Have you ever heard words that were put in inappropriate cases? Surzhik sins with this - mixed speech from Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish words. This is due to the fact that the rules of declension in different languages ​​are different.

To correctly choose the case of nouns, you need to know what form they belong to.

Animate and inanimate nouns

Words misused hurt the ear. For their proper use, there are certain rules, not so complicated. In Rus', from ancient times, living and non-living things were changed in different ways in cases. When the language was systematized, it was determined that there are proper nouns and common nouns, animate and inanimate. Moreover, it is not always possible to independently determine what kind a particular word belongs to. The deceased is inanimate, does not have a soul, but the word is grammatically animated. But plants are alive - they grow, breathe. But inanimate. Why?

There is one aspect of this question that is rooted in mythology. In ancient times, people adhered to other ideas about the living and nonliving things. Hence the set of well-established expressions showing the inanimate nature of the sun (it looks out, gets up, sits down, wakes up, in fairy tales it is asked for advice, and it answers) and dolls (in games it eats, sleeps, walks, speaks, cries). Previously, they were really considered alive and this was reflected in linguistic forms. The word "corpse" has always been considered inanimate, because under it only the shell of the being is considered, while the personality is absent. How to identify animate and inanimate nouns?

rule

Since living and non-living answer different questions, it is good to use this method. Then check the result obtained. After that, we can refine our study in accordance with the exceptions that are better to remember.

1. So, first it is worth finding out who or what is in front of us. So in most cases, you can understand what type the word we need belongs to.

2. In the future, the plural of the desired word is put in the accusative case (for simplicity, it can be designated VP) and find out which case it coincides with. If with a nominative (IP) - this is inanimateness.

• Toys.
• Armchairs.
• Games.
• Noses.
• Nicknames.

If with a genitive (RP) - animation.

• Puppies.
• Birdies.
• Animals.
• Chickens.
• Friends.

Often this is enough to identify animate and inanimate nouns. The rule has exceptions.

living inanimate

These are dolls, Teddy bears, dogs, bunnies, robots and the like. That is, those toys with which they perform actions, as if they were alive. The existing forms of words will look like this:

• Dolls.
• Mishek.
• Zaichikov.
• Dogs.
• Robots.

Some symbols in games are also considered animated. This should be remembered:

• Kings.
• Valtov.
• Queens.

People who have died or perished are considered to be animate: suicide, deceased, deceased, deceased.

• Suicide.
• Deceased.
• Reposed.
• The dead.

There are many such words, but they are all animate. When it comes to a mortal shell (corpse, body, carrion, carcass) - this is already inanimate.

Fairy-tale and non-material characters (angels, demons, nymphs) are also animated. A regularity is observed: if in the people's mind something is alive - in the declension of such a word VP = RP.

living inanimate

A group, any set, a collection of people, animals or beings classified as living beings are considered to be inanimate. This is a crowd, an army, a people, a herd, a flock, a host. It is correct to say: "I see crowds, armies, peoples, herds, flocks, hosts."

All plants and fungi are inanimate. They have long been considered as food, and not as part of wildlife. Interestingly, some types of seafood (lobsters, oysters, lobsters) first appeared in Russia as exotic dishes. Therefore, in the recipes there is their declension according to the inanimate principle: boil the squid and cut it into the shape of noodles.

What is not visible to the eye is considered inanimate.

These are microorganisms, viruses, embryos, yeast, bacteria. There are interesting exceptions here, though. For example, the attitude towards an embryo changes when it becomes visible - in a test tube.

When it is impossible to determine animate and inanimate nouns

Examples showing the impossibility of attributing a word to a particular division:

• do automation,
• see the swordfish.

These words do not decline in numbers. When changing by cases, they have their own form of endings. Therefore, they are beyond animation.

Helper adjectives

Animate and inanimate nouns are determined by the form of the accusative case of agreeing adjectives. Examples:

• We saw a new student - we saw a new table.
• Stroked a beautiful puppy - stroked a beautiful blouse.
• Got big calves - got big trouble.

First, there is a phrase, where the accusative case is equal to the genitive (VP = RP), and then - the nominative (IP).

These adjectives will make it easier to distinguish between animate and inanimate nouns.

Own and common nouns

All proper nouns got such a name because they are the only ones of their kind. Usually these are names, but there may be nicknames and nicknames. If they find a match - it's rather nonsense. For such cases, there is the word "namesake", for example. Even if it is the nickname of an inanimate toy, it is still animated. There are also inanimate names. These are names given to an institution, work of art, or composition. There are also geographic names.

Common nouns - from the Old Slavonic "to name" (to name) - these are the names of groups of objects or concepts.

The table will help to change them by cases correctly.

Skills develop well when filling out such a table. You can fill it in by putting all the words in the accusative case, although this is not necessary. You can simply divide the sheet into four parts and write out the suggested words in groups.

Even better to deal with this topic will help special exercises.

Exercises

They will help to consolidate skills, how to identify animate and inanimate nouns, exercises. You need to substitute the correct word, choose the right case or check the spelling of the written phrase.

Exercise 1

Substitute the correct words in the following sentences.

• Coming to school, students see (teachers, director, new desks, posters, friends, duty officer, old doors, school crayons).
• Purchased for the city park (songbirds, carousels, benches, visitors).
• Being late for work, I had to catch up (a trolleybus, a tram, a familiar taxi driver).

Exercise 2

Choose the correct case in the following sentences.

• We housed (kittens) and gave (food bags) for them as well.
• Coming out into the clearing, we saw (boys and baskets of mushrooms).
• At the zoo, keepers feed (birds) and water (trees).

Exercise 3

Give examples of animate and inanimate nouns suitable in the following cases:

• Sitting at the table ... and dreaming.
• The doctors said that ... he was no longer breathing.
• Ours ... completely crumbled.
• How brightly this ... today burns.
• The old one… completely fell apart.

Lesson

In order for students to remember the above rules well, the teacher can devote a lesson to animate and inanimate nouns. It is good to use a scheme denoting the equality of cases.

Recalling that the plural is being tested, as an exercise, you can suggest naming five animate and five inanimate nouns while looking at the picture. A photo of a puppy with a toy chicken in its mouth will do.

The resulting phrases will not always be correct, this is natural. But especially funny teacher can emphasize. Such a method "on the contrary" will help to remember the incorrect use of cases.

Examples of animate and inanimate nouns that are substituted for missing words will help to understand the rule well. For this exercise, write out in advance on a sheet of sentences with missing words. In their place, one of the suggested words written on the board should be inserted. The teacher makes sure that the students have different options: on one side of the board they are animated, on the other they are not.

As one of the options, the following set of words can be used:

Text for this exercise:

The weather was beautiful on the weekend. The guys ran out into the yard. (?) fed and dressed up their (?). (?) did not attract such games, they launched (?) from the mountain. (?) and (?) pleased the old (?). “Where else can you find such (?),” they said, and were in no hurry to call their (?) and (?) home. And the guys have already taken (?) and (?) and made noisy (?).

The kids will love this lesson. The main thing is to prepare visual material and diagrams well. Good luck!

Andrei NARUSHEVICH,
Taganrog

A few questions about the animate/inanimate category

The category of animateness/inanimateness of nouns is little mentioned in school textbooks of the Russian language, but meanwhile it is one of the most interesting linguistic phenomena. Let's try to answer some questions that arise when considering this category.

What is "animate" and "inanimate" object?

It is known that the assignment of nouns to animate or inanimate is associated with the division of the surrounding world by a person into living and inanimate. However, V.V. Vinogradov noted the "mythology" of the terms "animate / inanimate", since textbook examples ( plant, deceased, doll, people and etc . ) demonstrate the discrepancy between the objective status of the subject and its comprehension in the language. There is an opinion that animate in grammar means “active” objects identified with a person, which are opposed to “inactive” and, therefore, inanimate objects 1 . At the same time, the attribute "activity/inactivity" does not fully explain why the words dead man, deceased belong to the animate, and people, crowd, flock- to inanimate nouns. Apparently, the category of animateness/inanimateness reflects everyday ideas about the living and the inanimate, i.e. a subjective assessment by a person of objects of reality, which does not always coincide with the scientific picture of the world.

