Rules for the Gender

Russian nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

• Masculine nouns end in a consonant, -й or -ь:   дом – house;   чай – tea; день – day.

• Feminine nouns end in -а ,  -я , or -ь:   книга – book;  земля – earth;   ночь – night.

• Neuter nouns end in -o, -e, or -ё: окно – window; море – sea; ружьё – gun.

Nouns ending in a consonant, -a or -о are hard nouns. Nouns ending in -й, -ь, -я, -е, and -ё are soft nouns.

Nouns Ending in -ь

A few rules may be helpful in determining the gender of nouns ending in -ь:

   (a)   Nouns pertaining to male persons are, of course, masculine:  писатель – writer;  дикарь – savage. 

   (b)   All nouns with the suffix -тель are masculine:   учитель – teacher; истребитель – fighter plane;  числитель – numerator. 

These nouns should not be confused with others, where -тель is not a suffix:   метель (fem.) – snowstorm, постель (fem.) – bed, etc.

   (c)   All names of months are masculine:   январь – January;   февраль – February. 

   (d)   Most abstract nouns are feminine. 

Exceptions:  The following abstract nouns are masculine:

вихрь	whirlwind
вопль	yell
день	day
кашель	cough
контроль	control
пароль	password
спектакль	show
стиль	style

   (e) Nouns with the suffix -ость are feminine:  радость – joy; гордость – pride.

These nouns should not be confused with others where -ость is not a suffix.   For example: гость – guest (masc.).

Most nouns ending  in -есть are feminine:   честь – honor;  лесть – flattery.

   (f) Nouns  ending in a sibilant and а ь are feminine:  ночь – night; вещь – thing.

Additional Rules for Determining Gender  

Masculine Nouns Ending in -а, -я, -о, or -е

Male persons ending in -a or -я:

1. Nouns denoting male persons are masculine regardless of their ending: мужчина – man; дядя – uncle; юноша – young man, boy; старшина – chairman.

2. Some proper names, especially diminutives, may end in -a or -я: Лука, Никита, Серёжа (diminutive of Сергей), Ваня (diminutive of Иван), etc.

Animate masculine diminutives may end in -а:  сынишка – sonny; дядюшка – nunky;  дедушка – granddad.

Inanimate diminutives may end in -о: домишко – small house; городишко – small town.

Augmentatives may end in -e:   домище – huge house;  городище – huge city (a type not frequently used).

The noun “подмастерье” (apprentice) is masculine.

Common Gender Nouns: Masculine and Feminine Ending in -a

The following nouns ending in -a are among those which can apply to a male or female person:

заика	stutterer		неряха	untidy person
калека	cripple		пьяница	drunkard
кривляка	affected person		обжора	glutton
плакса	cry-baby		сирота	orphan
невежа	boor, rude person		молодчина	attaboy /attagirl
невежда	ignoramus		умница	clever person

 (It may be noticed that, curiously enough, most of these nouns imply a negative or cheerless characteristic. The last two examples are among the few, which do not.)

Gender of Nouns of Foreign Origin

 Inanimate nouns borrowed from foreign languages and ending in -о or -e are neuter:

пальто	overcoat		пианино	piano
кино	movies		эхо	echo
бюро	office		шоссе	highway
метро	subway		кашне	scarf
радио	radio		желе	jelly
кило	kilo(gram)		кафе	café

(b) A few nouns of foreign origin end in -и, -у, -ю, and stressed -а.

The inanimate are neuter: такси – taxi; рагу – ragout; интервью – interview; боа – necklet, boa. The animate are usually masculine:  колибри – colibri; кенгуру – kangaroo.

Note: There are very few neuter animate nouns: чудовище (monster); существо (creature); животное (animal); насекомое (insect); лицо (person, man), and дитя (child).

Exception:  “Кофе” is masculine.  Крепкий кофе – strong coffee.

Animate nouns of the same type are masculine: маэстро – maestro; атташе – attaché.

Gender of Nouns Ending in -мя

(a)    The ten nouns which end in -мя are neuter:

имя	(first) name		темя	crown of the head
время	time		пламя	flame
племя	tribe		вымя	udder
бремя	burden		стремя	stirrup
знамя	banner		семя	seed