Russian Grammar · Gender of Nouns · Level A1–A2

Why gender matters in Russian

Every Russian noun has a gender — masculine, feminine, or neuter. Gender is not just a label: it affects adjective endings, pronoun choice, and verb agreement in the past tense.

The good news: in most cases you do not need to memorise gender separately. You can read it directly from the ending of the word.

The three genders at a glance
Gender Typical endings Examples
Masculine consonant · -й · -ь (some) стол · музе́й · де́нь
Feminine -а · -я · -ь (some) ма́ма · земля́ · ночь
Neuter -о · -е · -мя окно́ · мо́ре · и́мя
1 · Masculine nouns

Most masculine nouns end in a consonant. If the word ends in a consonant, your first guess should always be masculine.

сто́л (table)  ·  го́род (city)  ·  брат (brother)  ·  хлеб (bread)

Nouns ending in -й are also masculine:

музе́й (museum)  ·  трамва́й (tram)  ·  чай (tea)

Note on -ь: Some nouns ending in -ь (soft sign) are masculine: де́нь (day), слова́рь (dictionary), рубль (rouble). But some are feminine — see below. The soft sign is the tricky case.
2 · Feminine nouns

Most feminine nouns end in -а or -я. This is the most reliable rule in Russian gender.

ма́ма (mum)  ·  кни́га (book)  ·  шко́ла (school)  ·  ру́чка (pen)

земля́ (earth/land)  ·  неде́ля (week)  ·  семья́ (family)

Some feminine nouns end in -ь:

ночь (night)  ·  дочь (daughter)  ·  жизнь (life)  ·  любо́вь (love)

Exception alert: папа (dad), дя́дя (uncle), мужчи́на (man) end in -а but are masculine — because the people they refer to are male. Biological sex overrides the ending rule for people.
3 · Neuter nouns

Neuter nouns end in -о or -е. These are easy to spot.

окно́ (window)  ·  письмо́ (letter)  ·  сло́во (word)  ·  молоко́ (milk)

мо́ре (sea)  ·  по́ле (field)  ·  зда́ние (building)

A small group of nouns ending in -мя are also neuter:

и́мя (name)  ·  вре́мя (time)  ·  пле́мя (tribe)

The soft sign -ь: the tricky one

When a noun ends in -ь, you cannot tell the gender from the ending alone. You need to learn these words individually. Here are the most common ones:

Masculine -ь Feminine -ь
де́нь (day) ночь (night)
слова́рь (dictionary) дочь (daughter)
рубль (rouble) жизнь (life)
ого́нь (fire) любо́вь (love)
Practical tip: When you learn a new noun ending in -ь, always note its gender. A dictionary will show м (masculine) or ж (feminine) next to the word.
Quick reference — the decision tree

Look at the last letter of the noun:

Ends in -а / -я → Feminine (except папа , дядя , мужчина )

Ends in -о / -е / -мя → Neuter

Ends in consonant / -й → Masculine

Ends in -ь → Learn individually

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