If you already started to learn Russian, you probably know that there are six cases in the Russian language. Accusative case, along with the Prepositional, by a lot of the Russian teachers is claimed to be one of the easiest cases and therefore is one of the first to learn. In this article, we are going to talk about the Russian name of the Accusative case and its usage.
Why is it called ‘Винительный’?
There are several theories why it was called like this, but the most popular is that it was a direct translation from a Latin word accusativus that had two meanings: ’accusative’ and ‘causative’. Russian, like many other languages, chose the first one with the root ‘to accuse’ – винить.
When do we use the Accusative case?
The Accusative case is mostly used without prepositions, there are only a few meanings that need prepositions: direction (or moving) and time (in a week, it two days, etc.). Let us look closer at the Russian Accusative.
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Free and effective!1. When we talk about moving:
Remember that when you are somewhere and not moving, you should use the Prepositional case but when you are moving to some place, use the Accusative with the prepositions в or на.
– Я еду в парк.
I am driving to the park.
– Он идёт на лекцию.
He is going to the lecture.
2. When we talk about time:
If you want to say that something happened a year ago or will happen in a week, you also need the Accusative.
– Год назад они переехали в Финляндию.
A year ago, they moved to Finland.
– Через неделю у меня экзамен.
I have an exam in a week.
3. When we talk about a person:
– that you want to thank or congratulate
Поздравлять (to congratulate) and благодарить (to thank) are two important verbs that we use referring to a person:
– Я поздравляю тебя с Днём рождения!
I wish you a happy birthday!
– Он благодарит её за подарок.
He is thanking her for the present.
– that you want to introduce
This you probably already know, but we always use the Accusative case before the verb звать (to call or to be named as).
– Меня зовут Александра.
My name is Alexandra.
– Её зовут Юлия.
Her name is Julia.
4. And with certain other verbs:
For example, when you talk about something or someone you love:
– Я люблю белый шоколад.
I love white chocolate.
– Он очень любит своего кота.
He loves his cat very much.
Your Russian language teacher will introduce you to more verbs that prefer the Accusative case, but we hope that our list helped you to structure your knowledge or showed you that the Russian Accusative is not difficult nor scary, and you will be able to use the Accusative while attending Russian language school or during private classes. Good luck!