Adjective-like word before два

Question

I don't know if the word другой is considered an adjective. However it declines like an adjective, and as such I name it an "adjective-like" word.

I know that, when numeral два is either in the nominative or inanimate accusative, the noun it quantifies takes the genitive singular, whereas an adjective accompanying the noun takes the genitive plural.

As such, "два ближнЗК-их друг-а" - two close friends.

But, what if I use the word другие?

Let's take the three hosts of the Fifa World Cup 2026 as an example. USA, Canada and Mexico. But the title of that competition will be "United 26".

I want to say the following: "The title United 26 shows a bias in favor of the USA, as though the other two hosts were secondary".

Название "United 26" проявляет предвзятость к в пользу/отдает предпочтение США, как будто другие два организатора - второстепенны.

If I say "два других организатора" I would be telling "two other hosts", not "THE two other hosts", right?

Likewise, what if I use a personal pronoun (which declines as an adjective) instead of a typical adjective?

• Два моих друга - two of my friends
• Мои два друга - my two friends
• Два других друга - two other friends
• Другие два друга - the two other friends

Maybe the adjective/pronoun takes the genitive plural after the numeral when expressing "some out of many", whereas it takes the nominative plural before the numeral when the numeral refers to the total quantity?

Answer 1

This is not only related to "adjective-like" pronoun другие, regular adjectives also express similar behaviour. However, the connotation of the definite article "THE" only appears with pronouns.

Compare:

Дом был заброшен, и два разбитых окна чернели на фасаде.

Дом был заброшен, и разбитые два окна чернели на фасаде.

There is no indication of how many windows are there in total, however the former focuses more on the count (there are two windows), while the latter on the state (they were broken).

The focus is expressed with the nominative case; in the first sentence it is "два", in the second it is "разбитые два".

Answer 2

In case of "другие два организатора" другие qualifies два организатора which is plural which makes другие plural.

In case of "два других организатора" два governs both других and организатора according to these rules.

If I say "два других организатора" I would be telling "two other hosts", not "THE two other hosts", right?

You can use either version ("другие два" or "два других") to mean "the other two" or "another two", depending on the context. Russian does not have "the" or "an". If absolutely necessary, you can use "остальные два" (the other two) or "еще два" (another two).