The name of the city is declined after the city. How geographical names are declined

Memo: how to decline geographical names August 26th, 2006

WHICH IS CORRECT: IN OSTANKINO OR IN OSTANKINO, IN MOSCOW OR IN THE CITY OF MOSCOW? HOW TO CLOSE GEOGRAPHIC NAMES?

A geographical name used with the generic names city, village, station, settlement, river, etc., acting as an appendix, is consistent with the word being defined, that is, it declines if the toponym is of Russian, Slavic origin or is a long-borrowed and adopted name:
Correct: in Nizhny Novgorod, in the city of Moscow, in St. Petersburg, in the city of Vladivostok.
Geographical names are usually not declined in cases where external shape the name corresponds to the plural form. numbers: in the city of Velikiye Luki, when the gender of the generalizing common noun and toponym do not coincide: from the island of Jura, near the village of Mironushka, in the village of Vsevolod-Vilva. The last remark, however, does not apply to combinations with the word city, therefore it is correct: in the city of Tula, from the city of Moscow.
Place name applications of the neuter gender, ending in -o, -e (except for words ending in -ovo, -evo, -ino, -yno, which will be discussed below) show a tendency towards indeclinability: between the villages of Molodechno and Dorozhno, from the city of Vidnoye. The indeclinability of the toponym in the last example is also explained by the fact that for a person who does not know the true name of the city, when the toponym is declined (in the city of Vidnoye), it will be difficult to restore the original form (if restored, one can think that it is both Vidny and Vidnoye).
Correct: in Vidnoye, from Vidnoye, but: in the city of Vidnoye, from the city of Vidnoye; in Velikiye Luki, but: in the city of Velikiye Luki.

In Peredelkino or in Peredelkino? Pushkin or Pushkin?

Place names of Slavic origin in -ov(o), -ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o) are traditionally inclined: in Ostankino, in Peredelkino, to Strogin, in Novokosin, from Lublin. However, in recent decades there has been a tendency to use the indeclinable option. Initially, indeclinable forms were used only in the speech of geographers and military men, because it was very important to give names in the original form so that there was no confusion: Kirov and Kirovo, Pushkin and Pushkino, etc. But gradually from oral speech indeclinable forms have penetrated into written speech and have become so widespread that the originally only correct indeclinable version is now perceived by many as erroneous! Note also that over the past decades there has been a strong tendency not to change the original form of the name of settlements, if they are used as an appendix, together with the generic name.
So, in the modern Russian literary language, such norms apply. If there is a generic word (city, district, village, etc.), then it is correct not to incline: from the Lyublino region, towards the Strogino region. If there is no generic word, then both options are correct, inflected and indeclinable: in Lyublino and in Lublin, towards Strogino and towards Strogin.
Correct: in the city of Pushkino, in the city of Ivanovo, in the Perovo region, but (without a generic word): in Pushkino and in Pushkin, in Kosovo and in Kosovo.

Geographical names in -ov (-ev), -ovo (-evo), -in, -ino (-yno) have the ending -om in the instrumental case, for example: Lvov - Lvovom, Kanev - Kanev, Kryukovo - Kryukov, Kamyshin - Kamyshin, Maryino - Maryin, Golitsino - Golitsyn.
Unlike the names of cities, Russian surnames with -in (-yn) and -ov (-ev) have the ending -ym in the instrumental case, cf.: Pushkin (surname) - Pushkin and Pushkin (city) - Pushkin; Alexandrov (surname) - Alexandrov and Alexandrov (city) - Alexandrov.

In Kamen-Kashirskoye, in the city of Kamen-Kashirskoye?

If a compound toponym is a Russian or long-acquired name, in indirect case forms its first part should be declined: from Kamnya-Kashirsky, in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, in Mogilev-Podolsky, in Rostov-on-Don. The same in combination with a generic term: in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in the city of Rostov-on-Don.
All place names in which the first part of the name has a morphological feature of the neuter gender are covered by a tendency towards immutability: from Likino-Duleva, in Losino-Ostrovsky, in Sobolevo-on-Kamchatka.
Correct: in Kamne-Kashirsky, from Pereslavl-Zalessky, in the city of Mogilev-Podolsky, but: in Likino-Dulevo, near the city of Sobolevo-on-Kamchatka.

In the Republic of Germany, in the Czech Republic?

The official names of republics agree with the word republic if they have a feminine form ending in -iya and -ee: Government of the Republic of Korea, in the Republic of Switzerland. The exception is the inflexible name Germany in combination with the word republic: in the Federal Republic of Germany (see http://www.gramota.ru/docs.html?id=85)

The names of the republics do not agree if they have a masculine form or a feminine form ending in -a and without an ending: in the Republic of Lebanon, in the Republic of Sakha, in the Republic of Cuba.
Correct: with the Republic of Belarus, from the Czech Republic, but: in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the city of Washington or in the city of Washington?

Foreign names ending in a consonant are usually not declined in application function:
in the city of Washington, in the city of Louisville, in the city of Maubeuge, in the city of Niamet, in the province of Zyadin, near the city of Manston.

In Osaka or in Osaka?

The following types of foreign language geographical names are distinguished: in -a; -o and -e; on -i, -s; to a consonant.

1. Some acquired names tend to start with -a: Bukhara, Chita, Ankara. Polysyllabic geographical names of Italian and Spanish origin are not declined: in Santiago de Cuba, from Pola de Lena, from Santiago de Compostela; French place names with a finite ending are not declined: Gras, Spa, Le Dora. Names with a final ending are declined: in Toulouse, Geneva, Lausanne; show a tendency to be inflexible Japanese names na -a: in Osaka. Finnish and Estonian geographical names are also not inclined: Sirgala, Iotusa, Kunda. Abkhazian and Georgian names are usually not declined. But the names of the resorts: in Pitsunda, in Gagari, from Gadout.
2. Place names in -о and -е are not declined in the Russian literary language: in Oslo, Tokyo, Bordeaux, Mexico City, Santiago Calais, Grodno, Vilno, Kovno.
3. Toponyms with -s have a greater tendency towards inclination: in Katowice, Thebes, Tatras, Cannes, Cheboksary. Usually names are not inclined to -i: from Chile, Tbilisi, Nagasaki, Sukhumi.
4. Place names with a consonant are usually declined, provided that the name is not used in the application function: in the city of Mantasas, 70 kilometers from Mantasas. Latin American names in -os depart from this group: in Fuentos. Complex names like Père Lachaise, Mine Mill, Puerto Montt are not inclined. Compound names with the second part - street, - square, - park, - palace are not inclined: along Alvin Street, in Union Square, in the Friedrich Stadt Palace hall, in Enmore Park.

In Frankfurt am Main or in Frankfurt am Main?

The first part of complex foreign-language place names, as a rule, is not declined: in Alma-Ata, near Buenos Aires, from Yoshkar-Ola. The exception is the first part in the construction “place name on the river”: in Frankfurt am Main, to Schwedt an der Oder, from Stratford upon Avon.
If any foreign language compound name is used in the application function with common nouns such as city, town, capital, port, etc., it is left unchanged in the second part: in the city of Santa Cruz, in the Bolivian capital of La Paz.

