{"id":9405,"date":"2016-09-08T07:03:31","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T07:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=9405"},"modified":"2018-08-14T19:57:02","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T19:57:02","slug":"%d1%82%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b5-%d0%b2-%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%ba%d0%b5-collective-numerals-in-russian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%d1%82%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b5-%d0%b2-%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%ba%d0%b5-collective-numerals-in-russian\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0422\u0440\u043e\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0435: Collective Numerals in Russian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If you look at the Russian translation of Jerome K. Jerome&#8217;s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Three_Men_in_a_Boat\">Three Men in A Boat<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0you may be surprised to read &#8220;\u0422\u0440\u043e\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0435, \u043d\u0435 \u0441\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430\u044f \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0438.&#8221; Why &#8220;\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0435&#8221; and not &#8220;\u0442\u0440\u0438&#8221;?\u00a0<em>\u00a0<\/em>In my last post on <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/other-missing-forms-in-russian\/\">forms that don&#8217;t exist in Russian<\/a>, I briefly touched upon the category of collective numerals. Since they have not been covered on this blog before, I thought this topic merited further exploration.<\/p>\n<h2>Forms<\/h2>\n<p>Collective numerals are a somewhat archaic group of numbers that apply to a limited set of nouns. They are only really used for numbers two through ten, depending on the category, and have the following forms.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u0434\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435<\/li>\n<li>\u0442\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435<\/li>\n<li>\u0447<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u0448<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u044c\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u044f\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<li>\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u044f\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Detailed declension tables are available in this <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_hYYPmyosHQC&amp;pg=PA221&amp;lpg=PA221&amp;dq=collective+numerals+russian&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=T0btZBja7n&amp;sig=Mhtw6HeD80TcQcnL2PlQTjQDSpA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwimroiige_OAhXLHx4KHZqIAC8Q6AEIYTAM#v=onepage&amp;q=collective%20numerals%20russian&amp;f=false\">Russian grammar by Terence Wade<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Usage<\/h2>\n<p>Collective numerals are used for the following categories of nouns:<\/p>\n<h3>Plural-Only Nouns In Nominative Case\u00a0(2-4)<\/h3>\n<p>Nouns that only have plural forms, e.g. <strong>\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043a\u0438<\/strong> (24-hour day), <strong>\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0445\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043d\u044b<\/strong> (funeral), <strong>\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0438\u0446\u044b<\/strong> (scissors), are preceded by collective numbers. Collective numbers are obligatory with this category for amounts 2-4; for higher numbers, collective nouns are used formally, but cardinal numbers are much more common colloquially (e.g. <strong>\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e \u0432\u043e\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> or <strong>\u043f\u044f\u0442\u044c \u0432\u043e\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> for &#8220;five gates&#8221;).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u0414\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u0430 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043e\u043b\u0436<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0430\u0441\u044c \u0442\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u043a (The drama lasted three days). [\u0428\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043c \u0437\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0448\u0435\u043d, \u0437\u0430\u043b\u043e\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u0438 \u043e\u0441\u0432\u043e\u0431\u043e\u0436\u0434\u0435\u043d\u044b (2002) \/\/ \u00ab\u0418\u0437\u0432\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0438\u044f\u00bb, 2002.10.26]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Note that in cases other than nominative and accusative, these nouns are preceded by regular cardinal numbers: <strong>\u0423 \u043d\u0430\u0441 \u0442\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0449\u0438\u043f\u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432 &#8211; \u041d\u0430\u043c \u043d\u0435 \u0445\u0432\u0430\u0442<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0442 \u0442\u0440\u0451\u0445 \u0449\u0438\u043f\u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432<\/strong> (We have three tongs &#8211; We are missing three tongs).<\/p>\n<h3>Masculine\/Common-Gender Nouns Referring To People (2-7)<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_9416\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9416\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9416\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640.jpg\" alt=\"two men eating lunch\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640-350x233.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9416\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u0414\u0432\u043e\u0435 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447\u0438\u043d &#8211; Image from Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Masculine or common gender nouns referring to people are usually preceded by collective nouns for groups of 2-7: <strong>\u0434\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u043c\u0443\u0436\u0447<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043d<\/strong> (two men), <strong>\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u0435\u0440\u043e \u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span>\u0434\u0435\u0439<\/strong> (five judges), <strong>\u0442\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0441\u0438\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0442<\/strong> (three orphans), <strong>\u0447<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043e \u0434\u0440\u0443\u0437<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0439<\/strong> (four friends). Note that feminine nouns are used with cardinal numbers: <strong>\u0442\u0440\u0438 \u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0432\u0443\u0448\u043a\u0438<\/strong> (three young women).