How are male surnames ending in "-a", "-b", "-ich", "-uk", consonant

In many situations, it is very important for a person to know how masculine surnames are inclined. For example, a schoolboy needs to sign an essay or a notebook, an entertainer needs to announce the performance of an artist, and the clerk needs to properly execute personal files and other documents. This will be discussed in the proposed article.

How masculine surnames are inclined with vowels at the end

Let's talk about the norms of the modern Russian literary language and make reservations for colloquial speech. The simplest rule, with no exceptions: male last names do not change in cases or numbers if vowels are at the end. We list them: "e", "y", "and", "e", "y", "s", "o". Example:

• Come to visit Valery Mindadze.
• I know tennis player Nicolas May.
• Received news from Ivan Grosu.

In conversation and in literary works, it is permitted to inflect surnames belonging to men if they are of Ukrainian origin and end with either "-enko" or "-ko" (Bondarenko, Klitschko). For example, you can say: "Come with me to Ustimenka." But when writing the final essay, for example, such an expression is unacceptable. That's right: "Come with me to Ustimenko."

How masculine surnames are inclined to "-a", "-i"

For the letters "a" and "I" at the end of the male surname, different rules apply. If "a" is preceded by a vowel, then the above requirement applies to this case. Example: A diploma signed by Victor Gogua.

But for the letter "I" this rule is the opposite - the surname is inclined. Example: "We Remember the Life of Lawrence Beria."

If both letters are after consonants, then two indicators become decisive:

• where the stress falls;
• what is the origin of the surname.

If the last syllable is stressed, then French surnames are not inclined. Example: I read all the works of Alexander Dumas.

The same rule applies to Finnish surnames. Moreover, the syllable on which the stress falls is not important here: He called Jussi Mikkola.

Previously, this rule also applied to Japanese surnames, but today in all directories a different interpretation is clearly applied. All of them, like the other names ending in "-a", "-i", are inclined. Example: We visited the restaurant of Ivan Sinitsa.

To make everything more clear, imagine the declension of surnames ending in "-a" in the form of a table:

If at the end -uk

Now consider how male surnames tend to be consonant. For them, a single rule applies. It reads as follows: if masculine surnames end in a consonant, then they vary in cases and numbers. But there are some nuances that should be addressed.

One of the most common names in western Ukraine is surnames where a kinship, professional or other affiliation is formed using the suffix "-uk" ("-yuk"). For example, Vasil’s son - Vasilchuk, a cooper's apprentice - Bondarchuk. How do male surnames tend to "-uk"?

Everything is simple here and the indicated rule acts unconditionally:

• Nominal (who?): Sergey Shevchuk.
• Genitive (whom?): Sergey Shevchuk.
• Dative (to whom?): Sergey Shevchuk.
• Accusative (whom?): Sergey Shevchuk.
• Correct (by whom?): Sergey Shevchuk.
• Prepositional (about whom?): About Sergey Shevchuk.

If at the end of "-k"

Also in Ukraine, surnames ending in "-ok", "- ik" are common. Are there any features in this case? How do male surnames tend to "-k"? According to the above rule, they vary in cases, but there are features. One of them is the possible presence of a fluent vowel. Consider an example:

• Nominal (who?): Igor Pochinok, Ivan Gorelik.
• Genitive (whom?): Igor Pochinka, Ivan Gorelik.
• Dative (to whom?): Igor Pochinok, Ivan Gorelik.
• Accusative (whom?): Igor Pochinka, Ivan Gorelik.
• Creative (by whom?): Igor Pochinok, Ivan Gorelik.
• Prepositional (about whom?): About Igor Pochinok, Ivan Gorelik.

The most common surnames

Among Russian male surnames, the most common are those that end in "-in" ("-yn"), "-ov" ("-ev"). They tend to be similar to adjectives, but in the prepositional case the ending from the traditional is fundamentally different. Next, consider this in comparison. Another nuance is the ending in the instrumental case of foreign names in "-in" ("-in"). It also differs from the traditional one. This can be clearly seen in the proposed table.

