Genus. There are three genders in the Russian language: masculine, feminine and neuter. Each noun belongs to one of these genders: father, boy, pee A body, wolf, oak, house- masculine nouns; mother, girl, pee A calf, fox, pine, school O la- feminine nouns; animal, tree, wing, field, building, feeling- neuter nouns.
morphological analysis of the word answersFor animate nouns, gender has a real meaning, indicating that they belong to the male or female gender. For inanimate nouns, there is no connection between the meaning of the noun and its gender (even nouns belonging to the same thematic group can have different genders: for example, in the names of the days of the week, the nouns Monday, Tuesday, Thursday- male, Wednesday A. Friday, Saturday O that- female, Sunday- neuter). Thus, for most nouns, gender is grammatical in nature and is determined by a formal feature - by endings in the nominative singular. Nouns used only in the plural have no gender (for example: spirit And. vacation, day).
hot analysis of words by compositionMasculine gender includes nouns ending :
chicken word analysis a) to a hard consonant - house, table, world, city, view;
b) to a soft consonant (including And) - nail, fire, January, stream, hero;
composition of the word seaside c) on w, w, h, sch(without a soft sign) - knife, pencil, key, cloak .
Some masculine nouns, denoting male persons, as well as proper names for men (usually diminutives), have the ending - and I(man, young man, uncle, Borya, Vanya, Sasha, Nikita) .
determine noun case
a) on -a, -i, -iya - country, land, party ;
has long been disassembled by composition b) for a soft consonant - spruce, bed, area ;
union example c) on w, w, h, sch(with a soft sign) - rye, mouse, night, speech, help .
parse the big word as part of speech
a) on -o, -e, -e, -ie- window, sea, towel, gun, skill ;
b) on -me - vr e me,And me, banner, flame .
In this way, neuter nouns are most easily distinguished. Masculine and feminine nouns have partially overlapping forms of the nominative case (for a soft consonant, for w, w, h, sch); It is best to memorize their gender in accordance with the instructions in the dictionary.
- masculine and feminine nouns w, w, h, sch. identical in pronunciation, in writing they differ in the presence of a soft sign after the final consonant in feminine nouns and in its absence in masculine nouns ( rye - knife, night - ball);
- all animate nouns with a suffix -tel- male ( writer, reader);
- all inanimate nouns with a suffix -ness- female ( youth,
nationality, independence).
Morphologically, the gender of nouns is manifested in case endings, syntactically - in the form of agreement with adjectives, pronouns, participles, as well as verbs in the past tense, cf. after e daysday, day ' ;passed(m.), last autumn, autumn has passed(and.), after e It's summer, summer has passed(cf.).
Number. Nouns have two numbers: singular and plural ( book - books, table - tables, teacher - teachers).
Only in the singular some nouns are used to denote substances, materials ( milk, salt, gold), abstract concepts (studying, walking,presence, courage), names of some plants ( potatoes, carrots, onions, strawberries), names of countries of the world, as well as proper names (south, from e ver, Moscow, Volga, Caucasus, France,Warsaw).
Only inplural nouns are used that denote so-called paired or composite objects (trousers. gate, scissors, glasses), names of some substances ( perfume, cream, ink).
morphological analysis of the word we will leaveGender of nouns
1. What is the gender system of nouns in the Russian language?
All Russian nouns in the form singular can be classified into one of the following genera: male, female, average, general.
2. How to determine the gender of a noun?
The gender of a noun can be determined by agreeing with the pronoun my:
my son, my governor, my curtain, my little house- masculine; my wife, my wall, my night- feminine gender, my window, my sky, my animal- neuter gender.
For most nouns denoting people, gender can be determined by gender: my apprentice, my grandfather(masculine); my mother, my sister(feminine gender).
The gender of nouns is determined by the singular form. Nouns used only in the plural have no gender: manger, pasta, trousers, pitchfork.
3. What nouns have common gender?
Common nouns are nouns that characterize man, give him assessment characteristics; they have endings -and I and belong to the 1st declension: slob, ringleader, singer, hard worker, dirty guy, dude, drunkard, sissy, sleepyhead, crybaby.
