You’ve probably noticed that a lot of kids start learning words with nouns—besides sound imitations, of course. They say “mom,” “dad,” “dog,” “cat,” and so on. Only after that do they start to glue sentences together with verbs and add adjectives. It’s just so easy to point at something and pronounce its name—causing loud excitement in the rows of grannies and grandads.

It’s actually a great way for grownups to study as well. You can put stickers with Russian nouns on things around you, practice saying the names of things in Russian while walking down the street, or talk about what you’re eating during dinner with Russian friends. It may also be helpful to make learning cards and draw pictures on them.

In this article, RussianPod101 will help you take your first steps to language fluency and teach you the most common nouns in the Russian language. Also, we’ll help familiarize you with Russian noun declension, Russian noun endings, and Russian gender nouns. Nouns in Russian grammar might look complicated at first, but they’re actually quite simple. You’ll see!



Table of Contents

1. Nouns in Russian Grammar
2. Top 100 Most Common Nouns in the Russian Language
3. Conclusion

1. Nouns in Russian Grammar

Before we head to our Russian list of nouns, there are some grammar rules you need to be aware of. Trust us when we say that you’ll be able to learn Russian nouns a lot more painlessly once you have these down and understand how Russian nouns change. In turn, this will make your future Russian nouns lessons so much easier and you’ll be speaking perfect Russian a whole lot quicker!

1- Russian Grammatical Gender

The first thing that you need to know about Russian nouns, before we get to our list of the 100 most common Russian nouns, is that every one of them has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. You’ll avoid a lot of difficulties with the Russian declension of nouns if you pay attention to what gender the new noun is while learning it.

Sometimes, the gender will be easy to remember: мама (mama), or “mom,” is feminine, and папа (papa), or “dad,” is masculine. But sometimes it will get tricky: окно (okno), meaning “window,” is neuter, while дверь (dver’), meaning “door,” is feminine. Why?

You can use your imagination to create an explanation that will help you remember better. Maybe дверь (dver’) is feminine because in old times, Russian girls put beautiful ornaments on them, or because once you enter the door the women’s realm begins. The crazier your imagination works, the better you’ll remember. ;)

Besides gender, Russian nouns can be plural and singular, like in English. Further, some nouns only have a plural form, such as the word деньги (den’gi), or “money.”

2- Russian Noun Cases

The next thing that you should know in order to put nouns in Russian sentences correctly is that they have grammatical cases. Instead of learning the name of all the Russian nouns cases by heart, just try to understand them—then you’ll make a great step toward the innate feeling of Russian language grammar.

Here are the Russian cases of nouns, with explanations and examples:

1. Nominative case. This is the main noun in a sentence, the noun that is doing something. You can practice finding nominative nouns in English sentences:

– A cat is playing with a mouse. (Answer: Cat.)
– An apple is on the table. (Answer: Apple.)

Though the apple here isn’t actually doing anything, the verb “is,” in this case, is still a verb, so the case of “apple” will be nominative.

Now, try to find a nominative case noun in a Russian sentence :

– Мама любит меня ( lyubit menya) — “Mom loves me.”
– Папа работает (Papa rabotayet) — “Dad works.”

2. Genitive case. In English, this case is usually shown with the possessive ending -s. But the Russian language has made a special case for it. Once you see that something belongs to someone in a sentence, then the noun in that Russian phrase should be in the genitive case. Look at the examples:

– Это книга Маши (Eto kniga Mashi) — “This is the book of Masha.”

Маша (Masha) is a very common Russian girls’ name. The book belongs to Masha, which is why her name is in the genitive case.

– У сестры есть собака (U sestry yest’ sobaka) — “(My) sister has a dog.”

You’re probably wondering how to distinguish the nominative and genitive cases here. Well, there’s a small trick: The nominative case never has a preposition, but the genitive case, like the one here, sometimes does have ne.

3. Dative case. This case is used when something is given, thrown, read, etc. to a noun. In English, this is usually expressed with the article “to”:

– Папа читает книгу сыну (Papa chitayet knigu synu) — “Dad is reading a book to (his) son.”

