LearnRussian
Russian is the eighth-most-spoken language on earth and the lingua franca of the post-Soviet world — 260 million speakers across Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and a vast diaspora reaching from Tel Aviv to Brighton Beach. It's also the language of one of the great literary traditions: a year of study repays you with Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova and Brodsky in the original — works that lose half their music in translation.
For English speakers, Russian's reputation as 'hard' is half earned. The Cyrillic alphabet looks intimidating but is genuinely readable in a weekend — most letters are familiar Greek or Latin shapes — and once it clicks, signs and menus stop being abstract patterns. The real climb is the grammar: six cases, three genders, and verb aspects that don't map cleanly onto English. The reward is a precise, deeply expressive language and a cinema, music and meme culture that opens up the moment you can read it.
Best cities for Russian
Pick a city to immerse yourself — full guide for each, ranked by cost, immersion and language scene.
Your first 25 words in Russian
The essentials — greetings, politeness, ordering coffee and asking for help.
Russian grammar cheatsheet
The shortcuts that unlock most beginner sentences. One rule, one example, move on.
No 'to be' in the present
Drop the verb. 'I am a student' becomes literally 'I student'.
No articles
There is no 'a', 'an' or 'the'. Context fills the gap.
Three genders by ending
Most consonant endings are masculine, -а/-я feminine, -о/-е neuter.
Word order is flexible
Cases do the work, so order is mostly for emphasis.
Verb aspects: process or done
Most verbs come in pairs. Imperfective for ongoing, perfective for completed.
Negation: add 'не'
Stick 'не' right before the verb.
Questions: just intonation
Same words, rising voice on the part you're asking about.
Cases in real conversation
Russian marks a noun's role with its ending, not its position. Each case below is shown with the kind of phrases you'll actually use, the moment you land.
Nominative
ИменительныйThe subject of the sentence and the dictionary form. What you'd find in a wordlist.
Genitive
РодительныйOrigin, possession, absence, quantity. Triggered by 'из' (from), 'у' (have), 'нет' (no), and most numbers. Also any 'X of Y' phrase.
Dative
ДательныйThe recipient, plus 'to me' for age and feelings. 'I give X to Y' makes Y dative.
Accusative
ВинительныйThe direct object. Whatever the verb is acting on.
Instrumental
ТворительныйThe companion, tool or means. Often after 'с' (with), or to say how / by what something is done.
Prepositional
ПредложныйAlways after a preposition: 'о/об' (about), 'в' (in), 'на' (on). Never used alone.
Every word, every case
Each noun and pronoun from the examples, declined across all six cases. Once you spot the pattern in one word per gender, the rest fall in line.
Pronouns
Irregular but show up in every sentence. Memorize these first.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
я /ya/ I | я | меня | мне | меня | мной | (обо) мне |
ты /ty/ you (informal) | ты | тебя | тебе | тебя | тобой | (о) тебе |
Adjectives (masculine forms)
Adjectives must agree with their noun's gender, number and case. Heads up: -ого / -его endings sound like '-ova' / '-eva' (the г goes silent). That's why 'русского' sounds like ROOS-ka-va.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
русский /ROOS-keey/ Russian | русский | русского | русскому | русский / русского | русским | (о) русском |
новый /NO-vy/ new | новый | нового | новому | новый / нового | новым | (о) новом |
Masculine (consonant ending)
Animate masculines (people, animals) borrow the genitive form for accusative. Inanimate ones (cities, objects) keep the nominative.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
брат /brat/ brother (animate) | брат | брата | брату | брата | братом | (о) брате |
друг /drook/ friend (animate) | друг | друга | другу | друга | другом | (о) друге |
Лондон /LON-dan/ London (inanimate) | Лондон | Лондона | Лондону | Лондон | Лондоном | (о) Лондоне |
Feminine (-а / -я ending)
The cleanest pattern. Words ending in -ия (like Россия) shift to -ии in genitive, dative and prepositional.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Москва /mas-KVA/ Moscow | Москва | Москвы | Москве | Москву | Москвой | (о) Москве |
пицца /PEE-tsa/ pizza | пицца | пиццы | пицце | пиццу | пиццей | (о) пицце |
работа /ra-BO-ta/ work | работа | работы | работе | работу | работой | (о) работе |
Россия /ras-SEE-ya/ Russia (-ия pattern) | Россия | России | России | Россию | Россией | (о) России |
Neuter (-о / -е ending)
Looks like masculine in five of six cases. Just remember the -о dictionary form.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
молоко /ma-la-KO/ milk | молоко | молока | молоку | молоко | молоком | (о) молоке |
Plural-only nouns
A handful of common words exist only in the plural. Endings still follow case rules, just always plural.
| Word | Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | Prepositional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
деньги /DYEN-gee/ money | деньги | денег | деньгам | деньги | деньгами | (о) деньгах |
дети /DYE-tee/ children | дети | детей | детям | детей | детьми | (о) детях |
Creators worth following for Russian
Hand-picked YouTube, Instagram and TikTok creators. Three steps to turn any of their videos into a personal lesson:
- 1Pick a video from one of the creators below.
- 2Download it if the platform allows (many Instagram and TikTok videos do) — otherwise screen-record on your phone.
- 3Upload the file to the LangFeed app — translations, cultural context, vocab drills and follow-up practice land in seconds.
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Learn Russian with LangFeed
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