3 genders: masculine, feminine, neuter, and how to tell them by the ending
Can determine the grammatical gender of Russian nouns by their ending
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Стол — он. Кни́га — она́. Окно́ — оно́.
Table — he. Book — she. Window — it.
Слова́рь — он. Тетра́дь — она́.
Dictionary — he. Notebook — she.
Ко́фе — он. Такси́ — оно́.
Coffee — he. Taxi — it.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Every Russian noun is masculine, feminine or neuter. English has nothing like this outside "he" and "she" for people, so it is a new idea, but Russian makes it easier than German or French: in most cases the ending of the word tells you the gender.
| Gender | Typical ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | a consonant, -й, some -ь | стол (table), музе́й (museum), слова́рь (dictionary) |
| Feminine | -а, -я, some -ь | кни́га (book), неде́ля (week), ночь (night) |
| Neuter | -о, -е, -мя | окно́ (window), мо́ре (sea), и́мя (name) |
Gender matters because adjectives, pronouns and past-tense verbs agree with it: но́вый стол, но́вая кни́га, но́вое окно́; Стол стоя́л, Кни́га лежа́ла.
Treating gender as meaning ("a table is a thing, so it must be neuter") and calling every object оно. Gender belongs to the word, not to the object: стол is masculine, ла́мпа feminine, окно́ neuter, and a pronoun referring to them follows suit.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesСтол — он. Кни́га — она́. Окно́ — оно́.
Table — he. Book — she. Window — it.
Consonant ending = M (стол→он), -а ending = F (книга→она), -о ending = N (окно→оно).
Слова́рь — он. Тетра́дь — она́.
Dictionary — he. Notebook — she.
Both end in -ь but different genders! Must memorize.
Ко́фе — он. Такси́ — оно́.
Coffee — he. Taxi — it.
Loanwords: кофе is masculine (exception!), такси is neuter (indeclinable).
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Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises