How foreign surnames are inclined in Russian. Declension of female surnames

Often, secretaries and clerks, when drawing up protocols, are faced with the requirement of the head not to incline declined surnames. What surnames do not actually decline, we will tell in the article.

From the article you will learn:

What are the misconceptions about the declension of surnames

Most native speakers of the Russian language are absolutely unaware of the laws of declension of names and surnames. Even though there is a large number of reference books and manuals on this topic, the issue of declension of surnames remains complex and ambiguous.

In many respects, the solution of this issue is hindered by misconceptions about the rules for declension of surnames, which are widespread among native speakers of the Russian language. Let's consider some of them.

There is a widespread misconception that the declension of a surname depends on its linguistic origin. From this, the wrong conclusion is made that, for example, all Georgian, Polish or Armenian surnames do not decline.

Another misconception is that the declension of a surname depends on the gender of its bearer.

If the last name matches common noun(Will, Freedom, Beetle), then she does not bow.

However, perhaps the most common misconception is that there are so many declension rules that it simply does not make sense to memorize them.

In order to refute these misconceptions, consider the basic rules for changing surnames by cases. We have formulated them in the form step by step instructions, with which you can quickly conclude whether the surname changes in cases or not.

How to determine if a surname is inclined: step by step instructions

A. If the surname ends in -ov, -in, but it is foreign (For example, Chaplin or Darwin), then it will change in cases like a noun of the second declension (for example, table) - Chaplin, Darwin.

C. Female surnames in -ina (Smorodina, Zhemchuzhina) change depending on how the male version of the same surname changes. If the male version sounds like Smorodin or Zhemchuzhin, then the female surname in instrumental will sound like Currant or Pearl, and if the male version coincides with the female surname - Pearl or Currant, then the female surname will be declined as a common noun - Pearl or Currant.

Step #2

Non-standard surname

The main rule to follow is that the type of declension is primarily affected by what sound - a vowel or a consonant - the surname ends with. We note again that neither the gender of the carrier nor the origin affects the inclination or inclination of the surname.

Step #3

Groups of indeclinable surnames

All Russian surnames ending in -s, -ih (Sukhikh, Belykh), as well as surnames that end in vowels e, and, o, u, s, e, u, are not subject to change in cases.

For example, the performance of Loya, Gramigny, Ceausescu, Lykhna, Maigret and Liu.

Note. In everyday speech and in the language of literature, which depicts Speaking, sometimes you can find the declension of male surnames on -s or -ih. For example, Chernykh's report. Sometimes you can find the declension of Ukrainian surnames on - to - Chernenka or Shevchenko. The last variant of surname changes was common in the 19th century, but at present both the first variant and the second are undesirable.

Step #4

In the event that the surname has an ending in a consonant sound (except for -ih and -ih), then it will be inclined or not, depending on the gender of its owner.

Male surnames will decline to a consonant sound, but female ones will not. It is important to note that the linguistic origin of the surname is not decisive in this case.

If the surname ends in a consonant (except for surnames in -s, -ih, which were mentioned above), then here - and only here! - the gender of the bearer of the surname matters. Everything male surnames ending in a consonant are inclined - this is the law of Russian grammar. All female surnames ending in a consonant are not declined. In this case, the linguistic origin of the surname does not matter. Men's surnames are also declined, coinciding with common nouns.

For example, the reports of Krug, Shock, Semenyuk, Martirosyan (for male surnames) and the reports of Krug, Shock, Semenyuk and Martirosyan (for female surnames).

Note 1. There are male surnames of East Slavic origin, which can be inclined in two ways. It's about about surnames that have a fluent vowel when changing - Zhuravl - Zhuravel or Zhuravl. Most reference books recommend keeping a fluent vowel (Zhuravel) when declining, since from a legal point of view it is important to preserve the integrity of the surname. However, the owner of the surname can insist on the option he has chosen. The main thing in this case is to adhere to the uniformity of changing the surname by case in all legal documents.

Note 2. The surnames beginning with th (Shakhrai) deserve special mention. Here we also encounter the possibility of a double change of surname. If the surname is perceived as an adjective, for example, Topchy, then it changes as Topchy, Topchy, etc. If the surname is perceived as a noun, then it changes as Topchia, Topchia. Such difficult cases apply only to those surnames in which the consonant "y" is preceded by the vowels "o" or "i". In all other cases, the surname changes according to the general rules (Shakhrai, Shakhrai, etc.)

