There is a very small group of adjectives who think they are better than the rest. They don't follow any of the standard rules previously described for neuter, feminine, or plural forms.
Summary of Rare Case Adjective Suffixes
-ий : rare case masculine suffix -ья : rare case feminine suffix -ье : rare case neuter suffix -ьи : rare case plural suffix
For example, the Russian form of the adjective "third" follows this irregular pattern.
In the masculine form, "third house" = третий дом
Third house
третий дом
Pronounced:
trEh-ti dom
Listen:
(Lena)
In the feminine form, "third street" = третья улица
Third street
третья улица
Pronounced:
trEh-tya oo-lIt-sa
Listen:
(Lena)
In the neuter form, "third sentence" = третье предложение
Third sentence
третье предложение
Pronounced:
trEh-tye pred-la-zhYE-ni-ye
Listen:
(Lena)
In the plural form, "third annual competitions " = третьи ежегодные соревнования
Third annual competitions
третьи ежегодные соревнования
Pronounced:
trEh-ti yezh-eh-gOd-nei-ye s-rev-na-vAn-i-ya
Listen:
(Lena)
Other common examples you might encounter include:
The adjective "dog", as in "dog's life", or "dog's bone"
Dog's life
собачья жизнь
Pronounced:
sa-bA-chya zhI-zn
Listen:
(Lena)
The adjective "cat", as in "cat fur"
Cat fur
кошачья шерсть
Pronounced:
ka-shA-chya sherst'
Listen:
(Lena)
The adjective "God", as in "God's love ", or "God's forgiveness "
God's love
Божья Любовь
Pronounced:
bOzh-ya lyu-bOf
Listen:
(Lena)
God's forgiveness
Божье прощение
Pronounced:
bOzh-ye pra-shYEn-i-ye
Listen:
(Lena)
Travelling soon?
If you are travelling to Russia and need to maximise your learning before you go, then we advise you to focus on building vocabulary (number of words) than worrying too much about grammar.
The manager of this website survived months in Russia only knowing the masculine form of adjectives! By not worrying obsessively about grammar he had time to learn many new words and then speak in a wider variety of situations. If you use the masculine form in every situation you won't be speaking correctly but you'll probably be understood.
On the other hand, if you aren't short of time, or aren't planning a trip to the Russian Federation in the near future, then try to grasp this lesson thoroughly as you will need to build on it later on.
Hot tip: If you are looking for adjectives in a dictionary they will be listed in their masculine form!
