Don’t learn Russian cases (until you do this)

Russian cases are the MOST frustrating part of Russian grammar. I struggled with them, as do many of my students. Some even quit learning Russian because the cases “are just too difficult”.

One of the most common mistakes I see is an overemphasis on cases in the beginning of learning Russian.

This is horrible, as it slows your progress, and maybe messes up your learning altogether.

How?

Let me explain. In this article you’ll learn:

• Why learning Russian cases is useless in the beginning
• What you should know before you start with the Russian cases
• My methodical approach to learn Russian cases quickly

Curious? Continue reading why it’s useless to learn Russian cases if you’re a beginner:

Why learning Russian cases is useless in the beginning

Before I can explain why cases are useless in the beginning, you have to understand the function they have in the Russian language.

Let me explain:

Cases change the function of a word in a sentence

If I say “I see the house”, in Russian you say: я вижу дом.

But if you want to say “I see the roof of the house”, you say я вижу крышу дома.

In the first sentence “house” is дом. But in the second it’s дома.

They added an extra а.

In the second sentence, this а indicates that it’s “of the house”. Not just “the house”

This is only one of the many instances of how Russian cases work.

What’s the reason why the Russian language uses cases?

Because Russian has a fluent word order. 

That means that you could also say “крышу дома вижу я” for example. In English you have a strict word order to show what does what in a sentence.You can’t say “the roof of the house see I”.

So cases only become important AFTER you’ve learned a good amount of common words.

It’s much more important to spend your time in the beginning learning vocabulary versus learning how the cases work.

If you know a lot of words, you will still be understood, even if you make mistakes with the cases.

If you say я хочу вода (I want water). It’s incorrect. It should be я хочу водУ. But everyone understands that you want water.

Learning cases will take time away from what really matters in the beginning stages.

Later, once your sentences become longer and more complicated, cases will be necessary to explain what you mean. In the beginning however, you can get by fine without them.

But there is also real danger involved when you learn the cases in the beginning. 

Let me explain:

A friend of mine quit learning Russian

A Dutch friend of mine with a Russian wife wanted to learn Russian to communicate with her and her family.

So what did he do?

He signed up for classes. 

He’s a smart guy, so I was expecting him to do well with learning Russian.

But what happened when I spoke to him after a month?

He had quit learning Russian altogether.

I asked him “why did you quit?”

And he replied: “Well, Russian is just difficult. The grammar, Russian cases, difficult words. It all doesn’t make sense”.

Turned out the teacher had told them in the first class about the:

• 4 Russian noun genders
• 6 Russian cases
• = 24 Different noun/case combinations
• x 2 = 48. Because each combination also has a corresponding adjective.

That’s enough to demotivate anyone trying to learn Russian.

Especially once she emphasized that:

• You need to learn ALL these 48 endings
• You need to understand WHEN you use each case
• You need to apply all this information WHILE speaking

Now, I’m sure the teacher had good intentions. And probably was following a standard protocol. But the result is that lots of students get turned off from learning Russian.

That’s a shame, as the cases are fine to learn if you take a gradual approach. Don’t dive in headfirst. But rather take a slow approach.

Make sure your knowledge of the Russian language has a good foundation before you start learning the cases. 

So what do you need to know before you learn the cases?

Learn this before you start with the Russian cases

Here’s what you should know before you start learning the Russian cases:

• 300 to 500 common Russian words and nouns
• Basic verb conjugation in the past, present, and future
• The 3 noun genders (plus plural)

If you know these things, you’ll be well prepared to learn the cases.

The reasons why are the following:

• You want to know common words, because otherwise you can’t apply cases to anything.
• You want to have a basic understanding of verb conjugation, because this is the backbone of sentence construction. If you say a case incorrectly, everyone understands what you mean.But if you say “he wants” instead of “I want”, you’re going to confuse people.
• You need to understand what noun genders are (masculine, feminine, neuter, and plural). Because cases work differently for each of them.

Once you’ve learned this, you’re ready to take on the cases.

Let me show you my methodical approach to learn them quickly:

My methodical approach to learn Russian cases quickly

A big mistake I see learners make is this:

They just follow a random approach to learning. There’s no structure. They watch some YouTube videos, do an app, and maybe follow classes or a course.

But there’s no overlying principle. 

One day they’re learning about the accusative case. The next day about the instrumental. Then back to verbs.

It’s MUCH more effective to take a gradual approach.

First, learn all the basics I spoke about above (common words, verbs, and noun genders).

Then slowly start learning about the Russian cases. Do this ONE BY ONE. This keeps you from getting overwhelmed.

Here’s the general outline how I recommend you learn cases:

1. Accusative case (singular nouns)
2. Accusative case (all adjectives)
3. Prepositional case (singular nouns)
4. Genitive case (singular nouns)
5. Dative case (singular nouns)
6. Instrumental case (singular nouns)
7. Prepositional case (singular adjectives)
8. Genitive case (singular adjectives)
9. Dative case (singular adjectives)
10. Instrumental case (singular adjectives)
11. Prepositional case (plural nouns)
12. Genitive case (plural nouns)
13. Dative case (plural nouns)
14. Instrumental case (plural nouns)
15. Prepositional case (plural adjectives)
16. Genitive case (plural adjectives)
17. Dative case (plural adjectives)
18. Instrumental case (plural adjectives)

*Important to note here is that the masculine animate accusative case is the same as the genitive case. So keep the masculine accusative animate case for when you learn the genitive. If you don’t understand what I just wrote, that’s fine. It’ll come later :)

Is this list 100% correct for all learners?

No, you can play around a bit. If you learn the plural prepositional case directly after learning the singular, that’s fine. It’s just a general outline, how I would structure the cases for most learners. I teach this structure in my course Conversations Unlocked.

When do I know I’m ready for the next case?

Make sure you understand the main idea, and then continue. No need to be perfectionistic. Most of these cases take a while to drill into your head. So I recommend you learn about 80% and then continue. Later practice will also help with the previous cases anyways.

How do I learn these cases?

From y experience (and from my students’) I’ve seen that the best way to learn grammar is either:

• Regular classes or tutors
• Audio courses

I prefer audio courses, as you can go at your own pace. And they tend to have a better structure, because more thought has gone into creating them.

But this is just the theoretical side.

You also need to back it up by practical conversations. Either do this in real-life. Or online.

The reason why you need speaking practice is that this is a separate skill from the theory. If you don’t practice saying Russian cases correctly while speaking, you’ll always keep on making mistakes here.

Then you want to support it with activities like reading or watching series. This is great because they’re fun to do, but they also show you how cases are being used in real life.

You hear (series) and see (books) the correct application. And this will help you better internalize them.