Let's first deal with place names ending in -ov(o), -ev(o), ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o), or, more simply, ending in -O. These are nouns - geographical names such as Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Ostankino, Priyutino, Medvedkovo, Abramtsevo, Peredelkino, Tsaritsyno, Pushkino, Kemerovo, Chudovo, Avtovo, Perovo, Komarovo, Murino and others. What is the correct way to say: in Kemerovo or in Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Geographical names of settlements, stations, cities starting with -O in modern Russian are gradually moving into the category of nouns that do not change by case. This is probably explained by the fact that in recent decades in colloquial speech these toponyms are increasingly used as indeclinables.

Directories from seven to ten years ago strictly demanded that these words be changed according to cases, while modern publications note a tendency towards inclination of geographical names to -O, which is now especially widespread. From oral speech, the unchangeable form penetrated into written sources, in particular in journalism. Stylistic dictionary of variants by L.K. Graudina, V.A. Itskovich and L.P. Katlinskaya gives such examples newspaper headlines:

"The Tragedy of Kosovo", "From Pushchino to Colorado".

Let us recall that initially indeclinable forms were used only in the professional speech of geographers, military men and formal business style speech. The norm for using Russian geographical names starting with -o in an indeclinable form is also registered in the academic “Grammar of Modern Russian” literary language" (M., 1970):

"IN modern language show a tendency to replenish the group of words of zero declension with words - toponyms with finals -ov(o), -ev(o), -ev(o) and -in(o), for example: Ivanovo, Biryulyovo, Knyazevo, Boldino, Lyublino, Golitsyno and etc. "Perhaps, the only strict requirements for the declension of the names of settlements remain if they are used as an application with a generic name (city, village, town, etc.) and have options:

in the village of Pushkino (with the original form Pushkino) and in the city of Pushkin (with the original form Pushkin).

Now - the most important thing. Which is correct: to Kemerovo or to Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Currently, both variants are in free use - inflected and indeclinable, therefore, both can be considered normative. However, it should be remembered that there are several cases when place names ending in -o are used in an unchangeable form:

* when the gender of the geographical name and the generic name do not coincide: in the village of Bosovo, at the Sinevo station, from the village of Likhovo.

Here the words are generic names of the feminine gender (village, station, village), but with them the names retain the neuter form; another example:

on the shore of Lake Kaftino, in the village of Sinyavino, from the port of Vanino - words - geographical names retain the form of the nominative case, while generic names change according to cases;

* when little-known settlements are named together with the words village, settlement, camp, as a rule, in order to avoid coincidence with the identical names of cities in the masculine gender:

in the village of Buyanovo, but in the city of Buyanov; in the village of Pushkino, but in the city of Pushkin;

* when the name is enclosed in quotation marks. In this case, it is acceptable to use it as an indeclinable:

the stud farm in "Kashino" was one of the best in the Tver region; Construction of a new camp site has begun near the Golovlevo farm, etc.

Russian geographical names used with generic names such as city, hamlet, village, town, village, village, settlement, river and acting as appendices (standing after the named words) are declined if they are toponyms of Russian (as well as Slavic) origin or represent is a name long borrowed and mastered by the Russian language. So to the question “to incline or not to incline?” We answer: incline. The standard forms are:

in the city of Suzdal, from the city of Krasnoyarsk, etc.

Authors of the reference book "Grammatical Correctness of Russian Speech. Stylistic Dictionary of Variants" (M., 2001) Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. believe that “it is advisable to follow two basic rules for the use of compatible forms and inconsistent forms.”

1. Declined: a) simple (not complex and not expressed in word combinations) Russian, Slavic and developed names of cities, rivers, villages, hamlets, settlements, hamlets, estates, villages, except for those ending in vowels -о, -е, -и, -s:

in the city of Moscow, in the city of Sofia, from the city of Ufa, near the city of Rybinsk, from the city of Kustanaya, in the city of Perm, on the Svetlaya River (but in the city of Sumy, to the village of Dibuny, in the city of Mytishchi, in the village of Gorki).

b) simple foreign language names of capitals, large or famous cities, rivers, except for those ending in vowels -у, -о, -е, -и, -ы:

in the capital of England London, in the cities of Prague and Budapest, in the city of Marseille, on the Seine River (but from the city of Delhi, on the Mississippi River).

2. Do not bow:

a) names of stations, towns, resorts, villages, villages, outposts:

near the village of Terek, at Bologoye station;

b) names of lakes, tracts, islands, mountains, deserts:

to Cape Chelyuskin, on Lake Baikal, in the Sahara Desert, to Mount Beshtau. However, in colloquial speech compatible forms can be used, especially if these are Russian names that represent full forms adjectives: on Mount Zheleznaya, to Kamenny Island, at the Vysokaya Hill, to Lake Shchuchye, at Tikhoretskaya station.

c) foreign language names of principalities, kingdoms, duchies, states, provinces, little-known cities, rivers, settlements:

in the Principality of Liechtenstein, in the Kingdom of Nepal, in the state of California. d) complex names-applications and toponyms, expressed by phrases:

in the town of Santa Barbara, to the village of Verkhnyaya Balkariya, in the city of Velikie Luki, in the village of Bolshie Drynduny (since the external form of the name corresponds to the form plural, then such toponyms are used in an unchangeable form. Without a generic word, it is necessary to say: in Velikiye Luki, in Bolshie Drynduny).

The exception is the names in the construction “place name on the river”: from the city of Frankfurt am Main.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that in complex toponyms and toponyms expressed by combinations of words, parts of the name are usually declined:

in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, in the city of Vyshny Volochyok.

However, in colloquial and professional speech, as well as in official business style, the inflexible version of the toponym has spread and strengthened:

in the city of Leninsk-Kuznetsky, in the city of Vyshny Volochek, in the village of Dolgiye Borody. Let us recall in conclusion that in a number of complex names the first part is not inflected at all:

Ust-Kamensk, Gus-Khrustalny, Korsun-Shevchenkovsky.

The question of the admissibility of declension of names ending in - O has been discussed for quite some time at the most different levels, in particular on the Internet. Considering that the toponym “Kupchino” is a prominent representative of precisely this kind of toponym, I, of course, could not pass by and not reveal my vision of the issue. Below are a number of articles found on the Internet with links to sources that, in my opinion, fully reflect this topic.

It seems that the time has come, armed with modern reference books and dictionaries, to finally understand the forms of declensiongeographical names. We have already published material on this issue in the article "There is hardly another capital like Moscow... " , however, we continue to receive questions from our readers.

So, options indeclinable and indeclinable forms of geographical names.

Let's first deal with toponyms on -ov(o), -ev(o), ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o), or, more simply put, ending with-ABOUT. These are nouns - geographical names such as Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, Ostankino, Priyutino, Medvedkovo, Abramtsevo, Peredelkino, Tsaritsyno, Pushkino, Kemerovo, Chudovo, Avtovo, Perovo, Komarovo, Murino and others. What is the correct way to say: to Kemerovo or in Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Geographical names of settlements, stations, cities on-ABOUTin modern Russian language they gradually move into the category of nouns, not changeable by case. This is probably explained by the fact that in recent decades in colloquial speech these toponyms are increasingly used as indeclinables. Directories from seven to ten years ago strictly demanded that these words be changed according to cases, but modern publications note a tendency towardsindeclinability of geographical names starting with -O, now especially widespread. From oral speech, the unchangeable form penetrated into written sources, in particular into journalism.