Generic nouns can denote both male and female people: What a slob you are! What a slob you are!
4. How to determine genusunchangeable nouns?
Gender of immutable nouns, calling people, determined by gender: brave hidalgo, refined lady.
Nouns meaning professions and occupation, are masculine: military attache, night porter. Nouns of the 2nd declension with a zero ending, naming persons by profession ( doctor, professor, associate professor, driver etc.), even if used in relation to female persons, are still nouns male.
Unchangeable nouns that call animals, belong to the masculine gender, although when indicating a female they can be used as feminine nouns: Australian kangaroo, funny chimpanzee; chimpanzee feeding her babies.Exceptions:tsetse(fly), Ivasi(fish) - feminine.
Immutable inanimate nouns are neuter: night taxi, delicious stew, new blinds, aromatic cocoa, aged Bordeaux, heady Chardonnay, hot cappuccino, locomotive depot, new coat, wicker flowerpot. Exceptions: coffee, penalty, sirocco(masculine); avenue, salami(feminine gender).
Genus foreign language geographical names determined by the generic word: distant Monaco(this is a principality, i.e. a neuter noun, which means the word Monaco also neuter) wide Limpopo(river - river), densely populated Tokyo(city - m.r.). If you can use two different generic words, then agreement options are possible: independent Haiti(state - s.r.), independent Haiti(country - female) and distant Haiti(island - m.r.); beautiful Brescia(city - district) and beautiful Brescia(province - f.r.). In some cases, the gender of a noun is established by tradition, so a dictionary check is required.
5. How to determine the gender of compound words (abbreviations)?
Initials are based on the names of the letters, sound ones are based on sounds, like ordinary words.
The gender of abbreviations is usually determined by reference word in deciphering the abbreviation or by generic word: NATO(alliance - m.r.) decided, MPGU(university - m.r.) accepted new students, CIS(commonwealth - s.r.) took the initiative, UNESCO(organization - zh.r.) declared 2011 the year of forests.
In some cases, the gender of a noun is established by tradition, so a dictionary check is required: university(the key word is establishment, but the gender is masculine), Ministry of Foreign Affairs(the key word is ministry, but the gender is masculine), TASS(the key word is agency, but the gender is masculine).
6. How to determine the gender of nouns ending in -Ль in the form im. P.(words like tulle, callus, polish, roofing felt, valve)?
The gender of such words must be memorized and, in case of difficulties, checked in a dictionary. For example, you can use dictionaries in the “Word Check” section on the website gramota.ru.
The words are masculine aerosol, polish, lampoon, vaudeville, quantile, quartile, endgame, tulle, roofing felt, flat and etc.
Feminine words include words such as mezzanine, callus, rosin, vacuole, triplet and etc.
7. How to determine the gender of nouns denoting the names of shoes and paired items?
The gender of such words must be memorized and, in case of difficulties, checked in a dictionary.
Words for names shoes:
In addition, there is a bigender noun high boots. If in plural the stress falls on the ending of the word (unt s, -ov), then the singular form is one ounce. If in the plural the emphasis falls on the stem ( at nts), then the form im.p. units - unta.
Other words for the names of paired items: gaiters - one gaiter, leggings - one gaiter, sideburns - one sideburn, leggings - one legging. But: knee socks - one golf, rails - one rail, adjustments - one adjustment.
8. How to determine the gender of compound nouns(words like cafe-dining room,sofa bed)?
If only one part of a noun changes by case, the gender is determined on the variable part: personal website(f.r.). If both parts of the word change in a noun, then the gender is determined on a more significant within the meaning of the part: delicious ice cream cake(m.r.), comfortable chair-bed (s.r.).
See additionally: How to say correctly: “The cafe-dining room is closed for renovation.”
9. Do nouns change by gender?
Nouns by gender do not change, the gender of each noun is a constant category: Mother- only female birth, apple- only s.r. etc.
Almost all bird names ending in - ь are masculine nouns, BUT bittern and tawny owl. Swan - usually m.p., but poetic - can be feminine.
All names of insects, except louse, moth - m.r.
