In Russian language, there are six cases: Именительный Падеж ‘Nominative Case’ (Nominative Case in Russian Language), Родительный Падеж ‘Genitive Case’, Дательный Падеж ‘Dative Case’, Винительный Падеж ‘Accusative Case’, Творительный Падеж ‘Instrumental Case’ and Предложный Падеж ‘Prepositional Case’. For this moment, we are going to talk about one of the cases in Russian language, Instrumental case, specifically the change of personal pronouns in that case. Here we go!
Instrumental case is used in some situations, such as:
- Asserting time: работать (когда?) ночами. (work (when?) nights.)
- Used with adjective: Pуководитель доволен работой. ‘The head is pleased with the work.’
- Marking tools or method that creates movement: Пишу (чем?) мелом. ‘I write (with what?) chalk.’ Режу (чем?) ножом. ‘I cut (with what?) a knife’.
- Marking persons, with which the action is performed: Занимаюсь (с кем?) с товарищем. ‘I study (with whom?) with friend.’
Read Also: The Accusative Case of Russian Adjectives
The using of instrumental case to mark persons, with which the action is performed, is also using personal pronouns (я ‘I’, мы ‘we’, ты ‘you’, вы ‘you (could be used for plural)’, он ‘he’, она ‘she’, and они ‘they’). It means, the personal pronouns change based on instrumental case.
| Кто? (Who?) | С Кем? (With Whom?) |
| Я (I) | Со мной (With me) |
| Ты (You) | С тобой (With you) |
| Он (He) | С ним (With him) |
| Она (She) | С ней (With her) |
| Вы (You) | С вами (With you) |
| Мы (We) | С нами (With us) |
| Они (They) | С ними (With them) |
For examples:
Я (I)
- Он не будет заниматься со мной. ‘He will not study with me.’
- Ты хочешь гулять со мной в парке? ‘Do you want to take a walk with me at the park?’
Ты (You)
- Куда она ехала с тобой? ‘Where did she go with you?’
В Москву. ‘To Moscow.’
- Однажды я буду встретиться с тобой. ‘I will meet you someday.’
Он (He)
- Вы знакомы с Павлом? ‘Do you know Paul?’
Да, я знаком с ним. ‘Yes, I know him.’
- Нина была в театре с ним. ‘Nina was at the theatre with him.’
Она (She)
- Я познакомился с ней и прошлом году. ‘I got acquainted with her last year.’
- Светлана не играла с ней. ‘Svetlana did not play with her.’
Вы (You)
- Алина была с вами вчера? ‘Was Alina with you, yesterday?’
Нет. ‘No.’
- Мы не хотим спорить с вами. ‘We do not want to debate with you.’
Мы (We)
- Разговори с нами здесь! ‘Let’s have a conversation here with us.’
- Можешь ли ты гулять с нами? ‘Could you take a walk with us?’
Они (They)
- Я разговаривал с ними вчера. ‘I had a conversation with them yesterday.’
- Мы дружим с ними. ‘We be friends with them.’
Those are some explanations about Instrumental Case of Personal Pronouns in Russian Language. As there are the change patterns of personal pronouns, you could memorize it, then make the sentences as an exercise. Those are easy to use. You could find other explanations in other sources as well. You also could find other interesting topics in this website: How to Learn Russian for Beginners Easily. Or if you want to visit Russia, you should know about the habits: 8 Habits You Should Do When You Live in Russia. So, how about Russian language? It is not that hard, is not it? Keep trying and never give up! See you next time in other lessons. Have fun with Russian language, then!