The stylistic dictionary of variants by L.K. Graudina, V.A. Itskovich and L.P. Katlinskaya gives the following examples of newspaper headlines: “The Tragedy of Kosovo,” “From Pushchino to Colorado.” Let us recall that initially indeclinable forms were used only in the professional speech of geographers , military and in official business style of speech.

The norm for using Russian geographical names in -Oin an inflexible form is also registered in the academic “Grammar of the modern Russian literary language” (M., 1970): “In modern language there is a tendency to replenish the group of words of zero declension with words - toponyms with finals-ov(o), -ev(o), -ev(o) And -in(o), for example: Ivanovo, Biryulyovo, Knyazevo, Boldino, Lyublino, Golitsyno, etc..".

Perhaps, only the requirements for the declension of the names of settlements, if they are used as applications with a generic name(city, village, town, etc.) and have options: in the village of Pushkino (with the original form Pushkino) and in the city of Pushkin (with the original form Pushkin).

Now - the most important. Which is correct: to Kemerovo or to Kemerovo, to Avtovo or to Avtov, from Perov or from Perovo?

Currently, both variants are in free use - inflected and indeclinable, therefore, both can be considered normative.

However, it should be remembered that there are several cases when place names on -Oare used in immutable form:

· When the gender of the geographical name and the generic name do not coincide: in the village of Bosovo, at the Sinevo station, from the village of Likhovo. Here the words are generic names of the feminine gender (village, station, village), but with them the names retain the neuter form; another example:on the shore of Lake Kaftino, in the village of Sinyavino, from the port of Vanino- words - geographical names retain the form of the nominative case, while generic names change according to cases;

· When called little-known settlements along with wordsvillage, settlement, encampment, as a rule, in order to avoid coincidence with the identical names of cities in the masculine gender:in the village of Buyanovo, But in the city of Buyanov; V village of Pushkino, But in the city of Pushkin;

· When the name is enclosed in quotation marks. In this case, it is acceptable to use it as an indeclinable: the stud farm in "Kashino" was one of the best in the Tver region; Construction of a new camp site has begun near the Golovlevo farm and so on.

For those site visitors who find our material far from complete, we recommend that you refer to the reference books:

1. Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. Grammatical correctness of Russian speech. Stylistic dictionary of variants. M., 2001

2. Rosenthal D. E. Handbook of spelling and stylistics. St. Petersburg, 1997

3. Grammar of the modern Russian literary language. M., 1970

Myth No. 1. Geographical names in -ovo, -evo, -ino, -yno do not decline and never have. Options in Boldin, from Ostankino, in Pulkovo - “newspeak”, illiteracy, damage to the language.

Question from the “Reference Bureau” of GRAMOTY.RU: Recently, our television announcers have begun to decline their names: in Ostankino, in Konkovo, etc. Have the rules of the Russian language changed here, or have they made a relaxation for announcers so that they don’t bother themselves?

Quote from the blog: “It infuriates me when the news says Lublin, while all my life I thought that it was not bending...” (blogger marinkafriend)

In fact: Geographical names of Slavic origin, ending in -ovo, -evo, -ino, -yno, were traditionally inclined: in Ostankino, in Peredelkino, to Boldin, to Pulkovo, from Kosovo. The tendency to use the indeclinable option has developed only in recent decades. In other words, the new normal is not in Lublin, but in Lyublino.

From history: Initially, all such names were inflected (let’s remember Pushkin: “The History of the Village of Goryukhin”, Lermontov: “It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers Borodin’s Day!”, let’s remember Soviet film"It happened in Penkov"). Initially, indeclinable forms were used only in the speech of geographers and military men, because it was very important to give names in the original form so that there was no confusion: Kirov and Kirovo, Pushkin and Pushkino, etc. But gradually indeclinable forms began to penetrate into written speech. Thus, in the “Grammar of the Modern Russian Literary Language” of 1970, it was indicated that in the modern Russian literary language there is a tendency to replenish the group of words of zero declension with place names with finals -ov(o), -ev(o), -ev(o), - in(o). In other words, intransigence was just beginning to spread.

Quote on the topic: “The habit of not declining the names of localities apparently originates from military reports. But is it good that the newspaper distributes and takes root this habit? “I live in Odintsovo, in Kratovo,” and not “in Odintsovo, in Kratovo" - the habit of not declining names gives live speech some kind of official character" (L.K. Chukovskaya. In the editor's laboratory).

“Russian Grammar” of 1980 indicated: “Geographical names in -ovo, -evo and -ino, -yno: Ivanovo, Biryulyovo, Kuntsevo, Sarajevo, Boldino, Borodino, Golitsyno and the like are found in modern colloquial, professional, newspaper speech tendency towards immutability. Despite this, in writing, in accordance with current grammar rules, geographical names in -ov(o), -ev(o), -ev(o), -in(o), -yn(o) are inclined: In the sky over Tushin (gas.); We are talking about the airport in Sheremetyevo (gas). The indeclinability of geographical names is normal in following cases: 1) If such a name is an appendix to one of the following general words: village, village, settlement, station, encampment, less often - a city: in the village of Vasilkovo, in the village of Pushkino, in the village of Belkino, at the Gogolevo station. 2) If a settlement is named after the proper name of a famous person: near Repino (the name of the village near Leningrad), not far from Lermontovo (the name. small town near Penza)".

30 years have passed since then - and indeclinable options have become so widespread that the initially only correct indeclinable option is today perceived by many as erroneous (see the blogger’s words above). Once upon a time, A. A. Akhmatova was indignant if they said in her presence we live in Kratovo instead of we live in Kratovo, and the writer V. I. Belov sarcastically suggested that those speaking I live in Kemerovo use the same pattern to pronounce from the window. Nowadays, many consider precisely this use to be a corruption of the language - in Kratovo, in Strogin, in Pulkovo - that is, corresponding to a strict literary norm.

However, the indeclinability of the names in question gradually became normative, as modern dictionaries say (albeit with caution). Here is a quote from the “Grammar Dictionary of the Russian Language” by A. A. Zaliznyak: “...The use of this word (toponym in -ovo, -ino - V.P.) is very common - both in oral speech and in print. as unchangeable, for example: lives in Kuntsevo, we approach Ostankino, a kilometer from Borodino, instead of literary ones lives in Kuntsevo, we approach Ostankino, a kilometer from Borodino. The extent of the spread of this phenomenon is so significant that, apparently, it is already approaching the status valid option."

Thus, today both options can be considered normative - inflected and indeclinable. Let us also note that over the past decades, the tendency noted in “Russian Grammar” not to change the original form of the name of settlements, if they are used as an appendix, along with the generic name, has finally taken hold.

So, let’s remember elementary truth No. 1.

