Animate and inanimate objects are the rule. How to identify animate or inanimate object

It seems that to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects to the indecent is simple: it's like a game in the living-inanimate. But those who are guided by this principle are very much mistaken. Animation, as, respectively, and inanimate - a separate category in the characteristic of the noun, which has nothing to do with the external features of some object. Here's how to explain the fact that, according to the rules, the word "corpse" is considered inanimate, and the "dead" is animate? To act at random? In no case! We'll figure out.

For the little ones

Let's start with the basics. Animate and inanimate objects answer different questions - "who" and "what", respectively. We can say that posing the question is the most primitive, albeit very unreliable way to define this category. Usually he is introduced to children in the first-second grade. In order to practice this method, you can fill in the blanks with the students in the following text:

" In the sleepy oblivion, the great (what?) Flows. Around (what?) And (what?). (Who?) Slowly moved his skis, shook (what?) From the ears of the cap. (Who?) Quickly made a hole, and started (what?). Soon he pulled out a huge (whom?). His mirror (that?) Brightly shone in the sun . " Words to be inserted: ice, scales, fisherman, hoarfrost, river, carp, snow, fishing . One word is repeated twice.

Grammatical explanation

But it's worth going further, right? How to define animate or inanimate object, relying on rules, and not on intuition? The difference between these two categories is in the various case forms of the noun. Inanimate nouns coincide in the form of the nominative and accusative in the plural, whereas in the inanimate nouns, the genitive and accusative in the same number. Of course, to understand specific examples will be much easier.

We take the noun " cat ". We put it in the plural of "cat" and begin to incline: nominative - " cats ", genitive - " cats ", accusative - " cats " - as you can see, the genitive and accusative forms coincide. While for the noun " table ", which for the definition of this category turns into " tables " with the declension of " tables-tables-tables ", the accusative and nominative case are the same .

Thus, the rule divides the animate and inanimate object only when they are put in the plural and subsequent declension. And then, by coincidence of case forms, this category is defined.

Exceptions

But, as you know, in Russian there are very few rules, which have no exceptions. Thus, it is possible to divide the animate and inanimate objects logically. Yes, all living things will be animated, but at the same time mythical creatures ( goblins-leshshi-leshshi-leshshi ) and names of toys ( matryoshka-matryoshkas-matryoshkas ) belong to this category - here one can find a logical explanation. And also card and chess suit-figures ( peak-peak-peaks, pawns-pawns-pawns ), which even by their forms are not suitable for this category.

Go ahead. To inanimate nouns, in turn, are large groups of people ( crowd-crowds ) and some living organisms ( embryos-embryos-embryos, microbes-microbes-microbes ) -to explain this phenomenon is impossible, just have to accept and remember.

More difficulties

I would like to add that the animate and inanimate objects in a grammatical sense have their own characteristics. For example, for the animate nouns of the masculine gender, the genitive and accusative forms coincide in the singular: Anton Anton-Anton, accountant accountant-accountant , although this phenomenon is observed only in nouns of the second declension (compare: Dima-Dimy-Dima , Although this is also an animate masculine noun). So, in principle, this pattern can be used as another simple, though not very well known, way of defining the category of animations for nouns.

I want to get confused

It is worth noting that in Russian there is an image of an inanimate object as animate. This is usually associated with the use of the word as an analogy to a living being: There is a mattress in the shed - Yes, he is limp! Or Great and mighty Russian! - This language (= captive) tells us everything .

Exactly the same phenomenon occurs with the use of animate nouns as inanimate: In the blue sky a kite floats; The fighter went on a decline . Here the category of animation and inanity is determined on the basis of the semantic content of the noun.

It is worth noting that, despite all the requirements of teachers to use the rules, most students continue to rely on intuition. As the above examples show, the inner flair is not always a reliable assistant in philology. It can be unequivocally said that the names of the professions, the names of people by family, nationality and other groups will always be animated, and the names of animals can also be included here. Incidentally, among the animate names of nouns, as some researchers believe, there are words only of the male and female kind, whereas the middle genus is already inanimate, like all the names of objects of nature and other objects.

Practice for the youngest

Now that we have figured out how to distinguish one category of nouns from another, it's worth summarizing all of the above. Animate and inanimate objects for preschoolers who still have no idea what are cases are different in terms of "who" and "what", respectively. For practice, you can play with the kids in the "living-lifeless", where the word is called, and the child must determine what this object is.

Or another interesting task for younger students is to offer a series of animate nouns, which can be turned into inanimate ones by replacing one letter: fox (linden), goat (spit), heron (drop) .

And advice for older people

Finish an article on how to distinguish between animate and inanimate objects, I would like to see that, no matter how simple this topic seemed, it is better not to tempt fate and not act at random, trusting intuition. A minute spent checking the category of a noun can sometimes change your idea of a noun. So do not spare your energy and practice in the great and mighty Russian language.