complex toponym should not be declined.

Much confusion is caused by names in which the first part is in the neuter gender. According to the rules of the Russian language, it must be subject to mandatory declension, but in recent years there has been a growing tendency towards the immutability of this part. Therefore, for example, both versions of the spelling will be correct: in Orekhovo-Zuyevo and in Orekhovo-Zuevo.

How to correctly decline toponyms - names of republics?

When you don’t know how to correctly write the name of the republic, then remember the rule that we will talk about now. Names ending in "iya" and "ee" must be consistent with the word "republic". For example, “in the Republic of Korea” or “from the Republic of Macedonia.” But this rule also has its pitfalls, as, indeed, many rules of the Russian language.

Official documents exclude the possibility of declension of such names, although journalism applies the usual rule of the Russian language to them. The exception also applies to the Federal Republic of Germany. By agreement between our countries, it was decided not to decline this name.

In all other cases, the name does not agree with the word “republic” and remains in the nominative case.

Foreign place names

It is quite difficult for a Russian person to cope with foreign-language geographical names. It's easier to remember which ones don't bow. So, the list of geographical names that are not subject to declension includes:

• Finnish names;
• Georgian and Abkhazian (except for the names of resorts);
• French place names ending with the letter "a";
• compound Italian, Portuguese and Spanish place names;
• administrative-territorial units.

You can only decline names that end in “a” and have been mastered in Russian. For example, in Verona and from Ankara. French names can be declined only if they have acquired the ending “a” in their Russian sound.

If foreign-language geographical names end in “e”, “s”, “i”, “o”, then they are classified as indeclinable. There are many examples of this rule:

• in Tokyo;
• from Mexico City;
• to Santiago.

The exception is names that in Russian are formed from a foreign word. For example, it is correct to write “in the Himalayas.”

Declension of names and surnames

Many people believe that the declension of geographical names and proper names have general rules. This is not entirely true. Of course, the rules have a lot in common, but in reality they are not identical.

Most often, the correct declension of first and last names and geographical names raises a lot of questions in the spring-summer period, when graduates graduate from school and receive certificates. Incorrect spelling of toponyms and proper names in diplomas is quite common. Knowing the rules of the Russian language will help you avoid these unpleasant moments. Let's look at the main points of the rule.

Declension of standard surnames

Declining standard surnames is quite simple - they fall into the desired form intuitively. But in the case when the surname was borrowed from a foreign language and ends in “ov”, “in”, then in the instrumental case it will have the ending “om”. For example, the surname Green in the instrumental case will sound like Green.

Questions often arise with the declension of women's surnames ending in "ina". In this case, everything depends on the nominative case of the male surname. For example, before us is Andrei Zhemchuzhina. His wife Yulia's surname will be declined as a common noun. For example, the things of Yulia Zhemchuzhina. If the husband’s name is Andrey Zhemchuzhin, then in this case we will talk about the things of Yulia Zhemchuzhina.

Non-standard surnames: how to decline?

Previously, it was believed that the declension of the surname is primarily influenced by But in fact, the predominant factor here is the ending of the surname. Everything depends on him in the first place.

Last names ending in:

• "oh";
• "their".

Male surnames ending in a consonant are declined. If the surname ends in “ya” and is also preceded by a vowel, then the surname must be declined. In a similar case with the ending “a” the surname refers to the indeclinable.

Of course, the Russian language is not so simple. But if you remember a few of the rules we have listed, you will never blush because of the incorrect spelling of geographical names and proper names.