1. Instrumental Case

2. Using the Instrumental Case за домом над столом перед рекой под водой с учителем The instrumental case is widely used to describe one's job – - Я работаю учителем (I work as a teacher) - Отец был рабочим (The father was a worker). It is also used in space and time phrases. -ехать полем (to go through the field) -проснуться утром (to wake up in the morning) -вернуться летом (to come back in summer). The instrumental case is used after such prepositions as за (behind), между (between), над (over), перед (in front of), под (under), c (with). For example:

3. The instrumental case is used to denote the means by which some actions is carried out. In the phrase, 'Boris wrote a letter to school with a pencil', there are four items: Boris wrote a letter to school with a pencil. Finally, the complete sentence is: Борис писал письмо школе карандашом. – Notice that the words 'a', 'to', 'with', etc, are omitted in Russian and instead controlled by grammatical endings. 'To school' is the thing that's being indirectly verbed, so it's the indirect object of the verb. Thus, the word школа is in its dative form, школе, and means 'to school'. 'Boris' is the person who is doing, or did, or will do, the verb, so he is the subject of the verb. Thus, the word Бори́с is in its nominative form. 'With a pencil' is the thing that allows the verb to be done, or is the means by which it is done. Kарандаш is in its instrumental form, карандашо́м, and means 'with a pencil' 'A letter' is the thing that's being verbed, the direct object of the verb. Thus, the word письмо is in its accusative form.

4. So the instrumental case is so called because it denotes the instrument by which some task is carried out, and this is its primary meaning. Thus, a word in the instrumental case can be translated by adding the words 'with' or 'by'.

5. Prepositions Like the other cases, there are prepositions which can place whatever comes after them in the instrumental case. There are six in total: С(о), над, под, за, перед, and между. C(o) + inst means 'with'. This may be confusing, as the primary meaning of the instrumental case on its own is also 'with'. There are two concepts that are both conveyed by the English word 'with', but are conveyed separately in Russian. – 'by means of' ('He built it with his hands') is conveyed by the instrumental case on its own ('his hands' in their inst. form). – 'accompanied with' ('He built it with her') is conveyed by c(o) followed by the instrumental case ('with her' is c + inst.). – the manner in which something is done ('He built it with ease'). In both of these uses, c(o) inst is the antonym of без + gen ('without'). Над means 'over' or 'above', and под means 'under' or 'beneath'. Под + inst means 'under' if there is no motion involved - if there's motion, use под + acc instead ('The book is under the bed' - no movement, 'The book slid under the bed' - movement). Под + inst can also mean 'physically near', and под + acc can mean 'temporally near' or 'near in time' ('They live near the city' - physically near).acc Перед means 'before' or 'in front of' in terms of positioning, and can also indicate responsibility ('The dog is in front of the house', 'The dog walked in front of the house', 'the family has a responsibility to the dog'). Между means 'between' or 'among', similar to среди + gen, 'among' (e.g., 'He stood between them'). За generally means 'behind' or 'beyond', but has a few nuances to it. Like под, when no motion is involved, the instrumental case is used. When motion is involved, however, the accusative case is used ('It's behind the house' - под + inst, 'It went behind the house' - под + acc).

6. Uses of the Instrumental 1. To indicate an instrument to carry out the action. Example: Студент пишет ручкой. – The student is writing with a pen. – The word ручкой (with a pen) is the instrumental case form of the word ручка (pen) and indicates the instrument to carry out the action писать (to write). 2. In a Passive voice construction, to indicate the author of the action. Example: Работа сделана студентом. – The work has been done by the student. – The word студентом (by the student) is the instrumental case form of the word студент (student) and indicates the author of the action сделать (to do). 3. After certain verbs: быть - to be называться - to be called, to assume the name становиться - to become являться - to be, to serve as управлять - to govern увлекаться - to take a great interest (in smth.) восхищаться - to admire 4. After certain prepositions: за - behind между - between над - above перед - in front of, before под - under с - with 5. With parts of the day and seasons of the year in expressions like: утром - in the morning днём - in the afternoon весной - in spring летом - in summer

7. Formation: General Rules GenderSingularPlural Masculine-ом / -ем / -ём -ами / -ями Feminine-ой / -ей / -ёй / -ю Neuter-ом /-ем These rules cover the vast majority of Russian nouns. However, you should be aware that rules described below may have other exceptions. Instrumental case endings The table below represents regular endings for singular and plural instrumental case forms: * Add -ами to masculine nouns ending in a consonant, neuter nouns ending in -o and -e and feminine nouns ending in -a. Add -ями to masculine nouns ending in a -ь, neuter nouns ending in -e and feminine nouns ending in -я, -ь.