If at the end "-ich"

Most often, such endings have foreign surnames - Serbian or Jewish. Therefore, sometimes the question arises: how are male surnames inclined to "-ich"? Change in cases occurs according to the type of nouns. The endings correspond to the second declension. Consider an example:

• Nominal (who?): Ivan Vuyachich.
• Genitive (whom?): Ivan Vuyachich.
• Dative (to whom?): Ivan Vuyachich.
• Accusative (whom?): Ivan Vuyachich.
• Creative (by whom?): Ivan Vuyachich.
• Prepositional (about whom?): About Ivan Vuyachich.

For comparison, a name is taken that inclines in the same way (met., 2 squ.).

If at the end "-th", "-th"

For native speakers the declension of surnames on the "-th" does not cause any difficulties. This option is quite common and fully corresponds to the change in cases of either adjectives (Razumovsky) or nouns of the second declension (Gaidai). How are male surnames inclined to "-b"? It is exactly the same as can be seen in the example:

• Nominal (who?): Stepan the King, Leonid Gaidai, Peter Razumovsky.
• Genitive (whom?): Stepan Korol, Leonid Gaidai, Pyotr Razumovsky.
• Dative (to whom?): Stepan the King, Leonid Gaidai, Peter Razumovsky.
• Accusative (whom?): Stepan the King, Leonid Gaidai, Pyotr Razumovsky.
• Creative (by whom?): Stepan Korol, Leonid Gaidai, Peter Razumovsky.
• Prepositional (about whom?): About Stepan Korol, Leonid Gaidai, Pyotr Razumovsky.

What should I look for? If "b" is used after hissing, the change in the cases occurs according to the male form. For example, this applies to such names as Night, Mouse. In Russian, there are exceptions. This applies to dissonant surnames (Pelmen, for example) and reproducing geographical names (Taiwan, Uruguay). They do not change in cases and numbers.

Other exceptions

At the beginning, the rule was already mentioned, according to which all surnames in the masculine version are inclined. But any statement implies exceptions. It exists in Russian.

We did not understand how masculine surnames ending in "s" (s) are inclined to. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, they were actually changed in cases. But today it is believed that surnames derived from adjectives in the plural require the preservation of individuality. Therefore, they are not changed by numbers and cases. Such surnames are an exception to the rule:

• I studied in the same class as Anatoly Pyatykh.
• Everyone laughed at Leonid Fliginsky.

But they should be distinguished from foreign, primarily German, which should be inclined according to all the rules (Freindlich, Ulrich, Dietrich). Example: I visited Walter Ulrich.

What else to know

It is most difficult to answer the question of how male surnames are inclined if they are of foreign origin. For example, the Armenian language is very common on the planet. If about 3 million people live in the country itself, then 8.5 million are representatives of the national diaspora around the world. In their language by cases (and there are seven of them), both male and female surnames change. In the Russian version - only for men. They are easy to identify, because they traditionally end in "-yan" ("-an"): Hambartsumyan, Avjan. More archaic surnames (south of Armenia) can end in "-yants" ("-ants"), "-ants": Sargsyants, Tonunts. Here is an example of declination:

• Nominal (who?): Hmayak Hakobyan, Georg Tonunts.
• Genitive (whom?): Hmayak Hakobyan, Georg Tonunets.
• Dative (to whom?): Hmayak Hakobyan, George Tonunets.
• Accusative (whom?): Hmayak Hakobyan, George Tonunets.
• Creative (by whom?): Amayak Hakobyan, Georg Tonunets.
• Prepositional (about whom?): About Hmayak Hakobyan, about George Tonunets.

A feature of many countries are compound surnames. For example, they are widespread in Korea, Vietnam, China.

If the consonant is at the end, then the general rule on the change in cases applies. However, this applies only to the last part. The former remain unchanged. Example: We talked with Kim Jong Il.

Double surnames among Russians are declined without fail in both parts: We enjoyed the work of Petrov-Vodkin.