GENDER OF NOUNS

Like many European languages, Russian nouns have grammatical gender.

Knowing the gender of a noun is very important because it helps you choose the correct adjectives and pronouns, and eventually helps you decline nouns correctly in different cases.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! For today, we’re going to focus just on gender.

There are three genders in Russian:

• Masculine – мужско́й род

• Neuter – сре́дний род

• Feminine – же́нский род

Let’s start with the easiest one!

• уче́бника textbook
• телефо́на phone
• компью́терa computer

Masculine nouns are usually very easy to spot.

They typically end in a consonant.

For example:

уче́бниК, телефо́Н, компью́теР

It’s pretty easy, as long as you know your Russian consonants.

So let’s do a quick check!

Sort each letter into the right group

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шдфхйырцмвящжспгаеноэлтузкичбю

• consonantNothing here yet.
• vowelNothing here yet.

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• маши́наa car
• кни́гаa book
• шко́лаa school

Like in many Romance languages, feminine nouns very often end in -а.

For example: маши́нА, кни́гА, шко́лА

• змея́a snake
• ку́хняkitchen
• ма́гияmagic

Another very common feminine ending is -я.

For example: змеЯ́, ку́хнЯ, ма́гиЯ

So, as a general rule:

• -а → feminine

• -я → feminine

Let’s practice distinguishing masculine and feminine nouns by identifying the gender of these geographical names.

Sort each word into the right group

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Пари́жКита́йА́зияАме́рикаА́фрикаСанкт-Петербу́ргЛо́ндонНью-Йо́ркАмстерда́мМила́нМосква́Росси́яА́нглияЕвро́па

• MasculineNothing here yet.
• FeminineNothing here yet.

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Something that sets Russian apart from many languages: Russian has three grammatical genders, not two.

The third gender is called:

сре́дний род – neuter

You can think of it as a third category that is neither masculine nor feminine.

Neuter nouns have two endings:

• вино́wine
• молоко́milk
• окно́a window

-о

For example: винО́, молокО́, окнО́

• мо́реsea
• по́леa field
• зда́ниеa building

-е

For example:

мо́рЕ, по́лЕ, зда́ниЕ

As a beginner, if you just remeber these, it will allow you to identify the gender of most Russian nouns.

Let’s practice!

Sort each word into the right group

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уче́бникба́бушкафутбо́лкни́гапи́ворестора́нмолоко́вода́музе́йкафе́вино́чайя́блокособа́касемья́

• MasculineNothing here yet.
• NeuterNothing here yet.
• FeminineNothing here yet.

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Great!

With these five common endings ( -consonant, -а, -я, -о and -е) you can identify the gender of most Russian nouns.

But now we get to the tricky part!

Some Russian nouns end in the soft sign – Ь.

For example: оте́ль, день, ночь, тетра́дь, рубль, любо́вь

Can you guess their gender? Well… that's a trick question! Some are masculine and some are feminine.

So how do you know which one is which? Unfortunately, if you encounter one of these nouns in isolation, you often can't tell its gender just from the ending.

However, when you see the noun in a sentence, the words around it can give you a clue. For example, an adjective might reveal the gender:

Eventually, you simply have to learn the gender together with the noun.

So instead of learning день is "day", try to learn день is masculine.

Here are some useful -ь nouns to remember:

When it comes to words referring to people, the rules can sometimes be different. Very often, the grammatical gender is determined by the gender of the person being referred to, rather than simply by the ending of the noun.

For example:ма́ма, ба́бушка, тётя, же́нщина

These are all feminine nouns because they refer to women.

But look at these: па́па, де́душка, дя́дя, мужчи́на

They end in -а or -я, which normally suggests feminine gender. However, they are masculine nouns because they refer to men.

This is particularly important with words such as: колле́га "colleague". Колле́га can be either masculine or feminine depending on the person you're talking about.

So when talking about people, always pay attention to who the noun refers to.

Let's practice what we've covered so far!

Sort each noun into its gender

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мо́реслова́рьмолоко́ку́хнядверьзда́ниеденьрубльдя́дяпа́патетра́дькни́гауче́бниктётяночьоте́льба́бушкавино́окно́крова́ть

• MasculineNothing here yet.
• NeuterNothing here yet.
• FeminineNothing here yet.

Reset

If you've already consumed some Russian media, like movies, TV shows or books, you might have noticed that Russians have a lot of diminutive and familiar forms of names.

For example: А́нна is the full form of the name, the form you would see in a passport or official document. But friends and family might call her: А́ня, Аню́та, А́нечка, Аню́тка, Аню́точка …and many, many more!

Why am I telling you this? Because the form of a person's name can change, and the ending can change with it. Women's full names as well as familiar or diminutive forms usually end in -а or -я.

Men's full names usually end in a consonant or -й, but their familiar forms can end in -а or -я.

So don't let the ending confuse you!

Ди́ма ends in -а, but it is a male name.

You don't need to memorize every Russian name right now. Just keep in mind that a name ending in -а or -я isn't necessarily feminine.

And there are some names that can be both masculine and feminine:

• Са́ша – Алекса́ндра or Алекса́ндр

• Же́ня – Евге́ния or Евге́ний

Russian is a language with plenty of exceptions! Luckily, you don't need to memorize all of them at once. Let's look at a few useful ones.

Ко́фе ends in -е, which would normally make you think it's neuter.

But ко́фе is traditionally masculine:

Some geographical names don't follow the usual ending rules either.

Cities ending in -о or -и are often treated as masculine.

For example: То́кио, О́сло, Ри́о, Со́чи, Тбили́си

You may therefore hear:

Some indeclinable animal names are also masculine by default.

For example: флами́нго, шимпанзе́, кенгуру́

These words don't change their form depending on the case, but they are generally treated as masculine.

There are a couple of very important words you should simply memorise as neuter:

и́мя - name

вре́мя - time

Both are neuter, even though their endings don't follow the basic -о / -е pattern. So:

And lastly, here are some loanwords with И endings that are neuter: такси́, кафе́, хо́бби, бики́ни, цуна́ми.

Russian has borrowed a huge number of words from other languages. Some indeclinable loanwords can be tricky because their gender doesn't always follow a simple rule. Their gender can depend on how the word is treated in Russian and, in some cases, can vary. When you're unsure about a loanword, it's a good idea to check a dictionary or see how native speakers use it.

Three genders, five endings and a handful of exceptions. Let’s check they’ve stuck!

Match the pairs

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• телефо́н
• кни́га
• ку́хня
• окно́
• мо́ре
• ночь
• слова́рь
• па́па
• и́мя
• такси́

• dad
• a window
• sea
• a book
• name
• a taxi
• dictionary
• night
• kitchen
• a phone

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Multiple choice

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1. 1.Шко́ла ends in -а. What gender is it?

   AMasculineBFeminineCNeuter

2. 2.Which of these nouns is masculine?

   Aкомпью́терBмолоко́Cкни́га

3. 3.Мо́ре and окно́ — what gender are they?

   AFeminineBMasculineCNeuter

4. 4.You meet тетра́дь on its own. How do you know its gender?

   AA noun in -ь is always feminine.BYou can’t tell from the ending — learn the gender together with the noun.CA noun in -ь is always masculine.

5. 5.Па́па ends in -а. Is it feminine?

   AYes, every noun in -а is feminine.BNo, it is neuter.CNo, it is masculine, because it refers to a man.

Reset

That’s Урок 1 finished 🎉 Next time we make nouns plural. See you there!