Here, the word “son” is in the dative case.

4. Accusative case. This case is usually paired with the nominative case. While the nominative noun is doing something, the accusative noun is the noun receiving the action:

– Папа любит машины (Papa lyubit mashiny) — “Dad loves cars.”

Here, the word “cars” is in the accusative case.

5. Instrumental case. The noun in this case is an instrument with which something is done:

– Я пишу ручкой (Ya pishu ruchkoy) — “I write with a pen.”

Here, the word “pen” is in the instrumental case.

6. Prepositional case. This case is mostly used with Russian prepositions:

– В машине тепло (V mashine teplo) — “It’s warm in the car.”
– На столе лежит книга (Na stole lezhit kniga) — “There is a book lying on the table.”

3- Russian Noun Declension

Now you’re ready to start putting nouns in Russian sentences. There are three ways to go about Russian noun declension. It’s easy to tell which way to use because it’s based on a noun’s ending: 1) –а/-я (-a/-ya) 2) No ending 3) -o/-e (-o/-ye).

Before having a look at the table of declension endings, here’s an exercise.

Below you’ll find a list with the most-used Russian nouns. For every noun, there’s an example of how to use those nouns in Russian phrases or sentences. Study the sentences and try to understand what noun case it’s in. Pay attention to the noun endings, both in the vocabulary form shown in the list, and the case form in the sentence. Is there a difference? What difference is that? Search for grammar patterns to better understand the Russian nouns declension.

Now, you’re ready to dig into our list of the 100 most common Russian nouns.

2. Top 100 Most Common Nouns in the Russian Language

1- People

• Человек (chelovek) — “person; human”
  • Высокий человек (vysokiy chelovek) — “a tall person”


• Друг (drug) — “friend”
  • Лучший друг (luchshiy drug) — “the best friend”


• Ребёнок (rebyonok) — “child; kid”
  • Милый ребёнок (milyy rebyonok) — “a cute kid”


• Женщина (zhenshchina) — “woman.”
  • Красивая женщина (krasivaya zhenhschina) — “a beautiful woman”


• Мужчина (muzhchina) — “man”
  • Сильный мужчина (sil’nyy muzhchina) — “a strong man”


• Мальчик (mal’chik) — “boy”
  • Маленький мальчик (malen’kiy mal’chik) — “a little boy”


• Девочка (devochka) — “girl”
  • Взрослая девочка (vzroslaya devochka) — “a grown-up girl”


• Девушка (devushka) — “young woman; girl; girlfriend”
  • Это моя девушка (Eto moya devushka) — “This is my girlfriend.”


• Парень (paren’) — “young man; boy; boyfriend”
  • Это мой парень (Eto moy paren’) — “This is my boyfriend.”


• Имя (imya) — “name”
  • У тебя красивое имя (U tebya krasivoye imya) — “Your name is beautiful.”


• Фамилия (familiya) — “surname; family name”
  • Моя фамилия – Иванов (Moya familiya – Ivanov) — “My surname is Ivanov.”


• Начальник (nachal’nik) — “boss”
  • Строгий начальник (strogiy nachal’nik) — “a strict boss”


• Гость (gost’) — “visitor; guest”
  • Дорогой гость (dorogoy gost’) — “a dear guest”

To talk about people, it’s important to know about job titles. We’ve prepared a special vocabulary list with jobs in Russian and an article about how to find a job in Russia.

2- Family

• Семья (sem’ya) — “family”
• У меня большая семья (U menya bol’shaya sem’ya) — “I have a big family.”


• Отец (otets) — “father”
• Мой отец – программист (Moy otets – programmist) — “My father is a programmer.”


• Папа (papa) — “dad”
• Мой папа много работает (Moy papa mnogo rabotayet) — “My dad works a lot.”
• Compared to the previous word, this word is mostly used by children and girls.


• Мама (mama) — “mother”
• Я люблю свою маму (Ya lyublyu svoyu mamu) — “I love my mom.”


• Сын (syn) — “son”
• Мой сын уже вырос (Moy syn uzhe vyros) — “My son has already grown up.”


