Урок 1.1. The Gender of Nouns Род существительных

Gender of Nouns in the Nominative Case

Russian nouns belong to one of three grammatical classes called genders. They are divided into three groups: nouns of masculine (мужской), feminine (женский) and neuter (средний) gender, which is clearly expressed only in the singular. The gender of a noun is shown by it's ending.

Masculine nouns are nouns end in a consonant (they have Ø* ending in the Nominative case): Иван, дом.

Feminine nouns are nouns end in the vowel -а in the Nominative case: Анна, комната

Neuter nouns are nouns end in the vowel -о in the Nominative case: окно.

We will agree to denote masculine gender as м.р. (мужской род), feminine gender as ж.р. (женский род), neuter gender as ср.р. (средний род).

Compare the endings and memorize them:

example

он

Иван

дом

она

Анна

комната

оно

-

окно

Ø

Personal pronouns он (he), она (she), оно (it)

Nouns of any gender may be replaced by the corresponding personal pronouns.

In contrast to English the Russian pronouns он and она  may replace not only animate, but also inanimate nouns.

The pronoun он replace any masculine noun (Иван, дом - он).

The pronoun она replace any feminine noun (Анна, комната - она).

The pronoun оно replace any neuter noun (окно - оно).

Compare the following examples in Russian and in English:

 Это Иван. Он журналист.   It is Ivan. He is a journalist.

 Вот парк. Он слева.   This is a park. It is on the left.

 Это Таня. Она студентка.   It is Tanya. She is a student.

 Это наша школа. Она справа.   This is our school. It is on the right.

 Где письмо? - Вот оно.    Where is the letter? - Here it is.

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