8. Instrumental Singular: Masculine nouns 1. Nouns ending in a consonant should add the ending -ом. However, following the Spelling rule №3 nouns ending -ж, -ч, -щ, -ш can not be followed be the letter -о if the ending is not stressed, and take the unstressed ending -ем.Spelling rule №3 Examples: театр - театром (theater) парк - парком (park) гараж - гаражом (garage) - the ending is stressed BUT массаж - массажем (massage) - the ending is not stressed 2. Nouns ending in -ь and -й may have endings -ем or -ём. The choice of the ending will depend on the stress. When the ending is not stressed, the word will drop -ь or -й and add the ending to -ем. If the ending is stressed, the word will drop -ь or -й and add the ending to -ём. It should be noticed that there are not many words with the stressed ending -ём in the instrumental case. Examples: музей - музеем (museum), the ending is not stressed писатель - писателем (writer), the ending is not stressed секретарь - секретарём (secretary), the ending is stressed 3. Masculine nouns ending in -a/-я (see: Masculine nouns) form the accusative case forms following the rules for feminine nouns (see below).Masculine nouns

9. Instrumental Singular: Feminine nouns 1. Nouns ending in -а should drop the final vowel and add the ending -ой. However, following the Spelling rule №3 nouns ending -жа, -ча, -ща, -ша, -ца can not be followed be the letter -о if the ending is not stressed, and take the unstressed ending -ей.Spelling rule №3 Examples: проблема - проблемой (problem) ручка - ручкой (pen) лапша - лапшой (noodles) - the ending is stressed душа - душой (soul) - the ending is stressed BUT курица - курицей (chicken) - the ending is not stressed 2. Nouns ending in -я may have endings -ей or -ёй. The choice of the ending will depend on the stress. When the ending is not stressed, the word will drop -я and add the ending to -ей. If the ending is stressed, the word will drop -я and add the ending to -ёй. Examples: неделя - неделей (week)- the ending is not stressed станция - станцией (station)- the ending is not stressed семья - семьёй (family) - the ending is stressed 3. Nouns ending in -ь add the ending -ю: Examples: дверь - дверью (door) ночь - ночью (night)

10. Instrumental Singular: Neuter nouns 1. Nouns ending in -o change their ending to -ом: Examples: окно - окном (window) кресло - креслом (armchair) 2. Nouns ending in -е change their ending to -ем: Examples: море - морем (sea) здание - зданием (building) 3. Nouns ending in -мя (see: Neuter nouns ending in -мя) change -я to -енем:Neuter nouns ending in -мя Examples: имя - именем (name) время - временем (time)

11. Instrumental plural: Masculine nouns 1. Nouns ending in a consonant add the ending -ами: Examples: театр - театрами (theater) парк - парками (park) 2. Nouns ending in -ь and -й change their final letters to -ям: Examples: музей - музеями (museum) писатель - писателями (writer) 3. Masculine nouns ending in -a/-я (see: Masculine nouns) form their instrumental case forms following the rules for feminine nouns (see below).Masculine nouns

12. Instrumental plural: Feminine nouns 1. Nouns ending in -а change their ending to -ами: Examples: улица - улицами (street) проблема - проблемами (problem) 2. Nouns ending in -я and in -ь change -я and -ь to -ями: Examples: неделя - неделями (week) дверь - дверями (door) станция - станциями (station) идея - идеями (idea) семья - семьями (family)

13. Instrumental plural: Neuter nouns 1. Nouns ending in -o change their ending to -ами: Examples: окно - окнами (window) кресло - креслами (armchair) 2. Nouns ending in -е change their ending to -ями: Examples: море - морями (sea) здание - зданиями (building) 3. Nouns ending in -мя (see: Neuter nouns ending in -мя) change -я to - енами:Neuter nouns ending in -мя Examples: имя - именами (name) время - временами (time)

14. Practice: Listen to the dialogues below and complete the exercises. http://www.russianforfree.com/lessons- russian-cases-09.php

15. Additional Resources: http://www.russianforfree.com/lessons- russian-cases-09.php http://www.russianforfree.com/lessons- russian-cases-09.php http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/nou ns_instrumental.php http://www.russianlessons.net/grammar/nou ns_instrumental.php http://masterrussian.com/aa073000a.shtml http://www.russianlessons.net/lessons/lesson 14_main.php http://www.russianlessons.net/lessons/lesson 14_main.php http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Russian/Gramm ar/Instrumental_case http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Russian/Gramm ar/Instrumental_case