• Дочь (doch’) — “daughter”
• У него есть маленькая дочь (U nego yest’ malen’kaya doch’) — “He has a small daughter.”


• Брат (brat) — “brother”
• Старший брат, младший брат (Starshiy brat, mladshiy brat) — “an elder brother, a younger brother”


• Сестра (sestra) — “sister”
• Старшая сестра, младшая сестра (Starshaya sestra, mladshaya sestra) — “an elder sister, a younger sister”


• Жена (zhena) — “wife”
• Любимая жена (lyubimaya zhena) — “a dear wife”


• Муж (muzh) — “husband”
• Любимый муж (lyubimyy muzh) — “a dear husband”

If you wanna know more Russian family-related words, read our full guide on talking about relatives in Russian.

3- Place

Now, let’s get to location nouns in Russian vocabulary.

• Место (mesto) — “place”
• Положи это на место (Polozhi eto na mesto) — “Put it in its place.”


• Земля (zemlya) — “earth; Earth”
• Мы живём на планете Земля (My zhivyom na planete Zemlya) — “We live on the planet Earth.”


• Город (gorod) — “town; city”
• Мой родной город – Берлин (Moy rodnoy gorod – Berlin) — “My hometown is Berlin.”


• Улица (ulitsa) — “street”
• Я живу на улице Ленина (Ya zhivu na ulitse Lenina) — “I live on Lenina Street.”


• Москва (Moskva) — “Moscow”
• Я хочу побывать в Москве (Ya khochu pobyvat’ v Moskve) — “I want to visit Moscow.”


• Страна (strana) — “country”
• Ты из какой страны? (Ty iz kakoy strany?) — “What country are you from?”


• Россия (Rossiya) — “Russia”
• Я люблю Россию (Ya lyublyu Rossiyu) — “I love Russia.”


• Дорога (doroga) — “road”
• В дорогу! (V dorogu!) — “Let’s go! Let’s start our journey!”
• This phrase is usually used before a long trip or a long ride.

4- Nature

• Лес (les) — “forest”
• Я хочу поехать в лес за грибами (Ya khochu poyekhat’ v les za gribami) — “I want to go to the forest to pick mushrooms.”


• Воздух (vozdukh) — “air”
• Воздух такой свежий! (Vozdukh takoy svezhiy!) — “The air is so fresh!”


• Огонь (ogon’) — “fire”
• Он разжёг огонь (On razzhyog ogon’) — “He made a fire.”


• Вода (voda) — “water”
• Воду без газа, пожалуйста (Vodu bez gaza, pozhaluysta) — “Water without gas, please.”


• Ветер (veter) — “wind”
• Ветер такой сильный, я замёрз (Veter takoy sil’nyy, ya zamyorz) — “The wind is so strong, I’ve frozen.”


• Солнце (solntse) — “sun”
• Солнце печёт (Solntse pechyot) — “The sun is so strong.”


• Луна (luna) — “moon”
• Смотри, сегодня полная луна (Smotri, segodnya polnaya luna) — “Look, there is a full moon today.”


• Дерево (derevo) — “tree”
• Давай присядем у того дерева (Davay prisyadem u togo dereva) — “Let’s have a seat near that tree.”


• Снег (sneg) — “snow”
• Снег идёт (Sneg idyot) — “It’s snowing.”


• Небо (nebo) — “sky”
• На небе ни тучки (Na nebe ni tuchki) — “Not a single cloud in the sky.”


• Море (more) — “sea”
• Я хочу на море! (Ya khochu na more!) — “I wanna go to the seaside!”

5- Animals

• Животное (zhivotnoye) — “animal”
• У тебя есть домашние животные? (U tebya yest’ domashniye zhivotnyye?) — “Do you have any pets?”


• Собака (sobaka) — “dog”
• У меня есть собака (U menya yest’ sobaka) — “I have a dog.”


• Кошка (koshka) — “cat (female)”
• У меня есть кошка (U menya yest’ koshka) — “I have a cat.”


