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How to say things like:

Я вижу... дитя, лицо (в значении "человек"), животное, насекомое, млекопитающее, существо ("живой организм"), чудище, чудовище, страшилище...

Do they stay the same or do we need to change them?

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  • How about words like: мертвец, покойник.... They are dead.....but they seem to be treated as living....? Weird... :( Mar 28, 2021 at 17:10
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    'They are dead.....but they seem to be treated as living'. Yes. Я вижу мертвеца, покойника. But 'я вижу труп'. /// Я вижу страшных зомби, снеговика, красивых кукол и матрёшек. But 'Я вижу красивые статуэтки балерин и красивые фигурки оловянных солдатиков.' /// Я вижу шахматные фигуры: короля, ферзя (королеву), слона (офицера), коня. But 'я вижу белые ладьи и черные пешки.
    – Elena
    Mar 29, 2021 at 10:15

1 Answer 1

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As you might know, the Accusative of masculine (second declension) nouns depends on animacy: it is the same as Genitive for animate nouns and Nominative for inanimate:

  • вижу тигра, тигров (animate)
  • вижу стол, столы (inanimate)

Neuter nouns follow the same rule in the plural:

  • вижу животных, насекомых, чудищ, детей, лиц (animate)
  • вижу облака, окна, лёгкие (inanimate)

However, in the singular, Accusative always equals Nominative for neuter nouns, regardless of animacy:

  • вижу дитя, чадо, животное, чудище, лицо, облако, лёгкое.

When in doubt, double-check yourself using this online declension tool:

https://morpher.ru?s=животное

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