Russian Noun Gender: Predicting Masculine, Feminine and Neuter
Recognize common noun endings and practice adjective agreement.
RU005 · RU · A1 / A2 · grammar, cases
The question
Why do adjectives change in новый стол, новая книга and новое окно?
Russian nouns have grammatical gender. Many nouns ending in a consonant are masculine (стол), nouns ending in -а/-я are often feminine (книга), and nouns ending in -о/-е are often neuter (окно). Adjectives and singular past-tense verbs reflect this gender.
A starter guide
| Noun | Gender | Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| стол (table) | Masculine | новый стол |
| книга (book) | Feminine | новая книга |
| окно (window) | Neuter | новое окно |
| словарь (dictionary) | Masculine soft sign | новый словарь |
| дверь (door) | Feminine soft sign | новая дверь |
The soft sign -ь does not tell you the gender by itself: словарь is masculine but дверь is feminine. Some nouns ending in -а refer to men and take masculine agreement: папа (dad). In the past tense compare он читал, она читала, оно читало.
Common mistake
Do not assume every -а noun is feminine, or all -ь nouns share one gender. Learn exceptions with an agreeing adjective.
Remember
Use word endings as strong clues, then learn exceptions and their agreement patterns.