Noun Gender and Number - Russian Language

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Noun Gender and Number

There are three genders in Russian: masculine, feminine and neuter. You can usually determine the gender of a noun by its ending. Here are some basic rules, though exceptions exist:

Masculine:

Word Ending

дом in a consonant

чай in -й

Feminine:

Word Ending

картина in -a

семья in -я

Neuter:

Word Ending

письмo in -o

платьe in -e

Remember that there are no articles in Russian.

Number

English plurals end in -s. In Russian, there are more endings to make plurals. They are all summed up in the table:

Noun type Ending for plural Example
masculine ending in a hard consonant;
feminine ending in -a -ы стол - столы

any nouns ending in -ь, -й, -я -и двeрь - двери

masculine and feminine ending in -k, -г, -x, -ч, -щ, -ж, -ш, -и нога - ноги

neuter ending in -o -a окно - окнa

neuter ending in -e -я мoре - моря

Some nouns are always singular. These are nouns that designate substances (oxygen, copper), products (cheese, fish), a block of objects (furniture), some actions (hunting, clearing up), feelings (love, health), some vegetables and berries (potato, carrots).

You will have to know the genders and plurals, because they influence the use of adjectives and pronounces. Look at how the word красивый (beautiful) changes:

Красивый:

Gender Word change

masculine: красивый мяч

feminine: красивая девушка

neuter: красивое море

plural:
(all genders) красивые мячи
красивые девушки
красивые моря