Genitive Case Introduction
Родны склон: уводзіны
Vocabulary
- брата — Brother's book is on the table.
- дому — Near the house stands a tree.
At Aunt and Uncle's
Genitive Case Introduction
Родны склон: уводзіны
7-14Ф: Syllable Alternations ро/рэ/ло/ле → ры/лы/лі
In certain word forms, the syllables ро, рэ, ло, ле change to ры, лы, лі. This is a uniquely Belarusian phonetic feature that shows up in genitive and other case forms.
бро́д → бры́д (gen.) — ford
дрэ́ва → дрыва́ (firewood) — tree → firewood
гло́тка → глыта́ць — throat → to swallow
кроў → крыві́ (gen.) — blood → of blood
7-I: The Genitive Case — каго? чаго?
The genitive case (родны склон) answers the questions каго? (whom? / of whom?) and чаго? (of what?). It is one of the most frequently used cases in Belarusian.
The genitive is used for:
кніга бра́та — brother's book (possession)
няма́ часу — there is no time (after negation)
ля до́му — near the house (after prepositions ля, каля)
з го́раду — from the city (after preposition з)
пасьля абе́ду — after lunch (after preposition пасьля)
When a verb is negated, the direct object often takes the genitive instead of the accusative:
Я бачу дом. → Я не бачу до́му. — I see the house. → I don't see the house.
Ён мае час. → Ён не мае ча́су. — He has time. → He doesn't have time.
Vocabulary
| Belarusian | English | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| брата | Brother's book is on the table. | — |
| дому | Near the house stands a tree. | — |
Practice
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