Real nouns in the determination of the gender of which you can experience fluctuations, aerosol, tulle, shampoo - m.r., and some substances - vanilla, rosin - zh.r.
Nouns that can name types of objects are used in pairs. (boots, sneakers, clips, sneakers, shoes...). When you need to name an object from a pair, some of the words have one generic form - butsa, clip, sandal, slipper, shoe - zh.r., and some are noun. It can have two forms that are the norm of the language (ked-keda, sl. R.p. kedov - ked; unt - unta, R.p. untov - unt)
If we are talking about the gender of nouns with size-evaluative suffixes, then in the vast majority of cases nouns formed by means of suffixes indicating size, emotion. assessment, retain the gender of the original word (son-son, wo-goryushko), but there are exceptions. - words like chatterbox, liar, liar, coward, braggart, naughty girl. – suff. – ishk - , - words little animal, shed, which belong to the zh.r. - noun Ugly - commonly. Gender - pet names in – ik, - unchik, - chik... Derived from the names of female gender, but related to words of the masculine gender.
Indeclinable nouns that denote an inanimate object are overwhelmingly related to the sr.r.. A small number of words denoting inanimate objects are exceptions. So to the point. m.r. belong to - names of winds (take the gender of the word “wind”) - names of languages (Pashto Swahili, Hindi), names of artificial languages (Esperanto) are more often used as words of m.r., but the neuter gender is acceptable - names of some products (Suluguni, coffee ). Their use as words m.r. Most often it is preserved in texts of an official business style, and beyond its boundaries the modern linguistic norm allows the use of the neuter gender. - names of fonts (aldene), some individual words such as ecu, pinalti, status quo, although m.r. is also the norm. and sr. like the words auto, sirtaki. to the words of the woman: - kohlrabi, salami, avenue, street
Indeclinable nouns that refer to persons. In this case, the gender is noun. Depends on the gender of the person. All names of women, titles, addresses to women belong to the female birthright. (Pani, Frau, Lady...). In addition to f.r. refer to nouns whose LZ reveals some characteristics and characteristics of a woman (ingénue (stage role of a girl), peri (mythological being in the image of a girl)). The names of men, titles, addresses to men belong to m.r. (Monsieur, Chevalier). In the words of M.R. are also nouns that name persons by position, performance of duties, etc. (i.e. occupations, positions and characteristics of men for whom the tradition of the country has secured this idea), (attaché, croupier, referee, entertainer, dandy). BUT the names of persons by nationality are words of a general gender. Plus counterparts and protégés. Inflexible names related to the animal world, most of them refer to m.r. (kangaroo, cockatoo, hummingbird). A small number of words that refer to the names of the animal world have the gender of the inflected name of the class in relation to which this indeclinable noun acts as a species variety (tsetse, ivashi - zh.r.
Declension of nouns
Declension of nouns is the change of words according to cases and numbers. Another meaning of this term is a class of words united by a common inflection and a pattern according to which words of this class change. In RL, inflected and indeclinable nouns are contrasted. The vast majority of nouns are inflected. Indeclinable nouns combine:
Foreign nouns (popsicle)
Foreign male surnames with a vowel (Goethe)
Female names and surnames starting with a hard consonant (Elizabeth)
Russian surnames (Zhivago, Polish)
Ukrainian surnames (Prisivko)
A significant part of the abbreviations
In the Russian language there are 3 types of declension:
Substantive
The largest in composition. Learns all other nouns. Within its framework, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd declension of nouns are distinguished.
The 1st declension includes nouns m.r. with zero ending in I.p. and nouns w.r. with inflection –o, -e. In scientific grammar this declension is recognized as the first, and in school grammar it is recognized as the second. It is recognized as such because it is the most productive.
The 2nd declension includes nouns m.r. and f.r. with inflections –а, -я, plus common nouns like “glutton”.
The 3rd declension includes nouns zh.r. with zero ending in units.
Adjective
Declension of substantivized adjectives and participles. (Bakery, waiting room, patient, etc.)
