How To Find Out the Gender of the Russian Noun

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How To Find Out the Gender of a Russian Noun

There are three genders in Russian: masculine, feminine and neutral. The general rule to define the gender is to analyze the noun ending. However the task is complicated by numerous exceptions you need to memorize.

Difficulty Level: average Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:

Make the nominative singular form of the noun.

Analyze the ending of the noun.

Nouns ending in consonants -б, -в, -д, -з, -л, -м, -н, -п, -р, -с, -т, -ф, -ц and -й are always masculine.

Nouns ending in -а, -я, -ия are feminine (exceptions exist).

Nouns ending in -о, -е, -ие are neutral.

Nouns ending in -ёнок, -онок are masculine.

Nouns ending in -ь can be masculine and feminine. Their gender, save for nouns mentioned in steps 7-8, should be memorized.

The suffix -тель is typical of masculine nouns.

The suffix -ость is typical for feminine nouns.

Nouns of foreign origin can be masculine and feminine. These are usually proper names, surnames, geographical names, etc. Need memorizing.

Tips:

All dictionaries list nouns in the nominative singular form.

Gender of animate nouns is defined by the natural sex of a person or an animal. For instance, мальчик (boy) is always masculine and девочка (girl) is always feminine.

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