Pronouns
In a nutshell
- The personal pronoun table below is arguably the single highest-value table on this whole site — learn it cold.
- After most prepositions, 3rd-person pronouns (он/она́/оно́/они́) grow an extra н- at the front: eго́ → у него́, ей → к ней.
- Свой means "belonging to the subject of this clause" — mixing it up with его́/её/их is one of the most common learner errors, and it genuinely changes meaning.
- Negative pronouns (никто́, ничего́) always need the negative particle не on the verb too — Russian requires the "double negative" English forbids.
Personal pronouns — the master table
Every personal pronoun declines through all six cases, just like a noun. Because pronouns are used constantly — far more often than most nouns — this table pays for itself faster than almost anything else in this course.
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Instrumental | Prepositional | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | я | меня́ | меня́ | мне | мной | (обо) мне |
| you (informal) | ты | тебя́ | тебя́ | тебе́ | тобо́й | (о) тебе́ |
| he/it | он | (н)его́ | (н)его́ | (н)ему́ | (н)им | (о) нём |
| it (neuter) | оно́ | (н)его́ | (н)его́ | (н)ему́ | (н)им | (о) нём |
| she/it | она́ | (н)её | (н)её | (н)ей | (н)ей | (о) ней |
| we | мы | нас | нас | нам | на́ми | (о) нас |
| you (formal/plural) | вы | вас | вас | вам | ва́ми | (о) вас |
| they | они́ | (н)их | (н)их | (н)им | (н)ими | (о) них |
Notice accusative and genitive are identical for every pronoun here — that's not a coincidence specific to pronouns, it mirrors the animate-accusative-borrows-genitive rule from the Accusative Case lesson: people (which is what pronouns almost always refer to) are animate.
The inserted н- after prepositions
Look at the (н) in parentheses in the table above — that's not optional decoration, it's a real rule: when a 3rd-person pronoun (он, оно́, она́, они́) follows most prepositions, it grows an н- at the front. Without a preposition, the н disappears.
Я его́ ви́жу. — lit. "I him-ACC see." — "I see him." (no preposition — no н)
Я иду́ к нему́. — lit. "I go toward him-DAT." — "I'm going to see him." (preposition к triggers the н-)
Э́то её су́мка. — lit. "This her bag." — "This is her bag." (no н — and note this её is the possessive use, not a case form after a preposition)
Я был у неё. — lit. "I was at her-GEN." — "I was at her place." (preposition у triggers the н-)
Мы говори́ли с ним. — lit. "We spoke with him-INSTR." — "We talked with him." (preposition с triggers the н-)
This rule is old and mechanical — practically every simple preposition (в, на, к, с, у, от, для, о, etc.) triggers it. Learn it as a single reflex: 3rd-person pronoun + preposition = н- shows up.
Себя́ — the reflexive pronoun
Себя́ means "self" — it refers back to the subject of the sentence, and critically, it has no nominative form (you can't be the subject of "self"), and the same set of forms works for every person: I, you, he, she, we, they all use себя́/себе́/собо́й depending on case, never a person-specific form.
| Case | Form |
|---|---|
| Nominative | — (doesn't exist) |
| Accusative | себя́ |
| Genitive | себя́ |
| Dative | себе́ |
| Instrumental | собо́й |
| Prepositional | (о) себе́ |
Она́ купи́ла себе́ но́вую су́мку. — lit. "She bought self-DAT new bag-ACC." — "She bought herself a new bag."
Я говорю́ о себе́. — lit. "I speak about self-PREP." — "I'm talking about myself."
Расскажи́ мне о себе́. — lit. "Tell me about self-PREP." — "Tell me about yourself."
Notice the same word себе́ is used whether the subject is "she," "I," or "you" — that's exactly what makes себя́ reflexive: it always mirrors back to whoever the subject of that clause is.
Свой vs. его́/её/их — the classic trap
This is one of the highest-value distinctions in this whole lesson, because getting it wrong doesn't just sound awkward — it changes the meaning of your sentence.
Свой ("one's own") is a possessive that always refers back to the subject of the clause — whoever is doing the action. It declines exactly like мой (свой / своя́ / своё / свои́). Его́/её/их, as you saw in Lesson 10, refer to someone else's possession — a third party, not the subject.
Он лю́бит свою́ жену́. — lit. "He loves own-ACC wife-ACC." — "He loves his (own) wife." (the wife belongs to him, the subject)
Он лю́бит его́ жену́. — lit. "He loves his wife-ACC." — "He loves his (someone else's) wife." (the wife belongs to some other man already mentioned — not the subject "he")
These two sentences describe genuinely different situations. If you use его́ where свою́ belongs, a Russian speaker will assume you mean a different man's wife — potentially an awkward mistake. The rule of thumb: if the owner and the subject of the verb are the same person, use свой; if the owner is someone else, use его́/её/их.
Я взял свой па́спорт. — lit. "I took own-ACC passport-ACC." — "I took my (own) passport."
Она́ чита́ет свою́ кни́гу. — lit. "She reads own-ACC book-ACC." — "She's reading her (own) book."