Mixed (passive)
This is the declension of proper names into –ov, -in, plus toponyms like Tushino. It is called mixed because it has atypical inflections in some cases. (table-table, Kuznetsov - Kuznetsov. -ov - -ym
“Academic Grammar 80” also suggests highlighting the zero declension. It is proposed to include all indeclinable nouns. But this can hardly be called a declination at all.
Scheme of morphological analysis of nouns:
Initial form
LGR (lexico-grammatical categories)
A) proper – common noun
B) animate – inanimate
C) concrete, abstract – collective, material. Arguments.
A) motivated – unmotivated
B) way of expressing gender
C) for personal names, a characteristic of opposition
Consensus class
Number form
A) a way to express a numerical value
B) the meaning of the number form
Case form
A) means of expressing case meanings
B) the meaning of the case
Type and variety of declension
Syntactic function of a noun
For derived nouns, the method of word formation
Adjective
General characteristics of an adjective as a part of speech.
An adjective is a class of words that is characterized by the general categorical meaning of signs of objectivity (white coat, fresh bread, wild animal, etc.).
Unlike a verb, an adjective expresses a static, non-procedural attribute of objectivity.
The lonely sail is white
White sail in the distance
As Ovsyannikov-Kulikovsky wrote: “an adjective is such a movement of our thought, by virtue of which we attribute attributes to objects and imagine that they are in the object, passively abide in it."
The adjective is genetically related to the noun. Historically, the adjective is secondary. Over time, they emerged from the undivided name. It is no coincidence that many modern adjectives are historically derived from nouns. Morphologically, adjectives have common grammatical categories of gender, number, and case. They are non-binary, inflectional, formal, syntactic. In addition, the adjective also has its own morphological category of degrees of comparison, which expresses the measure of the attribute. However, it is inherent only in qualitative adjectives. In syntactic terms, an adjective is characterized by such a syntactic connection with a noun as agreement. The primary syntactic function of an adjective is the function of an agreed definition. Along with it, adjectives are capable of performing the function of a nominal predicate (the night is quiet). For short forms of adjectives, this function is leading. In word-formation terms, adjectives are characterized by a set of special formants - -sk-, -n-, -ov-, -in-, -an-, etc. The formation of adjectives is characterized by such methods as suffixal, prefixal, prefix-suffixal. In addition, the composition of adjectives is replenished due to the adjectivation of participles (flashy colors, hackneyed truths). Thus, the adjective is a significant part of speech that expresses the meaning of a static non-procedural attribute of objectivity and realizes it in the inflectional categories of gender, number and case.
Until recently, adjectives were considered as inflectional words. Most of them are inclined. But in the 20th century, a new subclass of indeclinable (analytical) adjectives began to actively form. These are borrowed words of foreign origin (Bordeaux, beige, khaki, mini, maxi, etc.). It is now intensively developing, which indicates the growth of analytic features in the SRY. Thus, modern adjectives, like nouns, are characterized by the opposition of inflected and indeclinable words. The boundaries of adjectives are understood broadly and narrowly in science. In a broad sense, the class of adjectives can include, in addition to adjectives themselves, adjective pronouns and ordinal numbers. In a narrow sense, adjectives cover a traditionally distinguished class of words.
In RY, adjectives are represented by 3 main LGRs:
Quality
Relative
Possessives
Lexico-grammatical categories of adjectives.
The main opposition among the categories of adjectives is between qualitative and relative adjectives.
Qualitative adjectives represent the direct name of the features (green, large); denote characteristics that have a quantitative characteristic, i.e. may manifest themselves to a greater or lesser extent (difficult - very difficult).
Based on the nature of the attribute being designated, qualitative adjectives are divided into 2 groups:
Adjectives denoting a variable attribute. In relation to the subject, it can act as an assessment given by the speaker (a difficult exam, a beautiful dress). Such adjectives are called qualitative-evaluative. They are characterized by the presence of degrees of comparison and the possibility of forming antonyms.
Adjectives that denote an absolute attribute that is independent of the speaker’s assessment (checkered, striped, dumb, single). They have no degrees of comparison. They are called intrinsically qualitative.
