Exploring the Nature Reserve
Before we start tracking wildlife, let's get familiar with our surroundings. We will be spending time in a nature reserve (заповедник).
| We work in this nature reserve. | Мы работаем в этом заповеднике. |
| Inside the nature reserve we found a lake. | Внутри заповедника мы нашли озеро. |
Animal Possessive Adjectives
To talk about animal tracks, anatomy, and behaviors, Russian uses special possessive adjectives. While standard adjectives describe qualities (like "big" or "grey"), possessive adjectives tell us whose something is (like "bear's" or "bird's").
For animals, these adjectives have a unique set of endings in the Nominative case:
- Masculine: -ий (e.g., медвежий — bear's)
- Feminine: -ья (e.g., медвежья)
- Neuter: -ье (e.g., медвежье)
- Plural: -ьи (e.g., медвежьи)
| I see a bear's track here. | Я вижу здесь медвежий след. |
| Although a bear's paw is huge, it is very soft. | Хотя медвежья лапа огромная, она очень мягкая. |
| He has a bird's feather. | У него есть птичье перо. |
These adjectives can be formed from almost any animal. Common examples include собачий (dog's), кошачий (cat's), волчий (wolf's), птичий (bird's), and заячий (hare's).
| Among the trees we found a wolf's track. | Среди деревьев мы нашли волчий след. |
| This grey fur is wolf's. | Эта серая шерсть — волчья. |
| Cat's eyes see well in the dark. | Кошачьи глаза хорошо видят в темноте. |
| This is not a wolf's, but a dog's track. | Это не волчий, а собачий след. |
Declining Animal Possessives
When these possessive adjectives change cases, they follow a special pattern. In almost all forms other than the Nominative (and inanimate Accusative), a soft sign (ь) appears before the ending. This soft sign separates the preceding soft consonant from the ending's vowel.
| Case | Masculine / Neuter | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -ий / -ье | -ья | -ьи |
| Genitive | -ьего | -ьей | -ьих |
| Dative | -ьему | -ьей | -ьим |
| Accusative | (like Nom or Gen) / -ье | -ью | (like Nom or Gen) |
| Instrumental | -ьим | -ьей | -ьими |
| Prepositional | -ьем | -ьей | -ьих |
Notice how the ь is preserved across these different oblique cases:
| We recognized the beast by the wolf's tail. | Мы узнали зверя по волчьему хвосту. |
| We went to the supermarket for cat food. | Мы пошли в супермаркет за кошачьим кормом. |
| We walked past an old bird cage. | Мы прошли мимо старой птичьей клетки. |
| There is not a single hare track on the snow. | На снегу ни одного заячьего следа. |