Russian Instrumental Case (#5)

Subject: cases

Keywords: Amazing Russian Apprendre le russe LRW Alfia Russian from Russia Russian Through Propaganda Victoria Arysheva русский с носителем

The word “with” is your first key to the instrumental case. Phrases like “with a discount,” “with Vika,” “with respect,” or “with a knife and fork” all point to the творительный падеж. But its use goes far beyond that – this case is remarkably versatile, and truly lives up to its name as a powerful linguistic instrument.

Usage

PROFESSIONS

We say: he works as a lawyer, or: he is a lawyer. Russian expresses that without “as” or “is.”
Кем он работает = what does he work as, what is his profession. Кто (who) in the instrumental case.
He is (or works as) a musician (музыкант): он работает музыкантом.

Small differences can make a big difference. With с кем instead of кем, you’re not asking about a profession, but “with whom.”

Your occupation in Russian instrumental case (Russian Step by Step, 2020, 8 mins)
Your Job / Profession / Occupation in Russian (Russian Comprehensive, 2020, 10 mins)
Кем они работают? Instrumental case (Live Russian, 2020, 52 mins)
Профессии | Русский словарь (О русском по-русски, 2019, 14 mins)

Combinations

Without the instrumental case, it’s just black coffee, and never fries with mayonnaise. See, for example, The best way to practice Instrumental case (Maria Petrova, 2020, 3 mins); from the same channel, Instrumental case in Russian (2020, 15 mins) and Практикуем Творительный падеж | Drill & Practice (2020, 13 mins). See also Instrumental Case. Using the Preposition With: с чем? с каким? (Amazing Russian, 2017, 15 mins).

By

The main tool in almost any creation process: the creator(s) themselves.
Разработан специалистами = developed by specialists.
Сделано детьми = made by children.

See Russian Instrumental case, charmed by the sound (R for Russian, 2020, 5 mins), about how the world was created: духом (by spirit), взрывом (by explosion), Богом (by God), звуком (by sound), or, most likely, котом (by the cat).

Congratulations

Russian greetings are brief. Happy Birthday: с днём рождения. More literally “with day of birth,” without saying “congratulations.” The instrumental case turns день (day) into днём, and the genitive turns рождение (birth) into рождения. Two uses of the instrumental case are in the New Year’s wish с Новым Годом (See Russian New Year).

How to Say Happy Birthday in Russian (Be Fluent in Russian, 2019, 1 min)
Holiday Greetings. Toasts. Invitations. (Amazing Russian, 2017, 10 mins)

Feelings

The “with” also operates on a more subtle level. With pleasure: с удовольствием (pleasure = удовольствие). With impatience (impatiently): с нетерпением. A common polite closing is с уважением, with respect (уважение). When feelings are experienced or felt, you use the dative case.

Togetherness

With your brother (твой брат): с твоим братом.
With my friend (моя подруга): с моей подругой.
The instrumental case is also used for “you and I” constructions, where in Russian, it’s literally “we with you” (мы с тобой). You often hear с тобой (or its variant с тобою) in songs (often sweet, not always the very best). More in Разговорный русский язык: Я и ты? Мы с тобой? (русский с носителем, 2017, 9 mins).

Instrument

Writing with a pen or pencil: писать ручкой или карандашом. The instrumental case changes ручка to ручкой, and adds –ом to карандаш. This says “with.” The preposition с (or со) does the same, but is not always necessary. After с meaning “from” or “since,” it’s the genitive case, not the instrumental.

Body and Illness

The body and its parts are also tools. Instrumental case is used in носом (with your nose, smelling), ушами (with your ears, hearing), глазами (with your eyes, seeing), etc. Русский язык глазами Американцев: Russian through the eyes of Americans.

The instrumental case is also used with the verb болеть (to be ill; see Russificate, 2020), when something is wrong with the body. More in Are you ill? (Red Kalinka, 2017, 3 mins, also on Russian for Free) and How One Feels. Как ты себя чувствуешь? (Amazing Russian, 2017, 18 mins).

Творительный падеж – дидактическое стихотворение
(Apprendre le russe, 2017, 1 min)

Poem Носом, ушами, глазами… (2016) by Julia Casado.

Calendar

The instrumental is used to indicate seasons, replacing “in.” In spring (весна), summer (лето), fall (осень), winter (зима): весной, летом, осенью, зимой.

It’s also used to talk about times of the day. In the morning (утро), afternoon (день), evening (вечер), night (ночь): утром, днём, вечером, ночью. You can also translate this as “in the morning,” “in the afternoon,” etc., but for telling time, it’s the genitive case, not the instrumental.

Seasons & parts of the day in Russian Instrumental Case (Russian Step by Step, 2020, 4 mins)
How do you specify a season in Russian (Anya Golubeva, 2019, 4 mins)
Времена года. Летний – лето – летом (Amazing Russian, 2017, 13 mins)
Learn Russian – Времена года (Apprendre le russe, 2016, 4 mins)
Russian instrumental case for time, lesson: times of the day (Learn Russian Language, 2011, 14 mins)

State of being

The instrumental is used for what you once were (a child, small, silly) or will become (a father, famous, rich). It’s often used with the verbs быть and стать/становиться.
Он становится взрослым: he is becoming an adult (взрослый).
Он собирается стать художником: he is becoming an artist (художник).

Examples from Learn Russian Verbs: становиться – стать (LRNW Anastasia, 2019, 10 mins). More in Instrumental case after verbs быть, стать, являться, остаться (Live Russian, 2018, 13 mins) and Быть with Instrumental Case (Be Fluent in Russian, 2018, 4 mins).