By meaning, qualitative adjectives are divided into:
Emperile
These are adjectives that denote qualities and properties that are directly perceived by the senses.
Rational
They denote signs established as a result of mental activity.
Qualitative adjectives are characterized by a number of word-formation and morphological features that distinguish them from other lexical and grammatical categories.
May have degrees of comparison
There is a contrast between long and short forms (stupid - stupid)
Can be combined with adverbs of measure and degree (very smart, unusually warm, too dirty, absolutely incomprehensible, etc.)
From qualitative adjectives forms of subjective assessment are formed (adjectives with diminutive or magnifying suffixes). These also include prefix formations with the value of the intensity of the attribute (pre-kind, super-important).
Qualitative adjectives form correlative adverbs with the suffixes -o-, -e- (fast-quickly, sincerely-sincerely).
Abstract nouns are formed from qualitative adjectives (courage, simplicity, blue).
Qualitative adjectives can form verbs with the meaning of manifestation of a characteristic (red - blush)
Qualitative adjectives come into antonymic and synonymous pairs (high - low).
Truncated adjectives must be distinguished from short forms of adjectives. They are special forms of adjectives, which, used in poetic speech of the 18th – early 19th centuries for verification purposes: “a dark shadow fell on the field.” Their use is characterized by truncation of inflection, for example, “gloomy” from “gloomy” - a special poetic device. Truncated adjectives differ from short forms:
The nature of the stress - they bear the stress on the basis
Syntactic function – in a sentence they are a definition
Short and full adjectives in SRL are correlative, however, this correlativeness is incomplete:
Adjectives that name the colors of horses do not form short forms.
Most color adjectives
Subjective adjectives (feisty, cute)
Qualitative adjectives, ascending by definition to relative ones with the suffixes –o-, -sk-, -n- (business, efficient)
Adjectives with -l- (burnt, experienced). They do not form short forms to avoid homonymy.
Many compound adjectives (transparent crystal ball)
Individual qualitative adjectives that are not combined into groups (native, ancient).
Not all full qualitative adjectives have short forms.
In turn, there are a number of adjectives that have only a short form (glad, love, much - words of the state category)
Short forms correspond to full n in the entire scope of their meaning - the short form realizes only one of the meanings of a polysemantic full adjective. (living girl - girl alive (undead)
Some short forms are assigned a conditional meaning that is different from the full ones (he is a bad person - he has negative qualities, he is bad - he is seriously ill).
In a number of dimensional (parametric) adjectives, short forms acquire an additional meaning - the meaning of the excessiveness of the attribute (large, small, cramped).
In the SRL there is no complete correlation between short and full adjectives, both structurally and semantically.
Semantics of short forms.
The question of the semantics of short forms is still open in linguistics. Vinogradov proposed the following interpretation of the semantics of short forms as opposed to full ones. Short forms express a temporary sign, full forms – permanent.
“Short forms denote qualitative states that occur or arise over time. Fat is a sign that is conceivable outside of time.” This opposition of meaning actually exists in language. He is sick (in general) - he is sick (at this time). However, it does not cover all short and long forms (we rarely talk to him - he is not talkative at all). Polish linguist Boguslavsky proposed a different interpretation of the semantics of short forms. From his point of view short adjectives are used in language to emphasize one degree or another of a characteristic (he is quite smart, he is too strong). There is an opinion that short forms, unlike long ones, denote a relative attribute, i.e. a sign that is limited by something (these streets are narrow for travel). However, these meanings are not typical for all short adjectives. In modern Russian studies, the most common is the following interpretation of the semantics of short adjectives. In short forms, the semantics of the property is combined with the semantics of the state, while the manifestation of the property with the ts is emphasized. the perceiving person. Short adjectives express one of the properties, in a complex of other properties, i.e. actively express an excretory characteristic. Associated with this is the dynamics of the designated property, the possibility of its termination, replacement by another...
Short forms in RN denote an currently manifested property, an actively excretory dynamic feature. Particular manifestations of this meaning are the following values:
Temporary localization (he is sick)
Situational, correlative, limited
Degrees, assessment of the speaker (he is extremely smart)
In RL there is competition between short and long forms. Short forms are required or preferred in the following cases:
In statements of a general, timeless nature, which are found in scientific provisions, definitions, aphorisms, maxims.