Note: свой is never used for the subject itself in the nominative case (you wouldn't say "свой sees the dog" for "I see the dog") — it only ever marks possession of something else in the sentence, referring back to the subject.
Кто / что — declined across all six cases
| Case | кто (who) | что (what) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | кто | что |
| Accusative | кого́ | что |
| Genitive | кого́ | чего́ |
| Dative | кому́ | чему́ |
| Instrumental | кем | чем |
| Prepositional | (о) ком | (о) чём |
Кто э́то? — lit. "Who this?" — "Who is this?"
Кого́ ты ви́дишь? — lit. "Whom you see?" — "Who do you see?"
О чём ты ду́маешь? — lit. "About what you think?" — "What are you thinking about?"
С кем ты говори́л? — lit. "With whom you spoke?" — "Who were you talking with?"
Notice что behaves like an inanimate noun (accusative = nominative, что stays что), while кто behaves like an animate one (accusative = genitive, кого́) — exactly the animate/inanimate accusative split you already know.
Э́тот vs. э́то — a critical trap
You met э́тот/э́та/э́то/э́ти in Lesson 10 as a declining demonstrative that agrees with its noun. But э́то has a second, completely different job: as an invariant pointer word meaning "this is / that is / these are," which never changes form no matter what follows.
Э́то мой брат. — lit. "This-is my brother." — "This is my brother." (invariant э́то — doesn't agree with "brother," just points)
Э́то мои́ роди́тели. — lit. "This-is my parents." — "These are my parents." (still э́то, even though "parents" is plural — because this is the pointer word, not the agreeing demonstrative)
Compare that to the agreeing demonstrative adjective, which does change to match its noun:
Э́тот дом большо́й. — lit. "This-masc house big." — "This house is big." (э́тот agrees with masculine дом)
Э́ти лю́ди — мои́ друзья́. — lit. "These-plural people — my friends." — "These people are my friends." (э́ти agrees with plural лю́ди)
The test: if the word is pointing at something and roughly translates as "this is / that is / these/those are" as a standalone claim, it's the invariant э́то. If it's sitting directly in front of a noun, agreeing with its gender/number the way an adjective would, it's the declining э́тот/э́та/э́то/э́ти.
Никто́, ничего́ — Russian requires the "double negative"
In English, "I don't know anything" and "I know nothing" both avoid stacking two negatives in the same clause ("I don't know nothing" sounds like bad grammar or dialect). Russian works the opposite way: when a negative pronoun (никто́ "no one," ничего́ "nothing," никогда́ "never") is present, the verb must also carry не. Dropping the не would be the actual grammar mistake.
Я ничего́ не зна́ю. — lit. "I nothing not know." — "I don't know anything."
Никто́ не пришёл. — lit. "No-one not came." — "No one came."
Я никогда́ не был в Москве́. — lit. "I never not was in Moscow." — "I've never been to Moscow."
Никто́ and что declines the same way as кто/что (никого́, ничего́, никому́, ничему́, etc.) — it's built from ни- + the question word, so once you know кто/что's declension, никто́/ничего́'s declension comes for free.
Я никого́ не ви́жу. — lit. "I no-one-ACC not see." — "I don't see anyone."
Practice
- Give the dative form of "она́."
- Translate: "I'm going to him." (use к + the correct pronoun form)
- Fill in the blank: Мы говори́ли о ___ (они́, prepositional).
- Translate: "She bought herself a coffee." (use себе́ + купи́ть)
- Choose свой or его́: "Он чита́ет ___ кни́гу." (his own book, he's the one reading)
- Choose свой or его́: "Она́ ви́дит ___ маши́ну." (his car — belonging to some other man, not the subject "she")
- Decline "что" into the instrumental case, and use it in a short phrase "with what."
- Translate: "Who did you see?" (use кого́)
- Translate as an invariant pointer: "This is my sister."
- Translate as an agreeing demonstrative: "This book is interesting." (use э́та)
- Translate using a negative pronoun and double negation: "I don't know anyone here."
- Explain in one sentence why "Он лю́бит свою́ жену́" and "Он лю́бит его́ жену́" describe different situations.
Answers
- ей — dative of она́.
- Я иду́ к нему́. — preposition к triggers the inserted н- on the 3rd-person pronoun.
- Мы говори́ли о них. — prepositional plural, with the н- inserted after the preposition о.
- Она́ купи́ла себе́ ко́фе. — dative reflexive себе́, same form regardless of subject's person.
- свою́ — the book belongs to the subject "он" himself.
- его́ — the car belongs to a different man, not the subject "она́."
- чем — instrumental of что; "с чем" = "with what."
- Кого́ ты ви́дел? — animate accusative of кто.
- Э́то моя́ сестра́. — invariant э́то, doesn't change even though сестра́ is feminine.
- Э́та кни́га интере́сная. — agreeing demonstrative э́та matches feminine кни́га.
- Я никого́ не зна́ю здесь. — negative pronoun никого́ requires не on the verb too.
- свою́ means the wife belongs to the subject "он" (his own wife); его́ means the wife belongs to someone else already mentioned in context — so the two sentences describe different people's marriages.