Step #5

If the surname ends in a vowel -я, which is preceded by another vowel (for example: Shengelaya, Lomaya, Rhea, Beria, Danelia), she declines.

Examples: notebook by Inna Shengelai, diploma issued to Nikolay Lomaya, meeting with Anna Rhea; crimes of Lavrenty Beria, meeting with George Danelia.

Step #6

If the surname ends in a vowel -a preceded by another vowel (eg: Galois, Morois, Delacroix, Moravia, Eria, Heredia, Gulia), it is not declined.

Examples: Nikolai Galua's notebook, diploma issued to Irina Eria, meeting with Igor Gulia.

A. French surnames with an accent on the last syllable are not inclined: books by Alexandre Dumas, Emile Zola and Anna Gavald, aphorisms by Jacques Derrida, goals by Diarra and Drogba.

B. Mostly Finnish surnames ending in -a are not inflected: meeting with Mauno Pekkala (although in a number of sources it is recommended to incline them too).

All other surnames (Slavic, Eastern and others; ending in stressed and unstressed -a, -ya) are inclined. Contrary to a common misconception, surnames that coincide with common nouns are also declined.

Examples: Irina Groza's notebook, Nikolai Mukha's diploma, Elena Kara-Murza's lecture, Bulat Okudzhava's songs, Igor Kvasha's roles, Akira Kurosawa's films.

Note. The declension of Japanese surnames used to fluctuate, but reference books note that such surnames have been consistently declined in recent times.

Why is it important to follow the rules of declension of surnames

The need to follow the rules for declension of surnames is due not only to decency, but to the fact that non-compliance with these rules can lead to different kind misunderstandings.

For example, consider this situation. You have received a letter signed as follows: "Vasily Groz's letter." Following the laws of Russian grammar, you most likely assume that a male surname, which in the genitive case ends in -a, in the nominative case will have null ending and conclude that the author of the letter is Vasily Groz. Such a misunderstanding would not have arisen if the letter had been signed correctly - "Vasily Groza's letter."

Another example. You have passed the article A. Pogrebnyak. It is natural to assume that the author of the article is a woman. If it later turns out that the author is a man Anatoly Pogrebnyak, then this can lead to a misunderstanding.

Results

1. The declension of any surname is determined by the rules of the modern Russian language.
2. The declension of a surname depends on what sound - a vowel or a consonant - it ends with.
3. The rule "male surnames change by case, but female surnames do not" applies only to surnames ending in a consonant sound.
4. If the surname coincides with a common noun (Nora, Bear or Hare), then this is not an obstacle to its declension.

Surnames ending in -ov / ev, -in / yn, -sky / skoy, -tsky / tskoy, make up the bulk of Russian surnames. Their declension usually does not raise questions and occurs with the addition of endings along the following rules:

Table 1. Surnames beginning with -ov/-ova
case	case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
			Ivanova	Ivanovs
			Ivanova	Ivanov
				Ivanovs
		Ivanov	Ivanova	Ivanovs
		about Ivanov	about Ivanova	about the Ivanovs

Table 2. Surnames in -sky/-sky
case	case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		Akhtyrsky	Akhtyrskaya	Akhtyrsky
		about Akhtyrsky	about Akhtyrskaya	about the Akhtyrsky

2. Surnames consonant with adjectives are declined in accordance with the declension of adjectives in masculine and feminine and in the plural: Dashing, Thick, White, Great.

Table 3. Surnames consonant with adjectives
case	case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural
	who? what / what?
	whom? what / what?
	to whom? to what/what?
	whom? what/which one?
	by whom? what / what?
	about whom? about what/about what?

3. Surnames consonant with a noun are declined according to gender, grammatical gender does not affect declension. Including foreign-language ones without stress on the last syllable. Examples of surnames: Melnik, Guitar, Bull, Crow, Chernous, Shcherba, Kafka. Surnames male(Melnik, Coward) are inclined in men according to the rule of declension of masculine nouns, in women and in the plural they are not inclined. Surnames female(Guitar, Friday) for men and women they decline according to the rules of declension of feminine nouns, in the plural the surname has the form of the nominative case for men and does not decline by cases.