Of course, the “standard” of a living being for a person has always been a person himself. Any language keeps "petrified" metaphors showing that people from ancient times saw the world as anthropomorphic, described it in their own image and likeness: the sun came out, the river runs, the leg of the chair, the spout of the kettle and so on . Let us recall at least anthropomorphic gods or characters of lower mythology. At the same time, life forms different from humans: some invertebrates, microorganisms, etc. - are often ambiguously evaluated by ordinary native speakers. For example, as the survey of informants showed, to nouns sea ​​anemone, amoeba, ciliate, polyp, microbe, virus question asked regularly What? Obviously, in addition to signs of visible activity (movement, development, reproduction, etc.), the ordinary concept of a living being (“animate” object) also includes a sign of similarity to a person.

How is the animateness/inanimateness of a noun determined?

Traditionally, as a grammatical indicator of animation, the coincidence of the accusative and genitive forms in the singular and plural of masculine nouns is considered. (I see a person, a deer, friends, bears) and only in the plural of feminine and neuter nouns (I see women, animals). Accordingly, grammatical inanimateness is manifested in the coincidence of the accusative and nominative cases. (I see a house, tables, streets, fields).

It should be noted that the grammatical opposition of nouns by animateness/inanimateness is expressed not only in the form of a specific case: the difference in the forms of nouns in the accusative case leads to a difference and opposition of paradigms in general. For masculine nouns, on the basis of animateness/inanimateness, singular and plural paradigms are distinguished, and for feminine and neuter nouns, only plural paradigms, that is, each of the animate/inanimate categories has its own declension paradigm.

There is an opinion that the main means of expressing the animateness / inanimateness of a noun is the form of the accusative case of the agreed definition: “It is by the form of the agreed definition in the accusative case that the animateness or inanimateness of the noun in the linguistic sense of the word is determined” 2 . Obviously, this provision needs to be clarified: the form of the adjective word should be considered as the main means of expressing animateness/inanimateness only in relation to the use of invariable words: see beautiful cockatoo(V. = R.); see beautiful coat(V. = I.). In other cases, the form of the adjectival word duplicates the meanings of case, number, gender and animateness/inanimateness of the main word - the noun.

The coincidence of case forms (V. = I. or V. = R.) in the declension of allied words of the adjectival structure (in a subordinate clause) can also serve as an indicator of animation / inanimateness: These were books, which I knew(V. = I.); These were writers, which I knew(B. = R.).

Feminine and neuter nouns, which appear only in the singular form (singularia tantum), do not have a grammatical indicator of animation / inanimateness, since these words have an independent form of the accusative case, which does not coincide with either the nominative or the genitive: catch swordfish, study cybernetics etc. Thus, grammatically, the animate/inanimate nature of these nouns is not determined.

What is the fluctuating grammatical indicator of animateness/inanimateness?

Let's look at a few examples: And from now on the embryo is called fruit(I. Akimushkin) - I saw in a flask embryo, swirling like a French horn(Yu. Arabov); science microbiology studies various bacteria and viruses(N. Goldin) - Bacteria can be identified by morphological properties(A. Bykov); Marrying a woman blows away with myself their dolls (I. Solomonik) - Before going to bed, you played again in my office. Feeding dolls (L. Panteleev). As you can see, the same words behave either as animate or as inanimate.

Variative forms of the accusative case of nouns germ, embryo, microbe, bacterium and so on. are explained by the ambiguity of the assessment of the corresponding objects by the speakers. Usually these forms of life are inaccessible to observation, which causes the fluctuation of native speakers in attributing these objects to living or non-living.

Dolls are involved in the play (as well as magical) activities of a person. In children's games, dolls function like living beings. Dolls are bathed, combed, put to bed, that is, actions are performed with them, which in other conditions are aimed only at living beings. Game activity creates conditions for understanding dolls as objects that are functionally similar to living things (functionally animated). At the same time, dolls remain inanimate objects. The combination of signs of living and inanimate causes fluctuations in the grammatical indicator of animation / inanimateness. Similar features are revealed by some names of game pieces: queen, ace, pawn and etc.: I took from the table, as I remember now, ace of hearts and threw it up(M. Lermontov) - By placing the cards take all the aces lying on top of the packs(Z. Ivanova).