• Кот (kot) — “cat (male)”
• Ласковый кот (Laskovyy kot) — “an affectionate, sweet cat”


• Комар (komar) — “mosquito”
• Комар жужжит под ухом (Komar zhuzhzhit pod ukhom) — “A mosquito is buzzing near my ear.”


• Рыба (ryba) — “fish”
• Я бы хотел рыбу на ужин, а ты? (Ya by khotel rybu na uzhin, a ty?) — “I’d love some fish for dinner, what about you?”

6- House

• Дом (dom) — “house”
• Двухэтажный дом (dvukhetazhnyy dom) — “two-storied house”


• Квартира (kvartira) — “flat; apartment”
• Двухкомнатная квартира (dvukhkomnatnaya kvartira) — “an apartment with two rooms”


• Дверь (dver’) — “door”
• Закрыть дверь на ключ (zakryt’ dver’ na klyuch) — “to close the door with a key”


• Окно (okno) — “window”
• Открыть окно (otkryt’ okno) — “to open the window”


• Стол (stol) — “table”
• Положи на стол (Polozhi na stol) — “Put (it) on the table.”


• Комната (komnata) — “room”
• Это моя комната (Eto moya komnata) — “This is my room.”


• Книга (kniga) — “book”
• Моя любимая книга (moya lyubimaya kniga) — “my favorite book”


• Свет (svet) — “light”
• Включи свет, пожалуйста. (Vklyuchi svet, pozhaluysta.) — “Switch on the light, please.”

Wanna know how to name other things around your house? Here’s our vocabulary list on home appliances.

7- Daily Life

• Деньги (den’gi) — “money”
• Зарабатывать деньги (zarabatyvat’ den’gi) — “to earn money”
• Note that this noun doesn’t have a singular form; it’s always in the plural form.


• Работа (rabota) — “work; job”
• Я люблю свою работу (Ya lyublyu svoyu rabotu) — “I love my job.”


• Письмо (pis’mo) — “letter; e-mail”
• Отправить письмо (otpravit’ pis’mo) — “to send a letter”


• Школа (shkola) — “school”
• Ходить в школу (khodit’ v shkolu) — “to go to school”


• Университет (universitet) — “university”
• Я учусь в университете (Ya uchus’ v universitete) — “I study in university.”


• Машина (mashina) — “car”
• Я приехал на машине (Ya priyekhal na mashine) — “I came by car.”


• Компьютер (komp’yuter) — “computer”
• Работать за компьютером (rabotat’ za komp’yuterom) — “to work from the computer”


• Ноутбук (noutbuk) — “laptop”
• Включить ноутбук (vklyuchit’ noutbuk) — “to switch on a laptop”


• Телефон (telefon) — “phone”
• Мобильный телефон (mobil’nyy telefon) — “mobile phone”


• Наушники (naushniki) — “earphones”
• У тебя есть наушники? (U tebya yest’ naushniki?) — “Do you have earphones?”


• Зарядка (zaryadka) — “charger”
• У тебя есть зарядка для телефона? (U tebya yest’ zaryadka dlya telefona?) — “Do you have a phone charger?”


• Сайт (sayt) — “website”
• Искать на сайте (iskat’ na sayte) — “to search on the website”


• Приложение (prilozheniye) — “app”
• Открой приложение (Otkroy prilozheniye) — “Open the app.”


• Игра (igra) — “game”
• Крутая игра (krutaya igra) — “a cool game”


• Помощь (pomoshch’) — “help”
• Тебе нужна помощь? (Tebe nuzhna pomoshch’?) — “Do you need help?”


• Завтрак (zavtrak) — “breakfast”
• Полезный завтрак (poleznyy zavtrak) — “healthy breakfast”


• Обед (obed) — “lunch”
• Перерыв на обед (pereryv na obed) — “lunch break”


• Ужин (uzhin) — “dinner”
• Ужин при свечах (uzhin pri svechakh) — “dinner with candle-lights (usually romantic)”

The digital world has already become a huge part of our lives, so for more words needed for the Internet, check out our vocabulary list.

For students, daily life vocabulary will be full of nouns essential for school. Have a look at our vocabulary list on this topic.