Table 5. Surnames consonant with feminine nouns
case	case question	Male surname	Female surname	Plural

Note 1. It is worth clarifying the stress in surnames ending in -a, since the ending of the instrumental case depends on this. Compare: Lefty - Lefty, Lefty - Lefty. Note 2. French surnames with accent ending -a, -i, do not bow: Emile Zola, Pierre Broca, about Alexandre Dumas.

Surnames coinciding with nouns with a fluent vowel are also declined with a drop in vowel. Examples: Hare - Hare, Forehead - Forehead, Leo - Leo. However, family traditions may dictate an exception, the vowel is not dropped. For example: Bast shoes - Bast shoes (instead of Bast shoes).

Russian surnames of the middle gender ending in -o, Ukrainian surnames in -ko, as well as foreign-language surnames in -o, -e, -i, -u, -yu are not inclined. Examples: Swamp, Zoloto, Petrenko, Timoshenko, Zhivago, Dali, Ordzhonikidze, Gandhi.

Surnames formed from the genitive case of a personal name, nickname or family are not declined . Their genus has not been determined. They end in -in, -them/s. Examples: Khitrovo, Gray-haired, Small.

7. In double surnames, each part is declined by cases separately in accordance with the rules described above.

The article gives recommendations on the declension of Russian and borrowed surnames, the main rules and exceptions to them are given. The vast majority of standard Russian surnames with the suffixes -ov / -ev, -in, do not cause problems when used in oblique cases, since they have their own declension paradigm, in which there can be both adjective and noun endings. Compare in the masculine: I.p. Pushkin Serov wolf red R.p. Pushkin Serov wolf red D.p. Pushkin Serov the red wolf V.p. Pushkin Serov's red wolf T.p. Pushkin Gray wolf red P.p. (o) Pushkin (o) Serov (o) wolf (o) red Compare in the feminine: I.p. Pushkin Serov's crow red R.p. Pushkina Gray Crow Red D.p. Pushkin's gray crow red V.p. Pushkin Serov red crow etc. Pushkina Gray crow red P.p. (o) Pushkin (o) Gray (o) crow (o) red Note. As can be seen from the declension paradigm, Russian surnames in the masculine gender in the instrumental case have the ending -ым, like an adjective. They should not be confused with foreign surnames ending in -in, which end in -om in the instrumental case, like a noun. Compare: with Alexander Pushkin, but with Charles Darwin. It should be borne in mind that Russian and borrowed surnames may coincide in sound and spelling, for example: Pyotr Chaplin and Charlie Chaplin, which should be taken into account when used in the instrumental case: with Pyotr Chaplin, but with Charlie Chaplin. Further, the rules are formulated and recommendations are given for the use of non-standard Russian and borrowed surnames. SURNAME IN A CONSONANT Declination of foreign and Slavic surnames ending in a consonant sound (in writing they end with a consonant letter, soft sign or d), depends on the gender of the named person. If the surname refers to a man, then it is declined as a noun of the second declension of the masculine gender. Women's surnames of this type are not inclined. This rule easily fits into the scheme: Foreign and Slavic surnames with a consonant sound (in writing they end in a consonant, ь or й) For example: I.p. Anna Schmidt Petr Schmidt Roman Zyuz Ivan Gaidai R.p. Anna Schmidt Petr Schmidt Roman Zyuz Ivan Gaidai D.p. Anna Schmidt Petr Schmidt Roman Zyuz Ivan Gaidai V.p. Anna Schmidt Petr Schmidt Roman Zyuz Ivan Gaidai T.p. Anna Schmidt Petr Schmidt Roman Zyuz Ivan Gaidai P.p. (about) Anna Schmidt (about) Peter Schmidt (about) Roman Zyuz (about) Ivan Gaidai Note

1. As can be seen from the diagram, the application of the rule requires knowledge of the gender of the named person. The text or title page of the publication does not always allow a native speaker to convey such information, therefore, on a letter and in oral speech Difficulties may arise when applying surnames to a consonant. For example, the title page lists the author A. Shtol, but the annotation does not contain information about the full name. The reader, not owning reliable data, cannot correctly formulate his speech: “I read the novels of A. Shtol (female surname) or A. Shtol (male surname).
2. “Outlandish” surnames such as Greben and Astrakhan, homonymous with common nouns, geographical names, names of animals and insects, often cause difficulties in declension. Surnames of this type can be divided into two groups:

a) homonymous noun m.r. second declension (Beetle, Poloz, Amethyst, etc.) should be inclined along general rule: give a folder to Ivan Zhuk, say hello to Peter Amethyst, a certificate is given to Dmitry Poloz; if a fluent vowel is found in the surname, then it can be recommended to save it in order to avoid curious combinations, for example: citizen Finger, a certificate was issued to citizen Finger (compare: I don’t have a finger), Ivan Zayats came, a letter to Ivan Zayats (compare: go to the hare) ; b) homonymous with a noun f.r. 3 fold. (Sadness, Love, Astrakhan, Callus, Junk, Bliss, Pain, etc.) can be recommended not to incline for males either.