Some animals have long been considered by people mainly as food (cf. the modern word seafood). For example, lobsters, oysters, lobsters, as V.A. Itskovich, “do not occur in Central Russia in a living form and became known first as exotic dishes and only later as living beings” 2 . Apparently, nouns oyster, squid, lobster and others were originally declined only according to the inanimate type, the appearance of the accusative form, coinciding with the genitive form, is associated with the development of the meaning of ‘living being’, which is later in relation to the meaning of ‘food’: Boil squids, cut into noodles(N. Golosova) - Squids are boiled in salt water(N. Akimova); Local fishermen brought fish in the city: in spring - small anchovy, in summer - ugly flounder, in autumn - mackerel, fat mullet and oysters (A. Kuprin) - And are you eat oysters? (A. Chekhov) Interestingly, in the meaning of ‘food’, not only the names of exotic animals acquire grammatical inanimateness: fatty herring Fine soak, cut into fillets(M. Peterson); Processed pike perch cut into pieces(V.Turygin).

Thus, the fluctuation of the grammatical indicator of animateness/inanimateness is caused by the peculiarities of semantics, as well as the ambiguity of assessing an object as living or inanimate.

Why nouns dead man And Deceased animated?

Human understanding of living nature is inextricably linked with the concept of death. ‘Dead’ is always ‘being alive’, having previously possessed life. In addition, it is no coincidence that folklore is replete with stories about the living dead. Until now, one can find echoes of the ideas of our distant ancestors that a certain special form of life is inherent in the dead, that a dead person is able to hear, think, and remember.

Nouns dead person, deceased, departed and others denote dead people, i.e. possess the attribute ‘human’ – the most important for the meaning of animation. And here is the word dead body means ‘the body of a dead organism’, i.e. only the material shell (cf. expressions corpses of the dead, corpses of the dead). Apparently, this semantic difference explains the grammatical animation of the names of the dead and the inanimateness of the word corpse: How strong are the stones all in their callings, - When the dead covered watch over (K.Sluchevsky); A convene I am the ones I work for the dead Orthodox... - Cross yourself! call the dead for housewarming(A. Pushkin); Nastya only once, long before the war, had to see a drowned man (V.Rasputin); Teamsters throwing corpses on a sled with a wooden clatter(A. Solzhenitsyn).

Why words people, crowd, flock inanimate?

The listed words denote a certain set of living objects - people or animals. This set is understood as a single whole - a set of living beings, and this set is not equal to the simple sum of its components. For example, the attribute "multiple", expressing the idea of ​​quantity in the concept of "people", in the concept of "people" is combined with the idea of ​​quality - "the totality of people in their specific interactions". Thus, the common feature of the words of this group - 'collection' - turns out to be the leading one and forms the meaning of inanimateness. V.G. Gak connects the nouns under consideration with the category of a collective (quasi-animate) object: “Between animate and inanimate objects there is an intermediate group of collective objects consisting of animate units. Words denoting such objects ... can be conditionally called quasi-animate” 4 . The grammatical generalization of semantics is expressed in the morphological indicator of inanimateness (V. = I.): I see crowds, nations, flocks, herds and so on.

Why are nouns denoting plants inanimate?

In the linguistic picture of the world, plants, which are a qualitatively different form of life than animals and humans, are not perceived as living organisms. The ability to move independently has long been recognized as one of the characteristic features of the living. As Aristotle pointed out, “the beginning of movement arises in us from ourselves, even if nothing has set us in motion from outside. We do not see anything like this in inanimate [bodies], but they are always set in motion by something external, and a living being, as we say, moves itself” 5 . The inability of plant organisms to move independently, the lack of visible motor activity and a number of other signs lead to the fact that in the mind of a person, plants, together with objects of inorganic nature, constitute a motionless, static part of the surrounding world. This is indicated by V.A. Itskovich: "... a living object is understood as an object capable of independent movement, so that plants are inanimate objects" 6 . Thus, the predominance of signs of the inanimate in everyday concepts of plants, as well as the nature of the labor activity of man, who has long widely used plants for various purposes, led to the fact that plants in most cases are perceived as inanimate objects.

How does the meaning of animate/inanimate manifest itself?

The attribute ‘living’ (‘non-living’) can be manifested not only in the meanings of nouns, but also in the meanings of indicative words. Indeed, the analysis showed that not only nouns, but also verbs and adjectives have the meaning of animateness/inanimateness in the language. This is manifested in the fact that verbs and adjectives can denote signs of objects that characterize these objects as living or inanimate. For example, the meaning of the verb read indicates that the action is performed by a person (person) and is directed to an inanimate object: read a book, newspaper, ad and so on.

