In English one writes a label in plural if the answer might possibly be plural, even if it happens to be singular in the actual instance, as in “Houses: 1.” Is this how labels are typically written in Russian? Which case is used? Is the genitive plural used for a label like that, or does the genitive in a label imply English “of” the same as it does in a sentence?
I’m trying to translate this modern transcription of an 1897 document (presumably « » indicates a direct quote and the rest is a summary):
В переписных листах Первой всеобщей переписи населения Российской империи 1897 года значится семья Иванова Ивана Ивановича, проживавшая в собственном дворе (во дворе жилых строений – 1, «построено и крыто – деревом»).
Does the genitive plural of жилых строений imply that (a) there was more than one residential structure in the homestead, of which the Ivanov family owned the first one (and other families owned the others), or (b) there no implication that there is more than one structure: there might be one or might be more?
The Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov family is listed in the first general population census of the Russian Empire in 1897. They owned their own residence. (Of the residential structures in the homestead: they lived in the 1st, which was built and roofed with wood.)
or (c) жилых строений is a label asking how many structures there are, and the answer is 1:
The Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov family is listed in the first general population census of the Russian Empire in 1897. They owned their own residence. (Residential structures in the homestead: 1, built and roofed with wood.)