1. Let's pay special attention to surnames with a fluent vowel like Malchinok, Kobets. There is no single answer in the scientific and reference literature. There are two options:

option I option II I.p. Ivan Kobets I.p. Ivan Kobets R.p. Ivan Kobts R.p. Ivan Kobets D.p. Ivan Kobts D.p. Ivan Kobets V.p. Ivan Kobts V.p. Ivan Kobets T.p. Ivan Kobets T.p. Ivan Kobets P.p. (about) Ivan Kobtse P.p. (o) Ivan Kobets It should also be noted that in oblique cases, homonymy of forms of surnames such as Kravets and Kravets, Zikranets and Zikrants is possible. In this case, it is better to incline the former according to option II.

1. It is necessary to distinguish between homonymous Russian (as well as Russified) surnames and borrowed ones for -ov and -in. For example: Peter Chaplin / Vera Chaplin and Charlie Chaplin / Helen Chaplin, Ivan Flotov / Marina Flotova and Hans Flotov / Helga Flotov. Such surnames differ in the ending of the instrumental case. Russian surnames (as well as Russified ones) in the instrumental case of the masculine gender have the ending -th: Peter Chaplin. A “non-Russian” surname in the instrumental case of the masculine gender has the ending -om: Charlie Chaplin. Women's similar surnames do not tend at all: to approach Helen Chaplin, to meet Helga Flotov. Compare: approach Vera Chaplina, meet Marina Flotova.

Surnames with a final vowel The declension of surnames into a vowel does not depend on the gender of the called person. Based on which vowel the surnames end in, they can be formed into the following groups:

1. Surnames beginning with a vowel (except -а/-я).
2. Surnames beginning with the vowel -a.
3. Surnames starting with -ya.

1. Surnames beginning with a vowel (except -a/-z)

Such surnames may end in e, e, and, u, u, o. They are always indestructible. For example: Hugo, Daudet, Musset, Goethe, Rustaveli, Amado, Camus, Ordzhenikidze, Shaw, Picasso. This list also includes Ukrainian surnames in -ko, -enko: Makagonenko, Kovalenko, Shevchenko, Boyko, etc., as well as Slavic surnames in -ago, -yago, -ovo: Durnovo, Zhivago, Dubyago, etc.

1. Surnames beginning with -a

Surnames beginning with the vowel -a can be divided into two groups:

1. Surnames with a preceding consonant:
2. Surnames with unstressed -a.
3. Surnames on shock -a.
4. Surnames preceded by a vowel and or y.

2.1. Surnames with an unstressed vowel -a The declension of surnames with an unstressed a depends on the origin and whether a vowel or consonant is followed by a.

1. If the final unstressed vowel -a is preceded by a consonant (mostly Slavic and Romance surnames), then the surname changes according to the first type of declension (like a sister):

I.p. Ivan Baida Irina Baida R.p. Ivan Baida Irina Baida D.p. Ivan Baida Irina Baida V.p. Ivan Baidu Irina Baidu T.p. Ivan Baida Irina Baida P.p. (about) Ivan Baida (about) Irina Baida Note. In the reference literature, there are fluctuations in the use of Georgian and Japanese surnames with unstressed a. In the media, you can find both declinable and non-declinable options: Okudzhava's songs, the arrival of Prime Minister Nakagawa, the work of Akira Kurosawa. It should be noted that the noted tendency to change these surnames allows us to recommend inclining them. Finnish surnames, due to their difficult pronunciation, are recommended not to decline: researcher Jaakko Lallukka - works by Jaakko Lallukka, student Juho Ranta - reference for Juho Ranta.

1. If the final unstressed vowel -a is preceded by a vowel (usually these are vowels y or and), then the surname is not inclined: Badzagua, Benois, Valois, Galois, Gvatua, Gerua, Gulia, Delacroix, Dondua, Dubois, Luria, Matua, Moravia, Morua, Rurua, Sturua, Todua, Huchua, Eria, Heredia.

2.2. Surnames with a stressed vowel -a The declension of surnames with a stressed -a depends on the origin:

1. Surnames of French origin are not inclined: novels by Alexandre Dumas, Fermat's theorem, choreographer PetipA's production, student Anton KolesA.
2. Slavic surnames and from Eastern languages ​​change according to the first type of declension:

I.p. Olga Beda Ivan Vernigora R.p. Olga Beda Ivan Vernigora D.p. Olga Bede Ivan Vernigora V.p. Olga Bedu Ivan Vernigor T.p. Olga Beda Ivan Vernigora P.p. (about) Olga Bede (about) Ivan Vernigor

1. Surnames beginning with -ya

The declension of surnames into the vowel -ya depends on the place of stress and origin:

1. Surnames of French origin with an accent on the end do not decline: the novels of Emile Zola, the ancestors of Henri Troyat.
2. All other surnames tend to -ya:

I.p. Irina Goddess Egor Agumaya R.p. Irina Goddess Egor Agamai D.p. Irina Goddess Egor Agumai In Irina Goddess Egor Agumai T.p. Irina Goddess Egor Agumaya P.p. (o) Irina Bogina (o) Egor Agumay Note. Surnames in -iya have features in declension (see declension of names in -iya, such as Natalia): I.p. George Danelia R.p. George Danelia D. p. George Danelia V. p. George Danelia T.p. George Danelia P.p. (o) Georgy Danelia SURNAME ENDING IN –-й / -й, -й Surnames formed from adjectives or participles are declined in masculine and feminine as adjectives: I.p. Demyan Poor Elena Bednaya Efim Betskoy R.p. Demyan Bedny Elena Poor Efim Betsky D.p. Demyan Poor Elena Poor Efim Betsky V.p. Demyan Poor Elena Poor Efim Betsky T.p. Demyan Poor Elena Poor Efim Betsky P.p. (o) Demyan Bedny (o) Elena Bednaya (o) Efim Betsky Note. Surnames of this kind should not be confused with similar surnames in -y, which do not have male and female correspondences. For example: Sergey Kolodiy and Elena Kolodiy, Dmitry Smagliy and Natalia Smagliy. They belong to the group of surnames with a consonant, -ь, -й, in which male surnames change as masculine nouns of the second declension, and female surnames do not decline (see surnames for a consonant). Some surnames ending in -y can function in different ways: either as being modified according to the adjectival model and having male and female counterparts (for example, Dmitry Topchiy - Eleonora Topchaya, reference is given to Dmitry Topchem - reference is given to Eleonora Topchey), then as having no male and female correspondences (for example, Ivan Topchiy - Svetlana Topchiy) and changing in the masculine gender as nouns of the second declension, but not inflected in the feminine gender (the reference is given to Ivan Topchiy - the reference is given to Svetlana Topchiy) uh, -ih, don't bow. For example: White, Brown, Zemsky, Plesovsky, Black, etc. Note. Do not confuse Russian surnames in -ih, -ih with German ones in -ih (Mr. Schmuttsich - Mrs. Schmuttsich), which in the masculine form change like masculine nouns of the second declension, and female ones do not decline (Mr. Schmuttsikh - Mrs. Schmuttsich). See last names starting with a consonant. Note: the list of names for each rule can be found in a separate file. E.A. Glotova, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of the Russian Language and Linguistic Didactics, OmSPU Based on the materials of the book “On the declension of names and surnames: a reference dictionary. Ser. "For a word in your pocket." Issue. 3 / Ed. E.A. Glotova, N.N. Shcherbakova. – Omsk, 2011

According to the first type, masculine surnames are inclined with zero in the nominative case. For example, Petrov belongs to the first type and has the following case forms: in the nominative case - Petrov; in the genitive - Petrov; in the dative - to Petrov; c - Petrov; c – Petrov; in the prepositional - (about) Petrov. Declined mainly as nouns, in the instrumental case, these surnames end like masculine adjectives.

Surnames that end in a solid consonant are also inclined according to the first type, although in their native language they are inclined in a completely different way. Examples are such foreign surnames as Sawyer, Kipling, Balzac, etc. True, unlike Russian inflected surnames with a hard consonant at the end, foreign ones are inflected completely as nouns.

