There are 3 genders in the Russian language - Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter.
It is crucial to understand the concept of genders as different parts of speech in Russian - pronouns, adjectives, verbs, numerals - agree in gender with the noun.
Masculine Nouns
Nouns are masculine if they:
■ Denote male persons, animals, etc:
папа - dad
дедушка - grandpa
бык - bull
■ End in a consonant:
дом - house
телевизор - TV
музей - museum
■ End in a soft sign (Ь) (not all nouns ending in a soft sign are masculine, some are feminine):
дождь - rain
день - day
автомобиль - car
Feminine Nouns
Nouns are feminine if they:
■ Denote female persons, animals, etc:
мама - mom
бабушка - grandma
корова - cow
■ End in vowels (-А), (-Я):
книга - book
дорога - road
дыня - melon
■ End in a soft sign (Ь) (not all nouns ending in a soft sign are feminine, some are masculine):
жизнь - life
ночь - night
мышь - mouse
Neuter Nouns
Nouns are neuter if they:
■ End in vowels (-О), (-Е):
окно - window
море - sea
счастье - happiness
■ End in letters (-МЯ):
время - time
племя - tribe
имя - name
Summary Table: Gender of Russian Nouns
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|
| NOUNS ENDING IN: | ||
| consonants | (-А), (-Я) | (-О), (-Е) |
| soft sign (-Ь) | soft sign (-Ь) | letters (-МЯ) |
NOTE: there are always some exceptions to the rule.
Exceptions
Foreign words that are indeclinable:
салями - salami (FEMININE)
торнадо - tornado (MASCULINE)
такси - taxi (NEUTER)
шоу - show (NEUTER)
Common gender words:
коллега - colleague
динго - dingo
кенгуру - kangaroo
фламинго - flamingo
какаду - kakadu
шимпанзе - chimpanzee
* Indeclinable - having only one form; not declined for case or number.
* Common gender - nouns that can be either masculine or feminine, depending on the sex of the person / animal involved.
Please refer to the following topics to learn more about Russian nouns: