Expressing Need: The "To Me Is Needed" Structure
In English, we say "I need a flashlight." In Russian, this idea is flipped: you say "To me is needed a flashlight."
To build this structure, the person who needs something takes the Dative case. Here are the most common Dative pronouns you will see in this lesson:
- мне (to me)
- тебе (to you, informal)
- ему (to him)
- ей (to her)
- нам (to us)
- им (to them)
The thing being needed is the actual grammatical subject of the sentence (in the Nominative case). Because of this, the word for "needed"—the short adjective нужен—must change its ending to match the gender and number of the object, not the person.
| Gender / Number | Form |
|---|
| Masculine | нужен |
| Feminine | нужна |
| Neuter | нужно |
| Plural | нужны |
Masculine Needs: нужен
When the object you need is a masculine noun (like фонарик or клей), use the masculine form нужен. Notice how the person needing it can be anyone, but the form нужен stays the same because it agrees with the masculine object.
Feminine Needs: нужна
When you need a feminine noun (like отвёртка or верёвка), use the feminine form нужна.
Neuter Needs: нужно
If the object you need is a neuter noun (like топливо), use the neuter form нужно.
Plural Needs: нужны
Finally, when you need multiple items or a plural noun (like гвозди or спички), use the plural form нужны.
