Его голос громкий.

His voice is loud.

Breakdown of Его голос громкий.

• его: his
• голос: the voice
• громкий: loud

Questions & Answers about Его голос громкий.

Why is there no word for “is” in Его голос громкий? In English we say “His voice is loud.”

Russian usually omits “to be” in the present tense when linking a noun and an adjective or a noun and a noun.

• Literal structure: Его голос (есть) громкий.
• The verb есть (“is/are”) is understood but normally left out in everyday modern Russian in the present tense.
• In the past and future, you need the verb:
  • Его голос был громкий. – His voice was loud.
  • Его голос будет громкий. – His voice will be loud.

So Его голос громкий = “His voice is loud,” even though there is no separate word for “is.”

What exactly is его here? Why not он or ему?

In Его голос громкий, его means “his” and functions as a possessive pronoun.

• он = “he” (nominative, subject form)
• его = “his / of him” (genitive form, used as possessive)
• ему = “to him / for him” (dative)

So:

• Его голос громкий. – His voice is loud.
• You cannot say Он голос громкий – that’s ungrammatical.
• You cannot say Ему голос громкий in this meaning either.

Think of его here as just “his,” attached to голос (“voice”):
его голос = his voice.

How do you pronounce его, and why does the г sound like v?

In normal speech, его is pronounced [йево] – “ye-vo”, not “ye-go.”

• Spelling: его
• Typical pronunciation: [йи-вО] / [йе-вО] (“ye-VO”)
• The written г in pronouns like его, его́, него́, могу́ very often corresponds to a /v/ sound in modern standard pronunciation.

So when you say Его голос громкий, it sounds like:

• [йиˈво ˈголəs ˈгромкʲий] – approximately “ye-VO GO-los GROM-kee.”

What gender and case is голос in this sentence, and how do we know?

Голос here is:

• Masculine
• Singular
• Nominative case

How to tell:

1. Dictionary form голос ends in a consonant → usually masculine.
2. In Его голос громкий, голос is the thing that “is loud” – it acts as the subject of the sentence.
3. Subjects normally appear in the nominative case.
4. The adjective громкий is in masculine nominative singular, which agrees with голос, confirming the case and gender.

So голос is the subject (nominative), and громкий is the predicate adjective describing it.

Why do we use the adjective громкий and not the adverb громко?

Because in this sentence we are describing a noun (голос “voice”), not how someone speaks or sounds as an action.

• громкий = loud (adjective) → describes a thing:
  • громкий голос – a loud voice
  • голос громкий – the voice is loud
• громко = loudly (adverb) → describes an action:
  • Он говорит громко. – He speaks loudly.

So:

• Его голос громкий. – His voice (noun) is loud (adjective).
• Он говорит громко. – He speaks (verb) loudly (adverb).

You can’t use громко directly after голос like this to describe the voice itself.

Why does громкий end in -ий and not in -ый (why not громкый)?

This is due to a Russian spelling rule.

After the consonants г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ, you cannot write -ы; you must write -и instead, even though the sound is usually close to [ɨ].

• The stem here is громк- (ending in к).
• Masculine adjective ending would normally be -ый, but after к you must write -ий:
  • громк
    • ий → громкий, not громкый.

Other examples:

• легкий (not легкый)
• тихий (not тихый)

So громкий follows the spelling rule after к.

What is the difference between Его голос громкий and У него громкий голос? Both mean “He has a loud voice,” right?

Both can describe the same reality, but they focus slightly differently.

1. Его голос громкий.

   • Literally: “His voice is loud.”
   • Focuses on the voice itself as the topic.
   • Used when we’re already talking about his voice, or describing qualities of the voice.

2. У него громкий голос.

   • Literally: “At him [there is] a loud voice” → “He has a loud voice.”
   • Focuses more on the person and what he has.
   • Very natural when introducing a new characteristic:
     У него громкий голос, и его хорошо слышно. – He has a loud voice, and you can hear him well.

Both are correct and common.
Его голос громкий = more like a description of the voice;
У него громкий голос = more like “he possesses a loud voice.”

Can we say Его голос громок instead of Его голос громкий? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say Его голос громок. It means the same basic thing: “His voice is loud,” but there is a difference in style and nuance.

• громкий – full (long) adjective form

  • Neutral, everyday, very common.
  • Works in all positions: громкий голос, голос громкий.

• громок – short adjective form

  • More literary, bookish, or stylistically marked in modern Russian.
  • Used mainly in the predicate (after the noun):
    Голос громок. – The voice is loud.

So:

• Его голос громкий. – completely neutral, everyday speech.
• Его голос громок. – sounds more elevated, written, or poetic.

Is it possible to change the word order, for example Громкий его голос or Громкий голос у него? Do these mean the same thing?

You can change the word order, but the function and emphasis may change.

1. Его голос громкий.

   • Predicate structure: голос (есть) громкий.
   • Literally: “His voice is loud.”

2. Громкий его голос.

   • Here громкий is an attribute before the noun.
   • This sounds poetic or stylistic, something like:
     • “His loud voice...” (as a noun phrase, often followed by more text).
   • Usually not a full standalone sentence in neutral style.

3. Громкий голос у него.

   • Very natural colloquial order:
     • Literally: “Loud is the voice he has.”
   • Emphasizes громкий голос first, then adds у него as “he’s the one who has it.”
   • Close in meaning to У него громкий голос, with a bit of emphasis on how loud the voice is.

So:

• Его голос громкий. – normal neutral sentence “His voice is loud.”
• Громкий его голос. – more of a phrase “His loud voice...”, poetic/unfinished as a sentence.
• Громкий голос у него. – conversational, emphatic order: “He sure has a loud voice.”

Can его here mean “its” as well as “his”?

Yes. Его is used for “his” and “its” (and also “his/him” in other cases), depending on context.

• Его голос громкий.
  • Could mean:
    • “His voice is loud.” (a man/boy)
    • “Its voice is loud.” (an animal, or even a personified object)

Russian doesn’t have a separate masculine “his” vs neuter “its” in this form. Его covers both.
Context (who or what you were talking about before) tells you whether it is his or its.

Could we omit его and just say Голос громкий? Would that still be correct?

Yes, Голос громкий is grammatically correct and means “The voice is loud” or “A voice is loud.”

• Голос громкий. – “The voice is loud.”

  • Used when the owner is obvious from context, or the owner doesn’t matter:
    • For example, you’re listening through a wall and say:
      Голос громкий, даже слова слышно. – The voice is loud; you can even hear the words.

• Его голос громкий. – “His voice is loud.”

  • Explicitly says whose voice it is.

So you can drop его if you:

• don’t care whose voice it is, or
• the owner is already completely clear from the context.