Basic truth No. 1. Geographical names of Slavic origin ending in -ovo, -evo, -ino, -yno, do not decline in combination with a generic word: from the Lyublino region, towards the Strogino region, to the Mitino region, in the city of Ivanovo, from the village of Prostokvashino, to the edge of Kosovo. If there is no generic word, then both options are normative, inflected (old) and indeclinable (new): in Lublin and in Lyublino, towards Strogin and towards Strogino, in Ivanovo and in Ivanovo, from Prostokvashino and from Prostokvashino, to Kosovo and to Kosovo, to Mitino and to Mitino, 8th microdistrict of Mitino and 8th microdistrict of Mitino. In this case, the inflected version corresponds to strict literary norms (and is recommended, for example, for the speech of announcers).

Literature:

1. Grammar of the modern Russian literary language. M., 1970.

2. Russian grammar. M., 1980.

3. Graudina L.K., Itskovich V.A., Katlinskaya L.P. Grammatical correctness of Russian speech. Stylistic dictionary of variants. M., 2004.

4. Zaliznyak A. A. Grammar dictionary of the Russian language: Inflection. – 5th ed., rev. M., 2008.

V. Pakhomov, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Chief Editor portal Gramota.RU

Tell me, uncle, it’s not for nothing

Moscow, burned by fire,

Given to the Frenchman?

After all, there were battles,

Yes, they say, even more!

It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers

About Borodin Day!

M. Yu. Lermontov. Borodino

The names of settlements in -o, such as Roshchino, Pershino, Poletayevo (for Chelyabinsk residents) or Orekhovo, Maryino, Altufyevo (for Muscovites), are declined.

There are not very many such places in Chelyabinsk and the surrounding area; they are mentioned infrequently. In Moscow, every third metro station has a similar name in honor of the corresponding place, so you hear their names from people all the time.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Muscovites do not decline these names: he lives in Tsaritsyno, he came from Strogino. On the "Echo of Moscow", on the other hand, these names are always declined: in Tsaritsyn, from Strogin. "Gramota.ru" says that in Lately rejection has become more frequent, and on this alone, as far as I can see, he recognizes both options as acceptable.

Even if you believe the “Certificate” and consider that these options are equal today, you still need to decide, at least for yourself, how to speak. After all, almost any rule that recognizes two options for anything as true, however, does not imply the possibility of their absolutely random use. (I’m ready to forgive some publications for spelling the word “Internet” with capital letter, but when in different materials one edition is written differently - this is absolutely unacceptable.)

I think I will not be mistaken if I say that many of the readers do not decline these names and even experience a certain feeling of the “wrongness” of the declension, and therefore will immediately decide this issue for themselves in favor of non-declension. I will note, however, that it is easiest to continue speaking as you are used to, even if it suddenly turns out to be incorrect. But once you get used to putting stress correctly in words like: casing, apostrophe, blinds, you immediately stop paying any attention to the fact that someone around you says differently.

To determine my own point of view on this issue, I decided to turn to common sense and other reliable sources.

Common sense says: there is absolutely no grammatical reason not to inflect these words. There are no Russian words in the Russian language that are not declined: metro, coffee and other coats are borrowed words, and, more importantly, it is specifically said about them that these are such amazing words that do not decline. And words that one could choose to incline or not incline do not exist at all, even among borrowed ones.

Children distort indeclinable words in any way they like (“they passed it on radib”) just to deflect, because they have already managed to feel the language and simply do not expect that there are words that they would not care about this language.

Here's what Dahl writes about the coat:

Coat, Wed. inclined French a very inconvenient name for us for an outer dress, male and female, like a wide frock coat; chapan.
And about blinds even like this:

Blinds, blinds pl. inclined French window grilles, in which, sometimes, transverse planks are placed, at will, flat or on edge, for light and shadow. People are talking. blinds, kind blinds; unyielding words are of no use to us; enlightenment? Zatinniki?

Having convinced ourselves of the naturalness and necessity of declension for the Russian language, let’s return to populated areas. Their indeclination, like any other words, makes them alien, non-Russian. But Lyublino and Strogino are not San Marino or Nagano.

I’ll tell you (for the sake of secret) that I wrote in Boldin, as I haven’t written for a long time... (from a letter from A.S. Pushkin to P.A. Pletnev).

Some say that there is no need to incline because this is the name. Amazing nonsense. Where have you seen that the name is not inclined, “to Euroset”? Do you live in Russia or in Russia? Others say that in general names, of course, are declined, but this is the neuter gender, and that’s why there is no need to decline. And again nonsense. Here we have the villages of Dolgoderevenskoye, Kruglenkoye, Kuznetskoye. Residents of Dolgoderevenskoye live in Dolgoderevenskoye, and not “in Dolgoderevenskoye”. The same, I believe, can be said about the residents of Otradnoye and Krylatsky. Thus, surprisingly, it is the names ending with -o that fall under indeclension.

On the “Certificate” they write that if such names are declined, it will be impossible to distinguish the neuter from the masculine. Like, if you say “in Strogin”, then it seems that the nominative case is “Strogin”, not Strogino. This is precisely what they see as the reason for the reluctance.

Cause and effect are confused here. It is precisely because many people stopped inflecting such words that the inflected version began to be perceived in the masculine gender. After all, we are inclining Krylatskoye, but by the way, if it were the Krylatsky district, it would be inclined the same way. When they say “in Krylatsky”, don’t you think it’s “Krylatsky”? Maybe, so that it doesn’t seem like it, let’s stop persuading him: “I live in Krylatskoye,” “I came from Kruglenkoye”? (Does it hurt your ears? Doesn’t “from Lyublino” hurt your ears?)

In general, this happens not only in the neuter gender. When they talk about Prague, Madrid, Warsaw or Beijing, we don't think of Prague, Madrid, Warsaw and Beijing. You can, of course, "to avoid confusion" feminine also stop declining: “in Prague”, in Madrid, “in Warsaw” and in Beijing. (Not in Russian, but the nominative case is immediately obvious!) Fortunately, no one agrees to this.

It just so happened that in the Russian language it is not always possible to determine the original form of a word by its indirect form. It is assumed that if you speak Russian, then it is already obvious to you.

One more (it seems the last) argument in favor of nondeclension: sometimes, they say, there is a settlement in both the neuter gender and the masculine gender, and therefore, if you decline, it is unclear which of them we are talking about. But distorting the entire language for the sake of a little more certainty is a more than dubious idea, and there are not so many such pairs of settlements to go through with it (and, again, you can find similar pairs not only with settlements to -o, and this is not considered a reason not to persuade them). There are many more places in the country that have absolutely the same names, and there is no confusion. Do you know how many civilians there are in Russia? In those rare cases when there is both the city of Pushkin and the village of Pushkino, and at the same time we can talk about both, you can always simply construct the phrase a little differently and avoid ambiguity. (But, in general, not everyone is destined to face this problem even once in their life.)

Of course, language lives and changes, and this is normal. When coffee becomes a neuter gender, this can at least be justified by the fact that the word coffee with its entire appearance says: “I am a neuter gender,” and it is more convenient for any Russian-speaking person to perceive it that way. But in the case of Poletaev and his brothers, the trend, on the contrary, is “anti-Russian” and unnatural.

You just need to accustom yourself to inclination and love it.