The existence of such semantic connections made it possible to build a classification of Russian verbs according to the presence in their meanings of an indication of the animateness / inanimateness of the subject and object of the action. This classification was developed by Prof. L.D. Chesnokova 7 . So, all the verbs of the Russian language can be divided into the following groups:

1) animated-marked - denote actions performed by living beings: breathe, dream, sleep and etc;
2) inanimate-marked - denote actions performed by inanimate objects: burn, crumble, evaporate and etc . ;
3) neutral - denote actions common to living and inanimate objects: stand, lie, fall and etc .

A similar division is observed among adjectives:

1) animate-marked adjectives denote signs of living beings: external signs, temperament, volitional qualities, emotional, intellectual and physical properties, etc.: lean, long-legged, lop-eared, phlegmatic, quick-tempered, kind, evil, intelligent, persistent, blind, talented etc.;
2) inanimate-marked adjectives denote signs of inanimate objects (phenomena) - spatial and temporal qualities and relationships, the properties and qualities of things perceived by the senses, signs in relation to the material of manufacture, etc .: liquid, rare, deep, spicy, sour, bitter, strong, thick, iron, glassy, ​​woody, marshy etc.;
3) neutral adjectives denote features that can be attributed to both living beings and inanimate objects - the most common spatial characteristics, color characteristics, evaluative characteristics, belonging, etc.: left, right, tall, small, heavy, white, red, good, mother's.

Thus, the animate/inanimate meaning of a noun is usually supported by animate- or inanimate-marked context elements. Otherwise, figurative meanings are updated, which ensures the semantic agreement of words.

So, for animate nouns in combination with inanimate-marked verbs, the metonymic transfer ‘work - author’ is most typical: Then the worker started read Brockhaus (M. Bulgakov); But anyway Doderlein necessary view... Here it is - Doderlein. "Operational Obstetrics"(M. Bulgakov).

For inanimate nouns, names can be transferred from inanimate objects to living ones: hungry bursa prowled through the streets of Kyiv and forced everyone to be careful(N. Gogol); Me saw off all warm and loving camera in full force, without party distinctions(E. Ginzburg); Prison doesn't like brave men(V.Shalamov). There are also many cases of occasional metonymic transfer affecting the semantics of the animate/inanimate substantive: - Fast! To the phone! A tube vibrated, fluttered, choked with anxiety, did not dare to speak fatal question. Only repeated with an interrogative intonation: “Is that you? It's you?"(E. Ginzburg); Once in the hospital I heard: “From the seventh ward nasal furuncle discharged» (V. Levy).

The semantic discrepancy in the aspect of animateness/inanimateness can be overcome due to the metaphorical transfer of the meaning of the noun. Combinations of inanimate nouns with animate-marked words can serve as an example, creating an artistic device of personification (personification): sitting on the forehead of a short man, Pimple with envy glanced on the foreheads of tall people and thought: “I wish I were in such a position!”(F.Krivin).

So, let's sum up. Animate and inanimate nouns designate not so much living and inanimate objects as objects, understood as both living and non-living. In addition, between the members of the opposition ‘thinkable as living / thinkable as inanimate’, there are a number of intermediate formations that combine the signs of the living and the inanimate, the presence of which is due to the associative mechanisms of thinking and other features of human mental activity, for example:

1) conceivable as having been alive ( dead person, deceased, departed and etc.);
2) mentally represented alive ( mermaid, goblin, cyborg and etc.);
3) conceivable as a semblance of a living ( doll, baby doll, jack, queen and etc.);
4) conceivable as a set of living things ( people, crowd, flock, herd and etc.).

Thus, the category of animate/inanimate nouns, like some other linguistic phenomena, reflects the anthropocentric attitude of human thinking, and the discrepancy between the linguistic picture of the world and scientific understanding is another manifestation of the subjective factor in the language.

1 Stepanov Y.S.. Fundamentals of general linguistics. M., 1975. S. 130.

2 Miloslavsky I.G. Morphological categories of the modern Russian language. M.: Nauka, 1981. S. 54.

3 Itskovich V.A.. Animate and inanimate nouns in the modern Russian language (norm and tendency) // Questions of Linguistics. 1980, No. 4. S. 85.

