человек

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Russian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Inherited from Old East Slavic человѣкъ (čelověkŭ), from Proto-Slavic *čьlověkъ, *čelověkъ.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Audio:(file)
  • (colloquial, fast speech) IPA(key):  (phonetic respelling: челоэ́к)
  • (colloquial, fast speech) IPA(key):  (phonetic respelling: челэ́к)
  • (colloquial, fast speech) IPA(key):  (phonetic respelling: чек)

Noun

челове́к • (čelovék) m anim (genitive челове́ка, nominative plural лю́ди or челове́ки*, genitive plural люде́й or челове́к* or челове́ков*, feminine челове́чица**, relational adjective челове́ческий or челове́чий or людско́й, diminutive челове́чек, augmentative челове́чище, pejorative челове́чишко) (* Nominative plural - rare, poetic, other cases of челове́к in plural are used with numbers.) (** dated, colloquial, humorous)

  1. person, human being, man
  2. (collective, singular only) mankind, man, the human race
    взаимоде́йствие челове́ка и приро́ды ― vzaimodéjstvije čelovéka i priródy ― man's (mankind's) interaction with nature
  3. also plural when used with cardinal words:
    оди́н челове́к ― odín čelovék ― one person
    два челове́ка ― dva čelovéka ― two persons, people
    пять челове́к ― pjatʹ čelovék ― five persons, people
    два́дцать челове́к ― dvádcatʹ čelovék ― twenty persons, people
    два́дцать оди́н челове́к ― dvádcatʹ odín čelovék ― twenty-one persons, people
    два́дцать два челове́ка ― dvádcatʹ dva čelovéka ― twenty-two persons, people

Usage notes

  • Usage of челове́к with numerals ending in one (1):
    • If the cardinal number ends in a one (excluding 11) then человек is declined in the singular the same way as any other masculine, singular noun.
  • Usage of челове́к with numerals which equal or end in two, three, or four (excluding 12, 13, and 14):
    • In the nominative case, человек will decline in the genitive singular: "человека".
    • In the accusative case, if человек is not preceded by an adjective, the genitive plural "человек" is used. If человек is preceded by an adjective, the genitive plural "людей" is used.
      • трёх человек versus трёх хороших людей
    • However, there is an exception, whereby the number can remain in the nominative case rather than animate accusative (meaning the noun will remain in genitive singular, rather than genitive plural). E.g.:
      • "Я видел два человека," versus "Я видел двух человек."
      • However, if syntax would render the subject of the sentence excessively ambiguous, the second variant (animate accusative "двух человек") is preferred.
  • Usage of челове́к with numerals which equal or end in five or greater:
    • In the nominative and accusative case, if человек is not preceded by an adjective, the genitive plural "человек" is used. If человек is preceded by an adjective, the genitive plural "людей" is used. E.g.:
      • 25 человек versus 25 хороших людей
    • In all other cases (genitive, dative, instrumental, prepositional), the words "людей," "людям," "людьми" and "людях" are used. The oblique plural cases of "человек" ("человекам," "человеками" etc.) are extremely rare and many native speakers do not recognize them as legitimate at all.
  • In the nominative and accusative, if a non-specific number is mentioned, or a word that refers to a number but is not itself a numeral, the word "людей" is used. E.g.:
    • cто человек but сотня людей — 100 people but (a group of) a hundred people
    • тысяча человек but тысячи людей — 1000 people but thousands of people
  • Declining numerals that represent large numbers often sounds extremely stilted in informal speech. Russians will either deliberately phrase their sentences in order to avoid having to use these constructions in the first place, or will decline only the last numeral in the number, leaving the rest in nominative. E.g.:
    • "С четыреста пятьдесять двумя людьми" (prescriptive norm: "с четырьмястами пятьюдесятью двумя человеками")
  • For longer numbers, sometimes the beginning and end of a number will be declined, but the middle numerals will remain in the nominative. E.g.
    • "С пятью тысячами четыреста пятьдесять двумя людьми" (prescriptive norm: "с пятью тысячами четырьмястами пятьюдесятью двумя человеками")
  • Usage of the words "человек" and "людей" with Russian collective numerals (двое, трое, четверо, etc.) is officially proscribed, but used colloquially.
  • Certain words such as сколько, несколько, and много may be used with either "человек" or "людей" depending on the context. Generally if an exact number is sought, or if the people are perceived as individuals, "человек" is used. If an inexact number is sought, or if the people are perceived as an indistinct mass, "людей" is used. E.g.:
    • "Сколько человек в зале?" "В зале 20 человек," versus "Сколько людей в зале?" "В зале много людей."

Declension

Declension of челове́к (anim masc-form velar-stem accent-a irreg) 
singular plural
nominative челове́к
čelovék 		лю́ди△, челове́ки*
ljúdi△, čelovéki*
genitive челове́ка
čelovéka 		люде́й△, челове́к△*, челове́ков*
ljudéj△, čelovék△*, čelovékov*
dative челове́ку
čelovéku 		лю́дям△, челове́кам*
ljúdjam△, čelovékam*
accusative челове́ка
čelovéka 		люде́й△, челове́ков△*
ljudéj△, čelovékov△*
instrumental челове́ком
čelovékom 		людьми́△, челове́ками*
ljudʹmí△, čelovékami*
prepositional челове́ке
čelovéke 		лю́дях△, челове́ках*
ljúdjax△, čelovékax*
vocative челове́че*
čelovéče*

△ Irregular.
* The forms человече, человеки, человеков are rare, poetic; other cases of челове́к in plural (gen. человек, dat., instr., prep.) are used with numbers.

Derived terms

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