The electrical center is located in Ostankino, the airport is in Domodedovo, and the tunnel is near Lefortovo. If the idea of declination of Yasenev or Medvedkov ever seems wrong to us, the problem is not in Yasenev or Medvedkov, but in us.

So, after reading these articles, I made an unequivocal conclusion for myself: the toponym “Kupchino” can and should be declined. It is possible, because this does not contradict the current rules of the Russian language, given that the name “Kupchino” is of Slavic origin. And it should be because it was precisely this form of pronunciation that was used by the residents of the village and town, as well as a significant number of residents who moved to Kupchino as an area of mass development.

But in colloquial speech it is not so simple. I conducted a frivolous sociological survey among friends and acquaintances. To the question “where do you live?” 90% of respondents, and maybe more, answered - in Kupchino. And then opinions were divided. About half said that they walk around Kupchin and nowhere from Kupchina they are not going to leave. It turns out something in between. Separate cases are used.

When setting a search query on Yandex and Google, the following data was received:

Yandex query “in Kupchino” – 1 million pages found

Yandex query “in Kupchin” – 12 thousand pages found

Google query “in Kupchino” – 530,000 pages found

Google query “in Kupchyn” – 67,700 pages found

It is clear that the inflexible form is more popular.

Despite this, I remain a staunch supporter of the declension of the toponym “Kupchino” and this is how I write about Kupchino within the framework of this site. Being in the minority does not mean being wrong.

I hasten to send all those who are indignant and indignant about this to the Institute of the Russian Language of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which I currently consider as the final authority in this matter.

A request made to this institution received an answer that did not cause the slightest surprise: it is possible to decline the toponym “Kupchino”. As an argument, the current standards described in the following works were proposed:

Brief Russian grammar. Edited by N. Yu. Shvedova and V. V. Lopatin. 2nd edition, stereotypical

Russian Academy Sci. Institute of Russian Language named after. V. V. Vinogradova. Moscow 2002 (pp. 202, 203 § 184, 185) and

Grammatical correctness of Russian speech. Stylistic dictionary of variants. L. K. Graudina, V. A. Itskovich, L. P. Katlinskaya; The Russian Academy of Sciences. Institute of Russian Language named after. V. V. Vinogradova. Moscow 2001 (pp. 198-200), already mentioned above.

However, as it turned out, the leadership of the Frunzensky district of St. Petersburg adheres to the more popular, not inclining, version (here we are talking about a long-gone team led by T. Meshcheryakov). Well, it's their right, their choice. It's completely acceptable. The only puzzling thing is that the district leadership allows itself to give recommendations to residents on how they, the residents, should pronounce the name of the district. The administration should make such suggestions, perhaps, to its subordinates, but certainly not to the public. For this kind of recommendations, there are bodies more competent in philological and toponymic issues.

The administration of the Frunzensky district found out whether it is necessary to persuade Kupchino BaltInfo

St. Petersburg, March 29, 2012. The administration of the Frunzensky district held a meeting with the participation of philologists, at which issues of toponymy were discussed. With the help of specialists, officials found out that the name of the Kupchino district is not inflected in Russian. Administration press secretary Kirill Smirnov told a BaltInfo correspondent about this.

“We receive stacks of letters. People wonder how to use this word correctly. Historians say that the name Kupchino comes from Finnish-language names, and that is why it should not be inclined. Come from Kupchino, go to Kupchino,” explained Kirill Smirnov.

According to him, others were also in the spotlight current issues toponymies, in particular, the metro station, which is planned to be called “Mezhdunarodnaya”. The most popular alternative name is “Metrostroevskaya”. And the veterans’ organization proposed naming the station in honor of one of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

As Kirill Smirnov said, toponymy issues are taken very seriously in the Frunzensky district. Thus, last year the Kupchinskaya Toponymic Reader was published. According to Kirill Smirnov, only residents of the Frunzensky district can boast of such a publication; other St. Petersburg residents have to be content with general manuals on urban toponymy.

Kupchino is asked not to persuade Dmitry Kolomiets Komsomolskaya Pravda April 11, 2012

In the Frunzensky district they are concerned about the norms of the Russian language.

If Napoleon had turned his troops towards St. Petersburg, and the decisive battle had taken place not near Borodino, but in Kupchino, then Lermontov would have had one less poem. And all because “Kupchino” does not bow. And the line “it’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers about Kupchin’s Day” will be not only historically, but also grammatically.

– Coming from Kupchino, leaving for Kupchino, – how to incline the name of the district to dative case explained the press secretary of the Frunzensky district administration, Kirill Smirnov.

Same with other cases. The local language norm, as they say in the administration, is due to the fact that the name of the district is foreign, borrowed from the Finnish village of four houses Kupsila, which was located there even before the founding of St. Petersburg. To find out, philologists were even invited to the meeting in Kupchino. They confirmed: it is not permissible to incline Kupchino, as well as Oslo, San Marino, unlike Ostankino, Sheremetyevo, Domodedovo, which were not foreign villages.

“Whether Kupchino is inclined or not is not the most pressing philological problem,” Dmitry Novokshonov, a lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism at St. Petersburg State University, noted in a conversation with a KP correspondent. He was not present at the meeting in the Frunzensky district. - I don’t even know how this can be discussed at all. If you claim that this is a foreign word, prove it. Not foreign - prove it. And then we need to find out how people now pronounce “Kupchino”. If people are inclined, then one norm needs to be registered, if they are not inclined, another one needs to be registered.

Let us add that the fashion to pronounce “in Kupchin” appeared after television reports “from Ostankino”. Because Slavic geographical names ending in “-ovo, -evo, -ino, -yno” were traditionally inclined. Native speakers of the Russian language began to use the indeclinable version in colloquial speech only in recent decades.

The original works of the leadership of the Frunzensky district did not go unnoticed. Below are some of the responses and discussions found in various publications regarding the administration's initiative.

How to correctly use the words “Kupchino” and “Pulkovo” City 812 online

Last week, the administration of the Frunzensky district decided to find out whether the word “Kupchino” should be declined. And with the help of experts, we came to the conclusion that if the name Kupchino has foreign language roots, then there is no need to decline it. Online812 decided to check with recognized experts what they think about Kupchin.

Valery Efremov, professor of the Russian language department of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A. I. Herzen:

In 1975 and 1980, two language reference books were published, and in the first, words like “Ostankino” or “Pulkovo” were inclined in every way. Inflecting the name was as natural as inflecting the word “window.” But the 1980 reference book also treated inflexibility as the norm. And recently the habit of not inclining Pulkovo and Kupchino has intensified due to general laxity and departure from the norm. That is, this trend first arose after the war, then developed and strengthened in the 80s, when people no longer cared about the language.

Before the war, all names ending in “o” - “Pushkino”, “Avtovo” - were written as “from Pushkin”, “before Avtova” when declining, although I personally still don’t dare say “Avtova”. This is a Finnish name meaning bog or blato. The legend that Peter named the village after the words “and that one” is nothing more than urban folklore. Old, pre-revolutionary dictionaries even write “in Helsinki” - however, Helsinki was then part of the Russian Empire.

It is clear that we will never decline foreign names like “Oslo”. But it has always been customary to decline all settlements on this side of the border, regardless of the roots of this word. This is a Russian village, which means we decline the name.