4 Gak V.G. Verbal compatibility and its reflection in the dictionaries of verb control // Lexicology and lexicography / Pod. ed. V.V. Morkovkin. M.: Russk. yaz., 1972. S. 68.

5 Aristotle. Physics // Works in 4 vols. M., 1981. T. 3. S. 226.

6 Itskovich V.A.. Animate and inanimate nouns in the modern Russian language (norm and tendency) // Questions of Linguistics. 1980, No. 4. S. 96.

7 Chesnokova L.D.. Pronouns Who, What and the semantics of animation - inanimateness in the modern Russian language // Russian Linguistics. Kyiv: Higher. school, 1987. Issue. 14, pp. 69–75.

It seems that it is easy to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects to the indecent: it's like a game of life and inanimate. But those who are guided by this principle are very much mistaken. Animation, as well as inanimateness, respectively, is a separate category in the characteristic that has nothing to do with the external features of some object. Here's how to explain the fact that, according to the rules, the word "corpse" is considered inanimate, and "dead" - animated? Act randomly? In no case! We'll figure out.

For the little ones

Let's start with the very basics. Animate and inanimate objects answer different questions - "who" and "what" respectively. It can be said that the formulation of the question is the most primitive, albeit very unreliable, way of defining this category. Usually children are introduced to him in the first or second grade. In order to practice this method, you can fill in the gaps with the students in the following text:

« In sleepy oblivion flows great (what?). Around (what?) and (what?). (Who?) Slowly moved the skis, shook off (what?) Hats from the ears. (Who?) quickly made a hole, and began (what?). Soon he pulled out a huge (who?). His mirror (what?) shone brightly in the sun". Words to be inserted: ice, scales, fisherman, frost, river, carp, snow, fishing. One word is repeated twice.

Grammar explanation

But it's worth moving on, right? How to determine whether an animate or inanimate object is based on rules, and not on intuition? The difference between these two categories lies in the different case forms of the nouns. Inanimate nouns have the same nominative and plural form, while animate nouns have the same genitive and accusative in the same number. Of course, it will be much easier to understand specific examples.

We take the noun cat". We put it in the plural "cats" and begin to decline: nominative - " cats”, genitive - “ cats", accusative -" cats"- as you can see, the forms of the genitive and accusative cases coincide. Whereas for the noun table”, which, to define this category, becomes “ tables» when declining « tables-tables-tables» the accusative and

Thus, the rule allows to separate an animate and inanimate object only when they are put in the plural and the subsequent declension. And then, already by the coincidence of case forms, this category is determined.

Exceptions

But, as you know, there are very few rules in Russian that do not have any exceptions. So, it is sometimes possible to separate animate and inanimate objects logically. Yes, all living beings will be animate, but at the same time, mythical creatures belong to the same category ( goblin-goblin-goblin-goblin) and toy names ( matryoshka-matryoshka-matryoshka) - here you can still find a logical explanation. As well as card and chess suit-pieces ( spades, spades, pawns, pawns, pawns), which even in their forms do not fit into this category.

Go ahead. Inanimate nouns, in turn, include large groups of people ( crowd-crowd-crowd) and some living organisms ( embryos-embryos-embryos; germs-germs-microbes) - it is impossible to explain this phenomenon, you just have to accept and remember.

More difficulties

I would also like to add that animate and inanimate objects in the grammatical sense have their own characteristics. So, for example, for animate masculine nouns, the forms of the genitive and accusative cases coincide and in the singular: Anton-Anton-Anton, accountant-accountant-accountant, however, this phenomenon is observed only in nouns of the second declension (compare: Dima-Dima-Dima, although it is also an animate masculine noun). So, in principle, this pattern can be used as another simple, albeit not very well-known, way to determine the category of animation in nouns.

I want to confuse

It is worth noting that in Russian there is an image of an inanimate object as animated. This is usually associated with the use of the word as an analogy to a living being: There is a mattress in the barn - Yes, the mattress is weak-willed! or Great and mighty is the Russian language! - This language (= captive) will tell us everything.

Exactly the same phenomenon occurs with the use of animate nouns as inanimate ones: A kite flies in the blue sky; The fighter went down. Here the category of animation and inanimateness is determined based on the semantic content of the noun.