Predicate Nouns and Adjectives with the Instrumental
(Russian Through Propaganda, 2020, 25 mins)

From the same channel: The Russian Instrumental Case (2020, 44 mins) and More Uses of the Instrumental (2020, 33 mins).

Prepositions

Besides often being used with с (with), the instrumental case is used after рядом с (near), между (between), над (above), перед (in front of), and под (under). It’s also used after за (behind), but not always (accusative case is used, for example, in спасибо за помощь — thank you for the help). See Russian preposition ЗА with instrumental case (Live Russian, 2018, 6 mins).

6 prepositions used with Instrumental Case in Russian (Russian Step by Step, 2020, 10 mins)
The instrumental case of nouns, personal and possessive pronouns & prepositions (Innovative Languages 4U, 2020, 10 mins), see part 2 (2020, 12 mins)
Instrumental Case. Prepositions of place and Pronouns (Learn Russian with Alfia, 2019, 10 mins)
Prepositions: На, Под, Над, Перед, За, Между (Russian With Max, 2018, 11 mins)
Правила русского языка: предлоги С и СО (русский с носителем, 2017, 5 mins)
Instrumental case after “c” – творительный падеж (Natasha speaks Russian, 2016, 19 mins)
Russian Grammar: Prepositions with Instrumental (OSUE, 2013, 16 mins)
Prepositions Governing the Instrumental Case (drpedsen, 2012, 4 mins)

Verbs

After reflexive verbs like гордиться (to be proud of), заниматься (to engage in, practice), интересоваться (to be interested in), пользоваться (to use), увлекаться (to be fond of, attracted to), оставаться (to stay), оказываться (to turn out), являться (to seem), etc.

In these cases, the instrumental case eliminates the need for words like “of,” “on,” or “in.”
To play sports (спорт): заниматься спортом.
To be proud of the country (страна): гордиться страной.
To be interested in the language (язык): интересоваться языком.

If the verb is not reflexive, other rules apply. Use the instrumental case after пользоваться, but after использовать, use the accusative case.

Nouns in the Russian Instrumental Case. Reflexive Verbs in Russian (Learn Russian, 2020, 10 mins), see Nouns in the Russian Instrumental Case. First Verbs of Motion (2020, 9 mins)
Глаголы, требующие творительного падежа / грамматика (русский с носителем, 2017, 5 mins)

Творительный Падеж / грамматика русского языка
(русский с носителем, 2020, 13 mins)

Instrumental Case: Learn cases in 10 minutes. Part 1: Singular nouns.
(Learn Russian with Alfia, 2019, 11 mins)

Intermediate Russian II: Instrumental Case: Forms And Uses
(Amazing Russian, 2017, 18 mins)

Instrumental case. Use 1. Russian grammar lessons
(Victoria Arysheva, 2016, 3 mins)

From the same creator, part 2 (2016, 3 mins) and part 3 (2016, 5 mins).

Conjugations

Masculine and Neuter

Nouns take the ending –ом (after hard stems) or –ем (after soft stems). The ь disappears (учитель becomes учителем), and sometimes vowels flee (подарок becomes подарком). In словарём, there’s a –ём (instead of –ем) because the last syllable is stressed. Neuter nouns simply add an -м after the existing o or e (молоко becomes молоком, платье becomes платьем).

Feminine

Feminine nouns ending in а change to –ой (сестра becomes сестрой); nouns ending in я take –ей (неделя becomes неделей). These endings are the same for adjectives, which is unique to this case. A ь becomes –ю (дверь becomes дверью).

Plural

There are a few surprises in the plural forms (generally ending in –ами or –ями). For example, дочери (daughters) becomes дочерьми, дети (children) becomes детьми, and люди (people) becomes людьми. Below is an overview of the rules for regular conjugations.

Instrumental Case · Творительный падеж

Nouns · Существительные

Endings by gender and stem type

Stem	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Hard	-ом стол → столом	-ой / -ою книга → книгой	-ом окно → окном	-ами столы → столами
Soft	-ем гость → гостем	-ью дверь → дверью	-ем море → морем	-ями гости → гостями

Note: Soft feminine nouns ending in -ь take -ью (дверь → дверью). Hard feminine -ой has an archaic/poetic variant -ою. Masculine nouns ending in -й or -ь follow soft endings (гений → гением).

Adjectives · Прилагательные

Endings by stem type and gender

Stem	Masculine / Neuter	Feminine	Plural (all genders)
Hard	-ым / -ым новый → новым	-ой / -ою новая → новой	-ыми новые → новыми
Soft	-им синий → синим	-ей / -ею синяя → синей	-ими синие → синими

Spelling rule: After velars (г, к, х) and sibilants (ж, ш, щ, ч), hard adjectives use -им / -ими instead of -ым / -ыми: большой → большим, русский → русским.
Also check these Russian Grammar Tables.

Творительный падеж. Существительные. Часть 1
О русском по-русскиm 2019, 23 m)

Continued with part 2 (2019, 17 m) and Творительный падеж | Прилагательные. Падежи (2020, 17 mins)

More grammar in Instrumental Case: Nouns (Russian grammar, 2014, 5 mins), also see Instrumental Case: Adjectives & Other Modifiers (2017, 4 mins). Even more grammar in Russian Instrumental Case: Formation & Uses (drpedsen, 2012, 7 mins), see Instrumental Case playlist (8 videos).