Noun Genders — Russian (Grade 9)

Define and explain Noun Genders in your own words
Use key terms such as род (rod) — gender accurately
Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic

This lesson focuses on Noun Genders: sort nouns into masculine, feminine and neuter using their endings.

Definition: Noun Genders

Sort nouns into masculine, feminine and neuter using their endings.

Key ideas

Finding noun gender from endings

Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant — дом (dom — house), стол (stol — table) — or in -й, like музей (muzéy — museum). Feminine nouns end in -а or -я: книга (kníga — book), земля (zemlyá — land). Neuter nouns end in -о or -е: окно (oknó — window), море (móre — sea). Nouns in -ь can be either — словарь (slovár' — dictionary) is masculine but ночь (noch' — night) is feminine — so learn those together with the noun.

Present tense endings

First-conjugation verbs like делать (délat' — to do) take -ю, -ешь, -ет, -ем, -ете, -ют: я делаю (ya délayu — I do), ты делаешь (ty délayesh), он делает (on délayet). Second-conjugation verbs like говорить take -ю, -ишь, -ит, -им, -ите, -ят. Learn the six endings once and you can conjugate hundreds of verbs.

Key term — род (rod) — gender: Every Russian noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. Gender decides adjective and possessive endings, so identifying it is step one.

Worked example: Noun Genders

What gender is книга?

Feminine — it ends in -а: книга (kníga — book).

Answer: Feminine — it ends in -а: книга (kníga — book).

Common mistakes

Treating папа as feminine Папа (pápa — dad) ends in -а but is masculine because it names a man: мой папа (moy pápa — my dad), not моя папа. With people, meaning beats the ending.
Saying ты to a teacher Ты (ty) to a teacher sounds disrespectful. Use вы (vy): Вы учитель (vy uchítel' — you are the teacher).

Practice

What gender is окно?

It ends in -о.

Neuter: окно (oknó — window).

Do you use ты or вы with your teacher?

Teachers get respect.

Вы (vy — formal you).

Conjugate: он ___ (делать).

First conjugation, third person singular: -ет.

Он делает (on délayet — he does).

Conjugate: они ___ (говорить).

Second conjugation, third person plural: -ят.

Они говорят (oní govoryát — they speak).

Quick check

Noun Genders — quick check

Which of these best defines "род (rod) — gender"?

Every Russian noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. Gender decides adjective and possessive endings, so identifying it is step one.

Put in order: по-русски / говорите / Вы / ?

Вы говорите по-русски? (vy govoríte po-rússki? — Do you speak Russian?).

Key takeaways

Noun Genders: sort nouns into masculine, feminine and neuter using their endings.
Finding noun gender from endings: Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant — дом (dom — house), стол (stol — table) — or in -й, like музей (muzéy — museum).
вы (vy) — you (formal / plural): Used with strangers, adults and teachers, and for more than one person.
Watch out for: treating папа as feminine

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