Although, of course, if you keep in mind all the time that Kupchino is a Finnish word, then your tongue will not dare to say “Kupchina”.

Should cultured people persuade Kupchino? Gleb Stashkov's blog City 812 online BezFormat.RU

It’s good, you know, to be a Kupchinsky journalist. Our government is very responsive. Two weeks ago I proposed renaming the streets of Bela Kun and Oleko Dundic. And what would you think? A survey was posted on the district administration website: should they be renamed?

True, the majority believes that it is not necessary. So we know what kind of majority we have. All sorts of people came in large numbers. Some, you know, move from Kupchin to the Kremlin, while others seem to do the opposite.

And last summer, Kupchin’s press secretary tweeted a response to my text. Here in Kupchina, you know, everyone writes on Twitter. They’ll come and let’s write on Twitter. In general, the press secretary accused me of using the word “Kupchino”. You can’t, they say, write “in Kupchino,” but you need, they say, “in Kupchino.”

And on the magazine’s website, too, you know, they blame me for this. Grayness, they say, is brainless. Not otherwise, they say, as a newcomer. And, you know, I’m very offended. Of course, I'm a newcomer. I came to Kupchino from the Petrograd side. But I was not yet a year old then. And since then I have become completely Russified and paid off.

To be honest, I’m not inclined towards Kupchino. This corrector inclines. Proofreaders, you know, are also people with ambition. They’ll come to the editorial office and let’s persuade them to do anything.

But, apparently, our proofreader offended our district administration so much that last week it convened a scientific council. And “with the help of specialists, officials found out that the name of the Kupchino district is not inclined in Russian.” Because “historians say that the name Kupchino comes from Finnish-language names.”

Well, you never know what historians say. I, you know, am also a historian. I started to find out. It turns out that according to the Swedish census of 1619, four taxable owners lived in the village of Kuptzinoua By, three of whom - Ivan Kuzmin, Proshka Lefontyev and Siman Abrahamov - were Orthodox. Very interesting information. "Four taxable." That is, they lived and were not taxed. That is, it was the Swedes who brought illegal migrants here.

But, to tell the truth, I have no confidence in this census. Where, tell me, could Siman Abrahamov come from in the 17th century? And even Orthodox. And what kind of name is this - Kuptzinoua. It's some kind of Indian name. It turns out that the Kamanches lived here. Or some kind of Mohicans. And Siman Abrahamov is the last of the Mohicans. Not counting Proshka Lefontyev.

And according to the scientist Myznikov, kypsi in ancient Finnish meant “hare”. Beautiful version. It turns out that Hare Island is Kupchino.

And, as they say,

Here in KupchinO
We are destined
Open a window to Europe.

True, in modern Finnish the word for hare is jänis. It doesn't taste like Kypsi. Apparently, Finnish hares have evolved greatly since ancient times.

Of course, if Kupchino is a foreign name, then there is no bazaar. Doesn't bow down. We don’t say: in San Marin, from San Marin. But, as one Kolpino patriot noted on the Internet, Kolpino is not San Marino. And Kupchino, believe me, even more so. And not San Marino, and not Rio de Janeiro. And it seems to me that the word “Kupchino” is of domestic production.

And he doesn’t remember a damn thing
About the day, your mother, KupchinA, -
I will add on my own behalf.

However, the mentioned Kolpino patriot gives another option: “It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers the day of Borodin and the defense of Kolpino!” And in support of his “inclinist” theory he cites the following lines:

We are standing in a crowd near Kolpino.
The artillery hits its own.

Not very, you know, convincing. Maybe it’s better for us to forget about this defense of Kolpin? Limit yourself to the day of Borodin. There, the artillery didn’t seem to hit on its own.

If they remembered Lermontov, it would be a sin to forget about Pushkin. Tom, you know, had a good time in Boldin. However, Pushkin seriously argued that in Russian one should say “gypsies” and “Tatars,” and not “gypsies” and “Tatars.” And his poem, you know, is called “Gypsies,” not “Gypsies.” Pushkin, to be honest, was also a migrant worker.

And in general, in those days, it was not Pushkin who was considered a champion of the Russian language, but Admiral Shishkov. Who attacked Karamzin, who used the word “more humane.” This way, according to the admiral, they will say “my horse is better than yours, my cow is better than yours.” And Pushkin also had a friend - Prince Vyazemsky. I also wrote some poems. And the words “mediocrity” and “talented” turned him right inside out. These words, he says, came from the meadowsweet farmers. But I doubt something. You know, the meadowsweet man is standing in a cap and reasoning:

- And Pushkin is talented, son of a bitch. And Vyazemsky, frankly speaking, is mediocrity.

Let's return to Kupchino. Fighters for the purity of language and opponents of change are precisely the “inclinists”. Living in Kupchino, not in Kupchino. Not to incline is the fashion of recent years. Previously they declined. And now, you see, they feel discomfort from this. They came in large numbers and felt discomfort.

When I worked as a literary editor in a sports newspaper, one hockey correspondent felt discomfort from the name of the Ufa club “Salavat Yulaev”. And he wrote this: SKA is playing with Salavat Yulaev. I explained that Salavat Yulaev is not a pound sterling. That salavat is not a unit of measurement for some yulai. The correspondent argued. And then he went to the STO TV channel, where he said that Zenit was playing with Krylia Sovetov.

And before, people were cultured and didn’t even know the word – discomfort. And they didn't call. And they didn't even call. And they didn’t talk on the phone at all. “Just now I was talking on the phone with L. Tolstoy,” Chekhov writes in his diary.

It sounds very sublime and noble, you know. Well, imagine Chekhov, who takes out a mobile phone in a minibus and starts yelling.

- Hello, hello, Tolstoy? It's Chekhov calling!

Yes, Tolstoy would have snapped right away:
- Go to hell..., Chekhov.

By the way, cultured people of that time inclined male surnames to “-ko”. Take any memories. At Rodzianka's. To Rodzianka. From Rodzianka. And they’re not writing about just anyone. About the Speaker of the State Duma.

So I ask you to convey to both the district administration and the governor of Poltavchenko: they persuaded Kupchino, we persuade and will continue to persuade. And if the tongue doesn’t turn or the hand doesn’t rise, the proofreader will correct it.

"In Kupchino" vs "In Kupchino" Konstantin Vasilevsky Newspaper "Frunzensky District" No. 8 (326) March 30, 2012

What is the correct way to say “in Kupchino” or “in Kupchino”? An open discussion on this topic was opened by representatives of the public organization “I love Kupchino” and employees of the Frunzensky district administration.

"Opinions differ. Surveys of residents show that both variants are common in both spoken and written speech – inflected and indeclinable. Experts say that geographical names of Slavic origin ending in “-ino” are not inflected when used with a generic word If there is no generic word, then it is preferable, according to classical literary norms, to use the inflected version. However, the discussion at present time is running also about whether the toponym Kupchino is of Russian or Finnish origin, which has survived to this day and given the name to a significant territory in the south of modern St. Petersburg,” they say in the administration of the Frunzensky district. Let us recall that on the initiative of the head of the administration of the Frunzensky district Terenty Meshcheryakov and public organizations at the end of 2011, residents were invited to join in the discussion of Kupchin place names. Thus, on the information resources of the district, a discussion took place about the need and expediency of renaming Bela Kun Street, which bears the name of one of the figures of the communist movement. You can take part in the discussion and express your opinion on the website of the Frunzensky District newspaper at gazetafrunz.ru in the “Poll” section.