Also, if you’re planning to visit Russia, you’ll find a vocabulary list about restaurants useful.

8- Time

• Время (vremya) — “time”
• У меня нет времени, говори быстрее (U menya net vremeni, govori bystreye) — “I don’t have time, talk faster.”


• Минута (minuta) — “minute”
• Можно тебя на минуту? (Mozhno tebya na minutu?) — “Can I talk to you for a minute?”


• Час (chas) — “hour”
• Музей откроется через час. (Muzey otkroyetsya cherez chas.) — “A museum will open in an hour.”


• День (den’) — “day”
• Куда ты хочешь пойти завтра днём? (Kuda ty khochesh’ poyti zavtra dnyom?) — “Where do you wanna go during the daytime tomorrow?”


• Неделя (nedelya) — “week”
• На следующей неделе я в отпуске (Na sleduyushchey nedele ya v otpuske) — “I’ll have a vacation next week.”


• Понедельник (ponedel’nik) — “Monday”
• Понедельник – день тяжёлый (Ponedel’nik – den’ tyazhyolyy) — “Monday is a hard day.”
• Russians say this expression a lot when it’s hard to go back to work or study on Monday after the weekend.


• Вторник (vtornik) — “Tuesday”
• Вечером во вторник у меня тренажёрка (Vecherom vo vtornik u menya trenazhyorka) — “I’m going to the gym on Tuesday night.”


• Среда (sreda) — “Wednesday”
• В среду у меня свидание (V sredu u menya svidaniye) — “I have a date on Wednesday.”


• Четверг (chetverg) — “Thursday”
• Четверг – это маленькая пятница. (Chetverg – eto malen’kaya pyatnitsa.) — “Thursday is a small Friday.”
• This is a famous Russian saying. It refers to the fact that there’s not that many days left until the weekend on Thursday, so it may be compared to Friday.


• Пятница (pyatnitsa) — “Friday”
• Пятница-развратница (pyatnitsa-razvratnitsa) — “fun Friday”
• Literally, old ladies call young women развратница (razvratnitsa) if they dress up too provocatively or go out with a lot of different men. In the expression пятница-развратница (pyatnitsa-razvratnitsa), the word started to be used because it rhymes nicely with Пятница (pyatnitsa), or “Friday.”


• Суббота (subbota) — “Saturday”
• В субботу я ходил с друзьями в кино. (V subbotu ya khodil s druz’yami v kino.) — “On Saturday, I went to the cinema with my friends.”


• Воскресенье (voskresen’ye) — “Sunday”
• В воскресенье я убирался дома (V voskresen’ye ya ubiralsya doma) — “On Sunday, I cleaned up my apartment.”


• Будни (budni) — “weekdays”
• В будни скидка на обед – 20%. (V budni skidka na obed – dvadtsat’ protsentov.) — “There is a twenty percent discount for lunch on weekdays.”


• Выходные (vykhodnyye) — “weekend”
• На выходных мы поедем на шашлыки (Na vykhodnykh my poyedem na shashlyki) — “We are gonna go out to make a barbecue on the weekend.”


• Месяц (mesyats) — “month”
• В этом месяце (v etom mesyatse) — “in this month”


• Год (god) — “year”
• В следующем году (v sleduyushchem godu) — “in the next year”


• Ночь (noch’) — “night”
• Это была длинная ночь. (Eto byla dlinnaya noch’.) — “This was a long night.”


• Жизнь (zhizn’) — “life”
• Это жизнь. (Eto zhizn’.) — “This is life.”
• Russian people use this phrase to say that bad things happen along with the good during life.


• Утро (utro) — “morning”
• Доброе утро! (Dobroye utro!) — “Good morning!”


• Вечер (vecher) — “evening”
• Добрый вечер! (Dobryy vecher!) — “Good evening!”
• If you want to learn more Russian greetings, check out our article.


• Начало (nachalo) — “beginning; start.” Please, note that the noun that follows the word начало (nachalo) should be in the Genitive case:
• Начало фильма в 8. (Nachalo fil’ma v vosem’.) — “The film’s start is at eight.”
• Мне не понравилось начало книги. (Mnye nye ponravilos’ nachalo knigi) — “I didn’t like the beginning of the book.”


