When talking about a person's profession or career path, use the Instrumental case. This happens most often with the verbs быть (to be) and стать (to become).
To form the Instrumental case for professions, change the noun ending:
- Nouns ending in a hard consonant add -ом. (Most professions fall here, like юрист or дизайнер).
- Nouns ending in a soft sign (-ь) replace it with -ем (like водитель).
- Nouns ending in -а replace it with -ой (like медсестра).
Keep in mind that most profession words in Russian are grammatically masculine. They keep their masculine endings even when referring to a woman.
Becoming a Professional
To say someone wants or decides to enter a profession, use стать (to become) followed by the Instrumental case.
| My brother wants to become a programmer. | Мой брат хочет стать программистом. |
| Anna decided to become a designer. | Анна решила стать дизайнером. |
| Why do you want to become a driver? | Почему ты хочешь стать водителем? |
Past Professions
To say what someone used to be, use the past tense of быть (был, была, были) with the Instrumental case.
| Ivan used to be a lawyer. | Раньше Иван был юристом. |
| My mom was a cook in a famous restaurant. | Моя мама была поваром в известном ресторане. |
| My grandmother used to be a nurse. | Раньше моя бабушка была медсестрой. |
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