Surnames related to the second declension

The second type of declension includes feminine and masculine surnames with the ending -а (-я) in the nominative case. These are such surnames as Olenina, Lavrova, Akhmatova. At the same time, in the nominative, accusative cases, they have endings like, and in other cases - like adjectives. For example, the surname "Lavrova" declines as follows: in the nominative case - Lavrova; in the genitive - Lavrova; in the dative - Lavrova; in the accusative - Lavrov; in the creative - Lavrova; in the prepositional - (about) Lavrova.

Indeclinable surnames

A number of both Russian and foreign surnames do not change at all. Indeclinable are female surnames ending in a consonant sound. These are such surnames as Kogut, Stal, Muller, etc.

Slavic surnames ending in -o, -ako, -yago, -yh, -ih, -ovo are also indeclinable. An example is such surnames as Shevchenko, Buynykh, etc.

The category of indeclinable surnames is supplemented by such surnames consonant with the name of animals or objects as Deer, Goose, etc. This is, first of all, due to the fact that when they are declined, they create an effect: the meaning of the surname is identified with the person himself.

Foreign surnames that end in a vowel also do not decline. As an example, we can cite such names as Zola, Nove, Schulze. The exception is surnames ending in unstressed vowels -а, -я.

Personal names, patronymics and surnames in Russian language bow down, if their endings can be changed in accordance with the rules of Russian inflection. Some foreign names, borrowed into the Russian language, and their final elements sometimes differ sharply from typical Russian names and their endings. Such names remain literary language inflexible. Below are the rules for declension of Russian surnames, as well as personal names of representatives of other peoples of the Russian Federation and foreign citizens.

The declension of surnames in Russian is also determined by the nature of the endings and the correspondence between the grammatical gender of the word and the gender of the name. The main core of the surnames of the Russian population, as well as many other peoples of our country, are the so-called standard surnames, decorated with suffixes -ov / ev, -in / yn, -sky / sky, -tsky / tsky. These surnames are freely declined according to the patterns given below.

But the Russian and many other peoples have surnames that are not decorated with the corresponding suffixes. They do not lean in all cases..

Declined surnames are consonant with adjectives: Poor, Fried, Necessary, Steel, Wretched. These surnames can have masculine, feminine, and plural forms.

Non-standard surnames consonant with a noun often do not have male and female counterparts. Among them are masculine words: Bull, Mustache, Neighbor, Miller, Pupil, Tatar, Treasurer- and feminine words: Friday, Fate, Winter, Pen, Beauty, Goose, Crow, Cook. Both belong to both men and women and decline according not to gender, but to the gender of the speaker.

There are even surnames that are consonant with the words neuter gender: Dish, Benefit, Chisel. The discrepancy between the surnames coinciding with the words of the middle gender and the gender of the person (male and female) makes it possible not to decline these surnames. Surnames remain indeclinable Stetsko, Pisarenko, Moskalenko.

Surnames historically formed from the genitive case of a personal or nicknamed name of the head of the family or the entire family as a whole remain outside the grammatical gender and, therefore, indeclinable: Khitrovo, Mertvago, Burago(from Sly, Dead, Brown), Sedykh, Fomina (from Gray, Fomina).

The surname as a naming of the family suggests the presence forms plural : Petrovs, Kashkins, Vvedenskys. If those who are getting married take a common surname, it is written in the plural: Dmitriev, Don, Mustachioed. Non-standard surnames, except for surnames in adjective form, have no official documentary plural forms. Therefore they write: Maria Ivanovna and Nikolai Ivanovich Vinograd, spouses Neighbor, husband and wife Suzdal.

Despite a number of difficulties that arise when declensing proper Russian and foreign-language surnames in Russian, it is still desirable to inflect all elements of a person's naming if they are declensible. The current system in Russian case endings quite rigidly makes one perceive the inflected word left without declension as standing in the wrong case or referring to the wrong gender to which it actually belongs. For example, Ivan Ivanovich Sima, in the genitive should be Ivan Ivanovich Sima. If it is written: for Ivan Ivanovich Sim, which means that in the nominative case given surname has the form Shem, not Shema. Left without declination, male surnames such as Wind, Nemeshay will be mistaken for female ones, because such surnames in men are inclined: with Petr Sergeevich Nemesha, from Vladimir Pavlovich Vetra.