Pronouns in Russian
27 words in Russian on the topic “pronouns”: я — I, ты — you (informal), вы — you (formal or plural), он — he.
27 words on the topic
- яyaIOften dropped in speech: the verb ending already names the person, so ponimayu alone means "I understand". English cannot get by without its I.
- тыtyyou (informal)For family, friends and children. Moving from vy to ty is a small ceremony, and the older person or the woman offers it first.
- выvyyou (formal or plural)Polite to one person and plain plural at once — no separate polite form to learn. The verb after it is plural: vy govorite, "you speak".
- онonheWorks for people and for things: a table is on too. This pronoun is where the gender of a noun shows itself.
- онаonasheThe feminine pronoun. Words ending in -a are usually she, but not always — papa is he — so gender is learned along with the word.
- мыmyweTakes the plain plural verb: my rabotayem. The same job English gives "we", and one form covers everybody.
- ониonitheyOne word for groups of any makeup. The past tense still gives gender away: oni byli uses the plural form of "to be".
- мойmoymyAgrees with the thing owned, not with the owner: moy gorod, moya kvartira, moyo mesto. English "my" never changes; this one does.
- твойtvoyyour (informal)The informal "your" that goes with ty, agreeing with the thing: tvoy chay, tvoya kniga.
- нашnashourAgrees with the thing owned: nash dom, nasha ulitsa. The same pattern as moy, one form further.
- вашvashyour (formal or plural)The "your" for vy — polite to one, plain for several — agreeing with the thing: vash avtobus, vasha ochered.
- его, её, ихego, eyo, ikhhis, her, theirThree possessives that never agree with the thing owned: a key is ego klyuch, eyo klyuch or ikh klyuch, and klyuch stays put.
- свойsvoyone's ownThe reflexive possessive: when the thing belongs to the subject, this word steps in. U menya svoy klyuch — "I have my own key".
- самsammyself (by oneself)The emphatic, not the possessive: ya sdelal eto sam, "I did it myself". It agrees with the person, not the thing.
- весьvesall, wholeStands before the noun like "whole" and agrees with it: ves vecher, vsya semya, vsyo utro.
- каждый изkazhdyy izeach ofKazhdyy is "each"; with iz it counts inside a group, and the group takes the of-form: kazhdyy iz nas, "each of us".
- любойlyuboyanyThe free-choice word, agreeing with the noun: vybiray lyuboy stolik, "take any table".
- этотetotthisThe one at hand, agreeing with the noun: etot klyuch, eta kniga, eto okno.
- тотtotthatThe one over there: mne nuzhen ne tot, a drugoy — "I need not that one but the other".
- такойtakoysuch, the same kindI mne takoy zhe chay — "the same tea for me too". Points at the sample and copies it.
- другойdrugoyother, anotherEst drugoy sposob — "there is another way". The full form is drugaya kniga, drugoye delo.
- какой изkakoy izwhich ofThe choice inside a group, the group in the of-form: kakoy iz etikh dvukh deshevre?
- никакойnikakoynone (at all)Ni plus kakoy, with the ne doing its part: U nas nikakoy avtobus ne khodit — "no bus runs here at all".
- кто-тоkto-tosomeoneKto plus -to, the unnamed person: Slyshu, kto-to shumit za stenoy.
- что-тоchto-tosomethingThe unnamed thing in the positive: V etoy knige yest chto-to novoye.
- никто изnikto iznone ofNikto iz nikh ne opozdal — the group in the of-form, and the verb keeps its ne.
- ничтоnichtonothingNi plus chto: V zhizni nichto ne vechno. The verb keeps its ne, as grammar demands.
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Я из МосквыYa iz MoskvyI am from Moscow
- А ты откуда?A ty otkuda?And where are you from?
- Вы говорите по-английски?Vy govorite po-angliyski?Do you speak English?
- Он работает в банкеOn rabotaet v bankeHe works at a bank
- Она живёт в МосквеOna zhivyot v MoskveShe lives in Moscow
- Мы учим русский вместеMy uchim russkiy vmesteWe are learning this language together
What is worth knowing about these words
я (ya) — I. Often dropped in speech: the verb ending already names the person, so ponimayu alone means "I understand". English cannot get by without its I.
ты (ty) — you (informal). For family, friends and children. Moving from vy to ty is a small ceremony, and the older person or the woman offers it first.
вы (vy) — you (formal or plural). Polite to one person and plain plural at once — no separate polite form to learn. The verb after it is plural: vy govorite, "you speak".
он (on) — he. Works for people and for things: a table is on too. This pronoun is where the gender of a noun shows itself.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “I” in Russian?
Often dropped in speech: the verb ending already names the person, so ponimayu alone means "I understand". English cannot get by without its I.
- How do you say “my” in Russian?
Agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner: moy gorod, moya kvartira, moyo mesto. English "my" never changes; this one does.
- How do you say “all, whole” in Russian?
Stands before the noun like "whole" and agrees with it: ves vecher, vsya semya, vsyo utro.
- How do you say “which of” in Russian?
The choice inside a group, the group in the of-form: kakoy iz etikh dvukh deshevre?
- How do you say “you (informal)” in Russian?
For family, friends and children. Moving from vy to ty is a small ceremony, and the older person or the woman offers it first.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
I, you, we, they. There is a handful of them, they turn up in every sentence, and politeness rides on them: most of these languages keep a formal “you” apart from a familiar one, and choosing the wrong one is noticed faster than a mispronounced word.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “I” in Russian?
«я», read “ya”. Often dropped in speech: the verb ending already names the person, so ponimayu alone means "I understand". English cannot get by without its I. It is one of 27 words in the set “pronouns” — the rest are in the table above.
How many pronouns do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 27 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.