In the case when the subject is an infinitive.
When a verbal noun is the subject.
When the subject is expressed by pronouns w.r. with a general meaning
In combination with identifying pronouns and adverbs, also with “so”.
In slogans, stereotypical wishes, politeness formulas.
In the presence of additions or circumstances, clarifying or limiting characteristics.
When combined with an infinitive.
If there is an additional part.
The use of short forms of adjectives is influenced by factors such as:
Nature of the subject
Subject-object relations
The nature of temporary relations in a sentence
The presence of minor members or subordinate clauses
Short forms differ from full ones in stylistic terms. The question of this was first raised by Peshkovsky. In his book “Russian syntax in scientific coverage,” he turned to the analysis of Chekhov’s play “3 Sisters” and posed the following question: “if the short form denotes a temporary sign, why do the sisters, quarreling and criticizing each other, use exclusively the long form?” Peshkovsky wrote: “You are angry, you are stupid - there is already an insult. In short form, we see greater categoricalness, isolation from the real conditions of speech, and abstraction. Associated with the exceptional bookishness of this form.” Stylistically, short forms are book forms. In colloquial speech and in common parlance they are often replaced by full forms. Due to the fact that the short form actively expresses an excretory characteristic, it has greater expression, expresses assessment more clearly, and is characterized by a shade of categoricalness (this boy is cowardly).
Thus, short and long forms differ in the SRL by a whole complex of morphological, syntactic, semantic and stylistic features. When analyzing the short form you must:
Give its morphological characteristics
Show correlation with full form
Determine meaning in a given context
Give a stylistic description
Syntax function
She was quiet, not cold, unhurried (f.r., singular, cr. Form, correlates. Leisurely, expresses an active-excretive feature, situational, relative meaning, expressive, evaluative function, nominal part of the predicate).
Degrees of comparison of adjectives.
History of the study of degrees of comparison in Russian grammar
Typology of degrees of comparison in Russian
Education and meaning of comparative forms
Education and meaning of superlatives
Until the 19th century, Russian grammars did not distinguish between degrees of comparison and degrees of quality. For adjectives, non-relative or relative degrees of quality were distinguished. Irrelevant indicated that the characteristic is manifested to a greater or lesser extent, without comparison with others. Relative degree implied comparison. There were 6 degrees of quality – 3 by 3.
Irrelevant:
Initial degree of quality (-ovod-, -evod)
Long (-enk-, -onk-)
Perfect (-okhonek-, -ekhonek-)
Relative:
Positive (red) Forms of the positive degree express the simple presence of a qualitative attribute, unrelated to other objects. It represents a kind of starting point on the gradation scale, while in the RN it does not have any special morphological forms.
Comparative (redder) The comparative degree or comparative indicates that the characteristic in one object is more pronounced than in another or in the same object, but at a different time (girls' faces are brighter than roses; your face is paler than it was). In this regard, the language distinguishes between co-core (this is a comparison in which the object of comparison and the standard of comparison is the same object or person) and non-correlative (this is a comparison in which different objects are compared) comparisons. Unlike the positive degree, the comparative in RN has special morphological forms - suffixes.
Excellent (reddest) Indicates the extreme degree of manifestation of the characteristic. A feature is represented in one object to a greater extent than in other objects of the same kind (Kazbek is the highest peak of the Caucasus). The superlative degree, like the comparative degree, has special morphological forms - suffixes.
