человек

Etymology
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Noun

 * 1) person, human being, man
 * 2)  mankind, man, the human race
 * 3) also plural when used with cardinal words:
 * 1) also plural when used with cardinal words:
 * 1) also plural when used with cardinal words:

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. 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 мало людей."