It is worth noting that, despite all the requirements of teachers to use the rules, most students continue to rely on intuition. As the above examples show, inner instinct is not always a reliable assistant in matters of philology. We can definitely say that the names of professions, the names of people by family affiliation, nationality and other groups will always be animated, and the names of animals can also be included here. By the way, among animate nouns, according to some researchers, there are only masculine and feminine words, while the neuter gender is already inanimate, like all names of objects of nature and other objects.

Practice for the little ones

Now that we have figured out how to distinguish one category of nouns from another, it is worth summarizing all of the above. Animate and inanimate objects for preschoolers, who still have no idea what cases are, differ in terms of “who” and “what”, respectively. For practice, you can play with the kids in “living-non-living”, where the word is called, and the child must determine what this object is.

Or another interesting task for younger students is to offer a series of animate nouns that can be turned into inanimate ones by replacing one letter: fox (linden), goat (spit), heron (drop).

I would like to end the article on how to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects by saying that, no matter how simple this topic may seem, it is better not to tempt fate and not act at random, trusting intuition. A minute spent checking the category of a noun can sometimes change the way you think about it. So spare no effort and practice in the great and mighty Russian language.

Animated nouns include the names of persons and animals: man, daughter, son, Vera, Petrov, Dima, on duty, cow, goat, goose, starling, carp, spider etc. These are mostly masculine and feminine nouns. Nouns of the middle gender are few: child, creature (in meaning "living organism"), face (meaning "man"), words in -ische (monster, monster), substantivized adjectives and participles ( animal, insect, mammal). As a defining feature of animate nouns, the ability of the “objects” they call is often noted to independently move, move, which inanimate objects do not possess.

This semantic classification does not coincide with the scientific division of everything that exists in nature into living and non-living: in the sciences of nature, plants also belong to the living. It does not fit into the framework of the "everyday" understanding of the living and non-living. So, words are animate nouns dead man, deceased seemingly contrary to logic. Boiled duck, roast goose in grammar are also animate. This also includes a doll, a ball (in the language of billiard players), ace, trump, jack etc. - words that have nothing to do with the living world. The category of inanimate includes nouns denoting the totality of living beings ( people, crowd, platoon, flock, swarm, group etc.), as well as collective nouns like youth, peasantry, children, proletariat etc., denoting a set of persons.

The division of nouns into animate and inanimate is based not only on semantic grounds, but also on
grammatical. Accusative plural
for animate nouns it coincides with the genitive, and
for the inanimate - with the nominative. Wed:
I see trees, mountains, rivers, clouds, I see people, cows, birds,
flocks of insects, geese, buy cucumbers, notebooks, buttons, buy sheep, pigeons, dolls, ate tangerines, oranges, ate chickens, crayfish, served fried eggplant, served fried partridges.

In the singular, the distinction between animate and inanimate nouns is consistently expressed morphologically in masculine words. Cf.: inanimate nouns and animate nouns I’ll cook soup, broth, cook a goose, a rooster, see off the steamer, see off a friend, plant potatoes, plant a guest.

An exception is masculine words ending in -a. For them, as for feminine nouns, the accusative case does not coincide with either the genitive or the nominative. Compare: I. - boy, girl; R. - boys, girls; IN. - young man, girl.

In animate neuter nouns, as well as inanimate ones, in the singular the form of the accusative case coincides with the form of the im. case. For example: Oh, how I love this empty creature! moaned Pavel Petrovich(Turgenev). The same is observed for feminine nouns with a zero ending in them. case: I see a lynx, a mouse.

A deviation from the basic norm of expressing the meaning of animation is the formation of wine forms. pad. pl. h. with a preposition in nouns - the names of persons expressing attitudes towards a particular social group: student, nanny, livestock breeder, etc. In constructions with the meaning "become (do) what" these words form the form of wines. cases as inanimate nouns: to be promoted to general, to be elected to academicians, to enter the janitors, to join the partisans, a candidate for deputies and so on.

The names of microorganisms fluctuate between animate and inanimate nouns: microbe, bacillus, ciliate, bacterium, amoeba etc. They have two forms of the accusative case: study microbes and microbes; examine viruses and viruses in a microscope; destroy bacilli and bacilli. In the professional language, such words are usually used as animate nouns, and in the non-professional sphere as inanimate ones.