• Конец (konets) — “end.” Please, note that the noun that follows the word конец (konets) should also be in the Genitive case:
• Это конец сериала. (Eto konets seriala) — “This is the end of the series.”

If you feel that you need to deepen your knowledge of this topic, read our article where we’ve prepared a full guide on the most common nouns in the Russian language about time.

9- Body Parts

Here, you’ll find the most common nouns in the Russian language related to body parts.

• Голова (golova) — “head”
• Что это у тебя на голове? (Chto eto u tebya na golove?) — “What’s on your head?”


• Лицо (litso) — “face”
• У неё лицо не видно. (U neyo litso ne vidno) — “Her face isn’t seen.”


• Глаз (glaz) — “eye”
• Закрой глаза. (Zakroy glaza.) — “Close your eyes.”


• Нос (nos) — “nose”
• Не суй свой нос куда не следует. (Ne suy svoy nos kuda ne sleduyet)—”Mind your own business.”
• Literally: “Don’t stick your nose into where it isn’t supposed to be stuck.”


• Ухо (ukho) — “ear”
• Быть влюблённым по уши (byt’ vlyublyonnym po ushi) — “to be over head and ears in love.”
• Literally: “In love till ears.”


• Голос (golos) — “voice”
• А почему голос такой сонный? (A pochemu golos takoy sonnyy?) — “Why is your voice so sleepy?”


• Тело (telo) — “body”
• Худое тело (khudoye telo) — “a thin body”


• Рука (ruka) — “arm; hand”
• Дай мне руку. (Day mne ruku) — “Give me (your) hand.”
• It’s interesting to know that Russians call arms and hands the same thing: рука (ruka).


• Нога (noga) — “leg”
• У тебя на ноге комар. (U tebya na noge komar) — “There is a mosquito on your leg.”


• Палец (palets) — “finger”
• У него кольцо на пальце. (U nego kol’tso na pal’tse) — “He is married.”
• Literally: “He has a ring on his finger.”


• Спина (spina) — “back”
• У меня спина болит. (U menya spina bolit) — “My back hurts.”


• Сердце (serdtse) — “heart”
• У меня сердце колотится. (U menya serdtse kolotitsya) — “My pulse hammers.”


• Кровь (krov’) — “blood”
• У тебя кровь из носа идёт. (U tebya krov’ iz nosa idyot) — “There is blood coming from your nose.”

10- Language

• Слово (slovo) — “word”
• Это всё слова (Eto vsyo slova) — “Those are just words.”


• Вопрос (vopros) — “question”
• У меня вопрос (U menya vopros) — “I have a question.”


• Ответ (otvet) — “answer”
• Кто знает ответ? (Kto znayet otvet?) — “Who knows the answer?”


• Разговор (razgovor) — “talk; conversation”
• У меня к тебе серьёзный разговор (U menya k tebe ser’yoznyy razgovor) — “I’m having a serious conversation with you.”


• Язык (yazyk) — “language; tongue”
• Русский язык (russkiy yazyk) — “Russian language”

3. Conclusion

Now you know the top 100 most common Russian nouns. A good way to practice these words is to make word cards to learn them with. As these nouns are the core of Russian vocabulary, you can’t afford to skip out on really learning them! Make sure to learn the nouns in Russian phrases and sentences, as well. This way, you’ll be able to use every noun correctly in context, start to build the base for Russian noun declension, and use nouns in Russian sentences correctly.

To practice your listening skills, watch our fun video on the top twenty-five nouns in the Russian language. You’ll find more example sentences there.

To dig deeper into Russian noun declension and to get a full understanding of it, try out RussianPod101’s MyTeacher program for Russian learners. Native Russian teachers with impressive teaching backgrounds will help you to understand all the rules as quickly as possible, and boost your language-learning process. Just take a trial lesson to see how it works for you. ;-)

Before you go, let us know in the comments what new Russian nouns you’ve learned today! Are there any you still want to know? We look forward to hearing from you!