Kupchino is not inclined. Participants in a meeting in the administration of the Frunzensky district of St. Petersburg came to this sensational conclusion from the point of view of the Russian language today. According to municipal officials and some unnamed experts, the toponym “Kupchino” cannot be changed by case. The decision is advisory in nature, NTV clarifies.

However, philologists are surprised and say: this is not the competence of the district administration. After all, there is a Council for Speech Culture under the Governor of St. Petersburg. In addition, norms have long been accepted: in exemplary literary speech - both oral and written - geographical names are inclined to "o".

Exceptions are districts, cities, etc., which are used with applications or if the name coincides with first and last names. For example: visit Pushkino and Repino, see the Kupchino district, but leave Kupchino.

Philologists remind all doubters of the classic lines of Lermontov’s poem: “It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers Borodin’s day.”

The Russian language is replete with many rules that regulate the correct use and spelling of words. But besides this, a literate person must be able to inflect various words. This topic usually raises many questions and doubts not only among schoolchildren, but also among adults. Surnames and geographical names are especially difficult for most people. We will talk about this today in our article.

Toponyms: what are they?

The declension of geographical names is subject to certain rules that you simply need to know by heart. Otherwise, you will find a lot of funny cases that will characterize you from a not very good side in front of your friends or colleagues.

Quite often, when talking about the declension of geographical names in Russian, we mean toponyms. This term refers to all geographic identifiers in general. This word came to us from ancient Greek language, it was formed from two different words, meaning “place” and “name” in translation. Now in many information sources the word "toponyms" is used.

Where can I look up the rules for declension of place names?

Of course, in order to correctly decline geographical names, it is necessary not only to know the rule, but also to apply it to the place. After all, quite often even a person who considers himself literate doubts the spelling of a particular word. In this case, special dictionaries will help you, using which you can check the declension of geographical names. for example, he created an excellent assistant for schoolchildren of all ages - “Dictionary of Difficulties of the Russian Language.” This wonderful reference book can also be used by adults who want to improve their literacy level.

Types of toponyms

Before diving into a topic called “Declination of Place Names,” it’s worth finding out what toponyms are. After all, this significantly changes the rules for their declination. On this moment highlighted in Russian the following types toponyms:

Slavic - these include native Russian names or those that have long been mastered in the Russian language;
compound - this type toponyms usually consist of two words;
names of the republics;
foreign - such names have their own categories, for each of which there is a separate declension rule.

Declension rules for Slavic toponyms

The declension of geographical names with Slavic roots is subject to simple rule: The name always agrees with the word applied to it. These words include:

city;
village;
village;
street, etc.

In these cases, the toponym is placed in the declension of the defining word. For example, you will always say “in the city of Samara” and “in the city of Moscow”. Please note that the qualifying word “city” almost always declines the toponym that follows. This also applies to exceptions. These include the following cases:

Place names that have a different gender with a defining word are not declined (for example, it would be correct to say - on Lake Salekhard);
most often, plural toponyms are not subject to declension (for example, in the village of Topotishchi).

If we are talking about street names, then there are different rules for declension of geographical names. A feminine toponym always agrees with the word “street” being defined. In this case, names of the masculine gender are not declined; compound place names are also subject to a similar rule. As an example, the following combinations can be given:

along Cherry Orchards Street;
on Kaltuk street;
to Melodichnaya street.

Place names in the form of an adjective are most often declined: on the Yellow River, at Cape Verde, etc.

Declension of geographical names ending in "o", "e"

For some reason, adults quite often forget about this rule. Even famous TV presenters and journalists make annoying mistakes. To be considered a literate person, remember that Slavic place names of the neuter gender are not declined in Russian. It would be correct to say:

in the city of Kemerovo;
near the city of Grodno;
in the village of Komarkovo.

Oddly enough, this simple rule always causes a lot of difficulties. Although there is nothing complicated about it, the main thing is to remember the correct spelling.

Toponyms ending in “ov”, “ev”, “in”, “yn”: declension rules

The declension of geographical names with endings so common in the Russian language causes serious confusion. The fact is that the rules for declension of such toponyms have changed more than once over the past decades. Historically, geographical names with the endings “ov”, “ev”, “in”, “yn” have always been declined. For example, a house in Ostashkov or a dacha in Mogilev.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a tendency not to decline such geographical names. This was due to a series of military operations, when, in order to avoid confusion in reports, names were used only in the nominative case. The military sought to ensure that place names in maps and various orders were identical. Over time, this approach began to be considered the norm and even used on television.

IN last years journalism began to return to the original form of declension of geographical names. But using them in the nominative case is also considered normal and correct.

Complex Slavic place names

The declension of geographical names consisting of several words follows a certain rule. If we are talking about a complex toponym, then its first part is always declined, regardless of the presence or absence of a defining word. As an example, the following names can be given:

in Rostov-on-Don;
in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, etc.

There is one exception to this rule - the name of the city Gus-Khrustalny. The first part of this complex toponym should not be declined.

Much confusion is caused by names in which the first part is in the neuter gender. According to the rules of the Russian language, it must be subject to mandatory declension, but in recent years there has been a growing tendency towards the immutability of this part. Therefore, for example, both versions of the spelling will be correct: in Orekhovo-Zuyevo and in Orekhovo-Zuevo.

How to correctly decline toponyms - names of republics?

When you don’t know how to correctly write the name of the republic, then remember the rule that we will talk about now. Names ending in "iya" and "ee" must be consistent with the word "republic". For example, “in the Republic of Korea” or “from the Republic of Macedonia.” But this rule also has its pitfalls, as, indeed, many rules of the Russian language.

Official documents exclude the possibility of declension of such names, although journalism applies the usual rule of the Russian language to them. The exception also applies to the Federal Republic of Germany. By agreement between our countries, it was decided not to decline this name.

In all other cases, the name does not agree with the word “republic” and remains in the nominative case.

Foreign place names

It is quite difficult for a Russian person to cope with foreign-language geographical names. It's easier to remember which ones don't bow. So, the list of geographical names that are not subject to declension includes:

Finnish names;
Georgian and Abkhazian (except for the names of resorts);
French place names ending with the letter "a";
compound Italian, Portuguese and Spanish place names;
administrative-territorial units.

You can only decline names that end in “a” and have been mastered in Russian. For example, in Verona and from Ankara. French names can be declined only if they have acquired the ending “a” in their Russian sound.

If foreign-language geographical names end in “e”, “s”, “i”, “o”, then they are classified as indeclinable. There are many examples of this rule:

in Tokyo;
from Mexico City;
to Santiago.

The exception is names that in Russian are formed from a foreign word. For example, it is correct to write “in the Himalayas.”

Declension of names and surnames

Many people believe that the declension of geographical names and proper names has general rules. This is not entirely true. Of course, the rules have a lot in common, but in reality they are not identical.