In the mid-19th century, Buslaev distinguished between actual morphological elements and word-forming ones. He showed that the relative degree of comparison is actually morphological. As for the irrespective degree of quality, it cannot be considered as a grammatical category. These meanings are expressed in language irregularly and inconsistently. In addition, adjectives with the suffixes –ohonek-, -ekhonek- are archaized. They serve for general expressive illumination of speech and express an assessment of the speaker. Later, these adjectives began to be called “adjectives of subjective assessment.” As Vinogradov wrote, Buslaev was the first to introduce the doctrine of degrees of comparison into the traditional rouleau. Since the 60s of the 20th century, Russian grammar has distinguished 3 degrees of comparison - positive, comparative and superlative. The category of degree of comparison of qualitative adjectives indicates that the characteristic can manifest itself to a greater or extremely high extent. The main grammatical meaning of these forms is the meaning of a different measure of a characteristic in one object compared to others or in the same object taken in different time periods (the grass is greener in May than in April, Vika is more serious than Olya). This grammatical meaning appears in 3 degrees of comparison.
The main grammatical feature that is inherent in almost every part of speech is the category of gender. How many genders do nouns have and how to correctly determine this category for this part of speech? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article.
What is the gender of nouns?
Category of gender of nouns in Russian– a grammatical sign indicating the gender (gender) of the object (living creature, phenomenon) called by the noun or its absence. Gender is a permanent grammatical feature of nouns and is studied in the 6th grade.
Features of the category of gender of nouns
There are three types of nouns in the Russian language:
- Male (he). Masculine nouns in the singular I. p. have the endings -a, -я, and zero.
Examples of masculine nouns: dad, uncle, knife, table, hawk.
- Female (she). Feminine nouns in the singular I. p. have the endings -a, -я, and zero.
Examples of feminine nouns: wife, nanny, night, glory, desert.
- Average (it). Neuter nouns in the singular I. p. have endings -о, -е.
Examples of neuter nouns: swamp, gold, sun, lake, jam.
There is also a class of words, the so-called general gender, which, depending on the context, can be used in both masculine and feminine genders
(boring, sissy, crybaby, smart, greedy).
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How to determine the gender of a noun?
For animate nouns, the gender coincides with the gender of a living creature, a person (father, interlocutor - m.r., girlfriend, gossip - f.r.).
For all nouns, gender can be determined by the grammatical form of the adjective, which agrees with the noun:
- Masculine whose? Which? (white snow, good advice);
- Feminine. Nouns agree with adjectives that answer questions - whose? which? (fresh newspaper, cheerful friend);
- Neuter gender. Nouns agree with adjectives that answer questions - whose? which? (green field, tall building).
Gender of nouns is a grammatical category, manifested in the ability to be combined with specific forms of compatible words. The category of gender can be expressed semantically (that is, in meaning, only for animate nouns), grammatically and syntactically. Semantically, all nouns are masculine, feminine and neuter. Words indicating animals and male persons are masculine (brother, grandfather, student, goose, rooster, horse); nouns naming animals and female persons (sister, grandmother, student, goose, chicken, horse) - to the feminine gender; animals and persons regardless of gender (bogeyman, monster, face (person), child) - to the neuter gender.
The gender of nouns is expressed grammatically by ending in the nominative case. This category of gender is characteristic of both animate and inanimate inflected nouns. In this case, in addition to the 3 main genera, a general genus is also distinguished. The differences between them are presented in the table:
Masculine | Feminine | Neuter gender | Common gender |
The ending is zero, the stem ends with a hard consonant or -th (chair, hero); The ending is zero, the stem ends with a soft consonant, and in the genitive case the endings are -a, -я (horse - horse, doctor - doctor, ivy - ivy). | The ending -a, -ya (hand, earth), except for words naming male persons (servant, governor) and words with the suffix -in, showing an augmentative subjective assessment (domina, mostina); The ending is zero, the stem ends with a consonant, and in the genitive case the ending is -i (rye - rye, tish - tishi, notebook - notebooks). | Ending -o, -e (grain, sea); The words child, monster, monster, face; 10 on -mya (tribe, time, name, banner, seed, stirrup, udder, crown, burden, flame); Some indeclinable inanimate nouns of foreign origin (tabu, taxi, jury, stew, interview, bra). | The ending -a, -ya, in words naming male and female persons (sleepyhead, grumpy, dirty, bully, stutterer, couch potato, orphan, suck-up, roar, ignoramus). |
The gender of nouns can be determined syntactically by the form of the agreed word, which depends on the noun. Thus, participles and adjectives that agree with masculine nouns end in -y, -y, -oh (beautiful garden, singing boy, fighting soldier); with feminine nouns - in -aya, -aya (beautiful street, summer time); with neuter nouns - in -oe, -ee (beautiful sky, winter morning).