One and the same noun in one of its meanings can refer to animate, in another - to inanimate. So, the names of fish in direct meanings are animated nouns ( catch a crucian). Used as the names of foods, they act as inanimate nouns: eat sprats, invite for trout etc. Cf. Also: I see a huge stump And I see this stump (whom?) every day.

Animation / inanimateness in words is peculiarly manifested blockhead, idol, idol, idol etc., which figuratively designate people. In the meaning of “statue”, these words clearly gravitate to inanimate, and in the figurative meaning of a person, to animate nouns. True, this feature is expressed inconsistently. Wed: put up an idol and it is difficult to convince this idol, But: On the banks of the Danube, the Russians set up a wooden idol (A. N. Tolstoy); From shaving his beard, he creates an idol for himself (Saltykov-Shedrin) and ... to make an idol out of this old useless person (L. Tolstoy).

The names of works of art based on their heroes act as animated nouns. Wed: get to know Eugene Onegin and listen to "Eugene Onegin"; call Rudin and read "Rudin" and so on.

Wed Also: treated a Muscovite and bought "Moskvich", feed a horse and sculpt a horse, but feed a crocodile and buy a "Crocodile"; see a kite, let (launch) a kite and make kites.

The names of the ancient gods are animate nouns, and the names of the luminaries homonymous with them are inanimate: anger Mars and look at Mars, honor Jupiter and see Jupiter and etc.

The words type, image, character are used as inanimate nouns, which are the names of characters in works of art: create a strong character; characterize negative types and positive images. Wed: list the characters of the novel, the heroes of the fairy tale, the characters of the fable, But: bring out a comic character.

Animation is characteristic only for.

Animated nouns serve as the names of living beings, if they call people - personal, they designate animals - non-personal. Answer the question: Who?

Grammar indicator of animation is the coincidence of the form of the accusative case of the plural with the form of the genitive case of the plural. For you can use the singular form.

V. p. pl. number (whom?) = R. p. pl. numbers (who?)

• R. p.
• V. p.

• see

• schoolchildren
• schoolchildren

• bullfinch
• bullfinch

Animated nouns also include:

1. Gods and mythical creatures presented as living: goblin, brownie, mermaid.
   The ancients honored Jupiter.
2. Names of chess and card pieces: ace, jack, lady, king , horse, queen , bishop , rook , pawn .
3. Nouns for puppets: parsley, matryoshka, tumbler, snowman, robots.
4. Nouns denoting a deceased person: dead man, Deceased, drowned(noun dead body not included here).

Inanimate nouns

Inanimate nouns serve as the names of objects and phenomena of reality that are not classified as living beings. Answer the question: What?

Grammar Features: coincidence of the form of the accusative case of the plural with the form of the plural.

V. p. pl. numbers (what?) = I. p. pl. numbers (what?)

• I. p.
• V. p.

• There is
• see

• songs
• songs

• magazines
• magazines

Inanimate nouns are:

1. Denoting objects of inanimate nature: stone, mountains, rainbow, snow, soil, sea, sky.
2. Names of trees and plants: poplar, pine, spruce, chamomile, dandelions (the science of nature classifies them as living organisms!).
3. Denoting the totality of living beings: people, flock, army, crowd, battalion, regiment.
4. Names of heavenly bodies: Mars, Jupiter, Saturn , Uranus .
5. Names of fish dishes: sprats, sprat.
6. : students, humanity, youth, professors (do not have a grammatical indicator of animation).

Some nouns show fluctuations in relation to animate / inanimate, the names of microorganisms and invertebrates are included here: virus, bacterium, larva, microbes.

Babaitseva V.V. and Chesnokova L.D. in their textbook on the Russian language also consider grammatical indicators of animation and inanimateness.

Inanimate nouns are like animate if they denote living beings.

• this stump (animated) you won't turn.
• I remember this old hat (animated)

Animate nouns used to refer to inanimate objects continue to be declined as animate.

• Read Oblomov.
• Listen to Eugene Onegin.

Nouns type, character And image when applied to the characters of literary works, they are inclined as inanimate: V. p. pl. numbers = I. p. pl. numbers.