How to determine: animate or inanimate nouns in front of us? Common practice recommends asking the question "who?" to animate, and the question is "what?" to an inanimate noun. Of course, one can go this way, only what question can be attributed to the word "deceased"? He who?" or "what?". The category of animation to this concept can be applied very conditionally ... But what can be said about such a character in Russian fairy tales as a goblin? Can it be attributed to animated nouns, or is it in the opposite category? Questions, questions ... try to find the answers.
Living and inanimate nature
Everything that surrounds us in Russian is defined by a noun. It is represented by two categories: animate and inanimate nouns.
The essence of these concepts lies in their root: they have one - "... soul ..." and, therefore, these words are cognate. As for how to define animate and inanimate nouns, we will consider their cardinal difference from each other.
The meaning of the word "soul" is quite comprehensive and goes back to the concepts of "living" and "dead." If a certain part of the world around us is defined by the word and relates to the "soul" as a fragment of living nature, then we are dealing with an animated noun.
If we approach the meaning of the concept of "living nature" more objectively, it means that part of the world that is related to the process of life, that is, independent movement, physiological manifestations, in particular, breathing, reproduction, nutrition, etc.
Accordingly, the concept of "inanimate nature" carries a completely opposite semantic load, and the words defining such fragments of our environment belong to the category of inanimate nouns.
Asking questions
We pass to the interrogative part. As you know, nouns are inflected and answer the questions "who?" or "what?". According to the rule, the question “who?” Is related to animate nouns, and “what?” To inanimate nouns. And here, everything seems to be simple: you need to ask the right question to the noun - and everything falls into place.
Let's move on to the examples. We define the category of words: puppy, nightingale, fish, child, teacher. All of them, of course, relate to wildlife, and it is appropriate to ask the question "who?"
We move on to the next line of words: table, bed, notebook, pencil, tree, telephone. This list is from inanimate nature, and the listed nouns answer the question “what?”.
Now we will analyze the word "dead" in terms of its belonging to animate or inanimate nature. There is a deadlock, and another way is needed here.
They are "different" ...
In the Russian language there is a group of words that does not fit into the understanding of both wildlife and nonliving.
The aforementioned word "dead" refers precisely to such concepts. And the usual algorithm of actions used to determine animate and inanimate nouns does not work here. Then what to do in these cases? In controversial cases, you can recall the rules for the declension of nouns.
Use the step-by-step instructions to find out how to identify animate and inanimate nouns:
- We bow the word "dead" in the genitive, using the plural: there are no (anyone, what?) Dead.
- We do the same with the plural in the accusative case: I see (who, what?) The dead.
- Conclusion: both answers to case questions are identical to each other, therefore the word "dead" refers to animate nouns.
If you also decline the word "deceased", then as a result we get a similar answer.
- A special approach in this context to masculine masculine nouns and nouns. If you decline them in the singular, you can see that in the accusative and genitive cases they are identical.
"Dead nature"
We apply the same procedure in order to find out how to determine animate and inanimate nouns and what is their difference:
- We ask questions of the genitive case for the word "corpse", putting it in the plural: there are no (anyone, what?) Corpses.
- We repeat the same actions with the accusative case: I see (who, what?) Corpses.
- Conclusion: the word "corpse" refers to inanimate nouns, because with the declension of the form of the word changed.
Applying this rule, you can always distinguish between animate and inanimate nouns, taking into account their nature.
The concepts of "secret"
The Russian language, like a casket with a secret, is full of secrets regarding the topics of life and death. So, concepts that are not related to life can be translated into the field of wildlife. Consider the following examples:
- As it was already explained above, the words "dead", as well as "dead" refer to animated nouns, due to the fact that earlier they showed signs of life.
- Man, by virtue of his desire, endows the soul with certain objects that are not a clear reality, translating them into the sphere of living nature. Such concepts include God, the Goblin, the brownie.
- In certain cases, inanimate objects are given the properties of living characters, giving them all the qualities of a person. A good case is chess pieces.
- Still there is a transfer of inanimate nature into living when combining many disparate elements into a single entity, which is a kind of "collective mind".
This happens with the concepts of pride, pack, people, team.
Neuter gender
So, we figured out the animated and inanimate nouns of a "different" origin.
Consider another variety of concepts of wildlife. This includes the neuter gender of animated nouns, such as an insect, related to living organisms; a mammal that also has all the living attributes.
- To all such representatives of wildlife, the question “who?” Is appropriate, as well as the definition of “it is mine”.
- Often you can hear the appeal to the baby: child or child. These nouns also mean a living creature of the middle gender, due to the inability to determine the male or female gender of the baby without further elaboration.
- Concepts related to mythical characters, for example, "monster" - are nouns that belong to the category of animated and middle gender. They also possess the qualities of living entities.
Now you know what to do in case of difficulty in defining an animate or inanimate noun.