Archives for: March 2011, 14

Несколько

March 14th, 2011 by Don

The Russian word for several is несколько. It is declined like this:

Most of the time the word is used in the nominative and accusative cases, in which case the noun phrase that follows it is in the genitive plural:

На столе лежало несколько книг.	Several books were lying on the table.
У меня несколько близких друзей.	I have several close friends
Я купил несколько вилок.	I bought several forks.
Я увидел несколько страусиных яиц.	I spotted several ostrich eggs.

It's possible to encounter the word in oblique cases as well; in such instances it is accompanied the a noun phrase in the plural of that case:

Продовольственный кризис 2007–2008 годов был спровоцирован неурожаем сразу в нескольких регионах мира. (adapted from this source)	The food crisis of 2007-2008 was caused by crop failure in several regions of the world at the same time.
Сегодня мы вспоминаем об Андрее Миронове — замечательном актере, любимце нескольких поколений. (adapted from this source)	Today we commemorate Andrei Mironov, the amazing actor, the favorite of several generations.
Для отправки сообщения нескольким получателям нужно перечислить их имена в полях «Кому», «Копия» и «Скрытая» через запятую. (source)	To send a message to several recipients [at the same time] you need to list their names in the “To”, “CC” or “BCC” fields with a comma between [each name].
Нальчик был атакован несколькими группами боевиков. (source)	Nalchik was attacked by several groups of commandos.