Word Genders (Род слов)

Russian has three grammatical genders: feminine, masculine, and neutral (also called neuter).

For living things (animate nouns), grammatical gender usually follows natural gender (e.g., де́вочка — girl → feminine; ма́льчик — boy → masculine).

For things (inanimate nouns), a gender is simply a grammatical property, usually determined by the noun’s ending.
For example, маши́на — car is feminine, while цвето́к — flower is masculine.

Knowing a noun’s gender matters because adjectives, pronouns, and past-tense verbs must agree with it and change form depending on the noun’s role in the sentence.

For most nouns the rule for determining a gender is straightforward.

Let's play a detective 🕵️‍♀️ . Look at the examples below, and try to deduce the gender rules.

When you’re ready, click the button below to reveal the rule and check your guess.

Feminine Masculine Neutral

Feminine

  • коме́та — comet
  • инъе́кция — injection
  • иде́я — idea
  • ма́ска — mask
  • ка́рта — map

Masculine

  • ко́смос — cosmos/space
  • кот — cat (male)
  • а́том — atom
  • банк — bank
  • борщ — borscht
  • музе́й — museum

Neutral (Neuter)

  • метро́ — metro/subway
  • сча́стье — happiness
  • окно́ — window
  • не́бо — sky
  • жильё — lodging

How to tell a noun’s gender (main rule, some exceptions apply)

 
  • Feminine: usually ends in -а / -я.
  • Masculine: ends in a consonant or -й.
  • Neutral (Neuter): ends in -о / -е / -ё.
 

Notable exceptions

Animate vs Inanimate

"Animate" is the standard grammar term for living beings (people and animals).
"Inanimate" refers to non-living things.

A few animate nouns have forms that don’t look like you expect (e.g., some professions or nicknames). Their gender typically follow natural gender, regardless of the word ending. (e.g., мисс (miss) — feminine; па́па (dad) — masculine; доктор (doctor) — masculine or feminine, depending on context).

Other exceptions

  • слуга́, судья́ → masculine (despite -а/-я)
  • путь → masculine but роль → feminine
  • ко́фе → masculine (colloquial)

Let’s practice more

Pick the gender for each word. Instant feedback shows a ✅ or ❌.