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u0423 \u043c\u0435\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span> \u0431<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u0447<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043e \u0434\u0432\u043e<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044e<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u0431\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0435\u0432, \u043d\u0438 \u043e\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043d \u043d\u0435 \u0432\u0435\u0440\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span>\u043b\u0441\u044f \u0441 \u0432\u043e\u0439\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044b<\/span> (I had four cousins; none of the came back from the war). [\u0410\u0440\u043a\u0430\u0434\u0438\u0439 \u0426\u0438\u0440\u043b\u0438\u043d, \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u0421\u0443\u0440\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430. \u0410\u0440\u043a\u0430\u0434\u0438\u0439 \u0426\u0438\u0440\u043b\u0438\u043d: \u00ab\u0422\u0430\u043c \u0431\u044b\u043b\u043e \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0448\u043d\u043e\u00bb \/\/ \u00ab\u0417\u0430 \u043d\u0430\u0443\u043a\u0443\u00bb, 2013]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Other nouns that follow this pattern are <strong>\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044e<\/span>\u0434\u0438<\/strong> (people), <strong>\u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u0446\u0430<\/strong> (individuals), <strong>\u0434<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0438<\/strong> (children), <strong>\u0440\u0435\u0431<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u0430<\/strong> (lads), <strong>\u0432\u043d<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0443<\/span>\u043a\u0438<\/strong> (grandchildren), and adjectives that turned into nouns, such as <strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0445<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0438\u0435<\/strong> (passers-by). In the nominative case, the pattern is collective numeral + genitive plural. In oblique cases, you can choose between declined collective numeral + noun in the same case (e.g., <strong>\u0434\u0432\u043e<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u043c \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u043c<\/strong> &#8211; to two police officers) or declined cardinal number + noun in the same case (<strong>\u0434\u0432\u0443\u043c \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u043c<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>Feminine nouns may be used this way colloquially, but using them with collective numerals is considered substandard.<\/p>\n<h3>Numerals With No Nouns Referring To People (2-10)<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, there is no noun following a number, e.g., in sentences like &#8220;There were three of us.&#8221; We use collective numerals for these cases: <strong>\u041d\u0430\u0441 \u0431<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u0442\u0440<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u0427<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0432\u0435\u0440\u043e \u0438\u0445 \u0431<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e. \u0414\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0441\u043f<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0438 \u0438 \u0434\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0441\u0437<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0438. (There were four of them. Two in the front and two in the back.) [\u0412\u0438\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440 \u041f\u0435\u043b\u0435\u0432\u0438\u043d. \u0416\u0435\u043b\u0442\u0430\u044f \u0441\u0442\u0440\u0435\u043b\u0430 (1993)]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Collective numerals are also used in expressions like <strong>\u043a<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u0430\u0442\u0430 \u043d\u0430 \u0434\u0432\u043e<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0438<\/span>\u0445<\/strong> (a room for two) and idioms like <strong>\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043e \u043f\u043e \u043b<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0432\u043a\u0430\u043c<\/strong> (literally, &#8220;seven [children] on the benches,&#8221; meaning someone has many dependents to feed\/take care of) and <strong>\u0441<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0435<\/span>\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043e \u043e\u0434\u043d\u043e\u0433<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span> \u043d\u0435 \u0436\u0434\u0443\u0442<\/strong> (seven [people] don&#8217;t wait for one).<\/p>\n<h2>Further Reading<\/h2>\n<p>More information on this complex subject can be found in the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_hYYPmyosHQC&amp;pg=PA221&amp;lpg=PA221&amp;dq=collective+numerals+russian&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=T0btZBja7n&amp;sig=Mhtw6HeD80TcQcnL2PlQTjQDSpA&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwimroiige_OAhXLHx4KHZqIAC8Q6AEIYTAM#v=onepage&amp;q=collective%20numerals&amp;f=false\">Terence Wade \u2013\u00a0A Comprehensive Russian Grammar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hi-edu.ru\/e-books\/xbook107\/01\/part-085.htm\">\u0412\u0430\u043b\u0433\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u041d.\u0421.,\u00a0\u0420\u043e\u0437\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0430\u043b\u044c \u0414.\u042d.,\u00a0\u0424\u043e\u043c\u0438\u043d\u0430 \u041c.\u0418. \u2013\u00a0\u0421\u043e\u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 \u0440\u0443\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u044f\u0437\u044b\u043a<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.evartist.narod.ru\/text1\/59.htm#\u0437_02\">\u0420\u043e\u0437\u0435\u043d\u0442\u0430\u043b\u044c \u0414.\u042d., \u0414\u0436\u0430\u043d\u0434\u0436\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u0415.\u0412., \u041a\u0430\u0431\u0430\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0430 \u041d.\u041f. \u2013 \u0421\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043e\u0447\u043d\u0438\u043a \u043f\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043e\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044e, \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0438\u0437\u043d\u043e\u0448\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044e, \u043b\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0443\u0440\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0440\u0435\u0434\u0430\u043a\u0442\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044e<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I would like to leave you with this short clip from the cartoon &#8220;<span class=\"title\" dir=\"ltr\">\u0412<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u043a\u0430 \u0432 \u0442\u0440\u0438\u0434\u0435\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u043e\u043c \u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435,&#8221; which refers to &#8220;<strong>\u0434\u0432<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u043e<\/span>\u0435 \u0438\u0437 \u043b\u0430\u0440\u0446<span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">\u0430<\/span><\/strong>&#8221; &#8212; &#8220;two from the casket.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u0414\u0432\u043e\u0435 \u0438\u0437 \u043b\u0430\u0440\u0446\u0430 \u043e\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0445 \u0441 \u043b\u0438\u0446\u0430.\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UJ84I0iKd_s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"233\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640-350x233.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"two men eating lunch\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2016\/09\/men-438089_640.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>If you look at the Russian translation of Jerome K. Jerome&#8217;s Three Men in A Boat,\u00a0you may be surprised to read &#8220;\u0422\u0440\u043e\u0435 \u0432 \u043b\u043e\u0434\u043a\u0435, \u043d\u0435 \u0441\u0447\u0438\u0442\u0430\u044f \u0441\u043e\u0431\u0430\u043a\u0438.&#8221; Why &#8220;\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0435&#8221; and not &#8220;\u0442\u0440\u0438&#8221;?\u00a0\u00a0In my last post on forms that don&#8217;t exist in Russian, I briefly touched upon the category of collective numerals. Since they have&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/%d1%82%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b5-%d0%b2-%d0%bb%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%ba%d0%b5-collective-numerals-in-russian\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":9416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[385726,113315,117467,111],"class_list":["post-9405","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-collective-numerals","tag-confusing-russian-grammar","tag-difficult-russian-grammar","tag-numbers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9405"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10931,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9405\/revisions\/10931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}