Most often, the correct declension of first and last names and geographical names raises a lot of questions in the spring-summer period, when graduates graduate from school and receive certificates. Incorrect spelling of toponyms and proper names in diplomas is quite common. Knowing the rules of the Russian language will help you avoid these unpleasant moments. Let's look at the main points of the rule.

Declension of standard surnames

Declining standard surnames is quite simple - they become the required form intuitively. But in the case where the surname was borrowed from foreign language and ends in “ov”, “in”, then in the instrumental case it will have the ending “om”. For example, the surname Green in the instrumental case will sound like Green.

Questions often arise with the declension of women's surnames ending in "ina". In this case, everything depends on the nominative case of the male surname. For example, before us is Andrei Zhemchuzhina. The surname of his wife Yulia will be inflected as common noun. For example, the things of Yulia Zhemchuzhina. If the husband’s name is Andrey Zhemchuzhin, then in this case we will talk about the things of Yulia Zhemchuzhina.

Non-standard surnames: how to decline?

Previously, it was believed that the declension of the surname is primarily influenced by But in fact, the predominant factor here is the ending of the surname. Everything depends on him in the first place.

Surnames ending in:

"oh";
"their".

Male surnames ending with a consonant are declined. If the surname ends in “ya” and is also preceded by a vowel, then the surname must be declined. In a similar case with the ending “a” the surname refers to the indeclinable.

Of course, the Russian language is not so simple. But if you remember a few of the rules we have listed, you will never blush because of the incorrect spelling of geographical names and proper names.

Tell me, uncle, it’s not for nothing
- Moscow, burned by fire,
Given to the Frenchman?
After all, there were battles,
Yes, they say, even more!
It’s not for nothing that all of Russia remembers
About Borodin Day!

M. Yu. Lermontov. Borodino

Names of settlements on -O, such as Roshchino, Pershino, Poletayevo (for Chelyabinsk residents) or Orekhovo, Maryino, Altufyevo (for Muscovites), are inclined.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Muscovites do not decline these names: he lives in Tsaritsyno, he came from Strogino. On the “Echo of Moscow”, on the other hand, these names are always declined: in Tsaritsyn, from Strogin. “Gramota.ru” says that recently non-declension has become more frequent, and on this alone, as far as I can see, it recognizes both options as acceptable.

Even if you believe the “Certificate” and consider that these options are equal today, you still need to decide, at least for yourself, how to speak. After all, almost any rule that recognizes two options for anything as true, however, does not imply the possibility of their absolutely random use. (I’m ready to forgive some publications for writing the word “Internet” with a capital letter, but when different materials from one publication spell it differently, this is absolutely unacceptable.)

Lenta.ru. Screenshot of one of the pages.

I think I will not be mistaken if I say that many of the readers do not decline these names and even experience a certain feeling of the “incorrectness” of the declension, and therefore will immediately decide this issue for themselves in favor of non-declension. I will note, however, that it is easiest to continue speaking as you are used to, even if it suddenly turns out to be incorrect. But once you get used to putting stress correctly in words like: casing, apostrophe, blinds, you immediately stop paying any attention to the fact that someone around you says differently.

To determine my own point of view on this issue, I decided to turn to common sense and some other credible sources.

Common sense says: there is absolutely no grammatical reason not to inflect these words. In russian language does not exist Russian words that would not decline: metro, coffee and other coats are borrowed words, and, more importantly, it is specifically said about them that these are such amazing words that do not decline. And words that one could choose to incline or not incline do not exist at all, even among borrowed ones.

Children distort indeclinable words in any way they like (“they passed it on radially”) just to deflect them, because they have already managed to feel the language and simply do not expect that there are words that would not give a damn about this language.

Here's what Dahl writes about the coat:

Coat, Wed inclined French very inconvenient for us the name of the outer dress, male and female in the genus of a wide frock coat; chapan.

And about blinds even like this:

Blinds, blinds pl. inclined French window grilles, in which, sometimes, transverse planks are placed, at will, flat or on edge, for light and shadow. People are talking. blinds, kind blinds; unyielding words are of no use to us; enlightenment? Zatinniki?

I’ll tell you (for the sake of secret) that I wrote in Boldin, as I haven’t written for a long time... (from a letter from A.S. Pushkin to P.A. Pletnev).

Some say that there is no need to incline because this is the name. Amazing nonsense. Where have you seen that the name is not inclined, “to Euroset”? Do you live in Russia or in Russia? Others say that in general names, of course, are inclined, but this is the neuter gender, and so That's why no need to bend. And again nonsense. Here we have the villages of Dolgoderevenskoye, Kruglenkoye, Kuznetskoye. Residents of Dolgoderevenskoye live in Dolgoderevenskoye, and not “in Dolgoderevenskoye”. The same, I believe, can be said about the residents of Otradnoye and Krylatsky. Thus, surprisingly, it is the names on -O.

Cause and effect are confused here. It is precisely because many people stopped inflecting such words that the inflected version began to be perceived in the masculine gender. After all, we are inclining Krylatskoye, but by the way, if it were the Krylatsky district, it would be inclined the same way. When they say “in Krylatskoye”, don’t you think it’s “Krylatsky”? Maybe, so that it doesn’t seem like it, let’s stop persuading him: “I live in Krylatskoye,” “I came from Kruglenkoye”? (Does it hurt your ears? Doesn’t “from Lyublino” hurt your ears?)

In general, this happens not only in the neuter gender. When they talk about Prague, Madrid, Warsaw or Beijing, we don't think of Prague, Madrid, Warsaw and Beijing. You can, of course, “to avoid confusion”, also stop inflecting the feminine gender: “in Prague”, in Madrid, “in Warsaw” and in Beijing. (Not in Russian, but the nominative case is immediately obvious!) Fortunately, no one agrees to this.

One more (it seems the last) argument in favor of non-declension: sometimes, they say, there is a populated area And in the neuter gender And in masculine, and therefore if inclined, it is unclear which of them we are talking about. But distorting the entire language for the sake of a little more certainty is a more than dubious idea, and there are not so many such pairs of settlements to do this because of them (and, again, you can find similar pairs not only with settlements on -O, and this is not considered a reason not to persuade them). There are many more places in the country that are generally called absolutely the same, and there is no confusion. Do you know how many civilians there are in Russia? In those rare cases when there is both the city of Pushkin and the village of Pushkino, and at the same time we can talk about both, you can always simply construct the phrase a little differently and avoid ambiguity. (But, in general, not everyone is destined to face this problem even once in their life.)

Of course, language lives and changes, and this is normal. When coffee becomes neuter, this can at least be justified by the fact that the word coffee With all his appearance he says: “I am neuter,” and it is more convenient for any Russian-speaking person to perceive him that way. But in the case of Poletaev and his brothers, the trend, on the contrary, is “anti-Russian” and unnatural.

You just need to accustom yourself to inclination and love it.

The television center is located in Ostankino, the airport is in Domodedovo, and the tunnel is near Lefortovo. If the idea of declination of Yasenev or Medvedkov ever seems wrong to us, the problem is not in Yasenev or Medvedkov, but in us.