Also, the gender of nouns is determined using the ending of the predicate, expressed by a verb in the past tense in the subjunctive or indicative mood, or by a participle or Masculine gender - the predicate has a zero ending (the rain has passed, the plan has been completed); feminine - ending -a (the work is finished, the moon has risen); neuter - ending -o (the letter was received, the sun rose).
There are also Most of them belong to the neuter gender (depot, interview and all substantivized indeclinable nouns like “hello”, “hurray”, “yes”, “tomorrow”, “I don’t want”). The following cases are exceptions:
Ga (hectare), coffee, poppies, penalty, suluguni, sirocco, ecu, tornado, shimmy, as well as names of languages (Bengali, Urdu, Suomi, Pashto, Hindi) are masculine;
Avenue, bere, salami, kohlrabi are feminine.
The gender of indeclinable nouns, such as newspapers, magazines, can be determined by the gender of the noun with the meaning of the generic concept (full-flowing Japanese (city) Tokyo, wide (river) Mississippi, published (newspaper) "The Times"). The gender of abbreviations must be determined by the gender of the main word (MSU - masculine - Moscow State University; UN - feminine - United Nations; CIS - neuter - Commonwealth of Independent States). It is impossible to establish the gender of nouns that are not used in the singular, but only in the plural, since they do not have a gender category (trousers, pitchforks, pasta, manger).
What is gender in relation to the Russian language, how many genders are there in the Russian language and which ones are distinguished?
Schoolchildren begin to become familiar with this category in primary school, gradually deepening and consolidating their knowledge. In the fifth grade, information about the genus is replenished and consolidated on more complex material.
How many genders are there in Russian?
The following system is presented in Russian:
- Feminine gender.
- Masculine.
- Neuter gender.
- Common gender.
The gender of words used only in the plural is not determined.
How many genders does a noun have in Russian?
To determine the gender of a noun, we ask a semantic question about this word: is it mine? She is mine? is it mine?
As can be seen from the table, gender is determined only for singular nouns. Nouns used only in the plural (trousers, glasses, sleigh) are outside the category of gender.
When determining the gender of nouns, schoolchildren often have difficulty with words like “knowledgeable”, “clever”, “fidget” and the like. For example: he was a big fidget and she was a big fidget. Are these words feminine or masculine? This is where the question posed in the title arises: how many genders are there in the Russian language? Scientists have two points of view on this matter: some classify them as masculine or feminine, depending on the context, others classify such words into a special gender - general.
Indeclinable foreign language nouns also cause difficulties. In writing, they resemble words related to the neuter gender. Indeed, most of them belong precisely to this genus, but there are (let's say) exceptions to the rule.
Thus, according to the literary norm, the noun “coffee” is masculine. It would be incorrect to say “my coffee.” This is a mistake, the correct option is “my coffee”.
The noun "euro", by analogy with other names of monetary units, is masculine. By the same principle, the nouns “suluguni”, “sirocco”, “penalty” refer to the masculine. Based on the same analogy, the nouns "avenue", "salami", "kohlrabi" are feminine.
If you have any doubts about the gender of a noun, you should consult Russian dictionaries.
How to determine the gender of an adjective?
Unlike a noun, for which the gender category is unchangeable, for an adjective it is a changeable category and is determined depending on the context. The rule by which the gender of this part of speech is determined is as follows: the gender of the adjective is determined by the word being defined, that is, by the noun.
For example:
- The girl was wearing a beautiful (s.r.) dress. (“Dress” is mine, therefore it is neuter, which means the adjective “beautiful” is neuter).
- He was a handsome (m.) man. The street is beautiful (f.r.).
Indeclinable adjectives are also distinguished. For example: khaki pants.
Now you know the answer to the question of how many genders there are in the Russian language. We also analyzed their definition using examples. It is very important to be able to determine the gender of a noun or adjective - this will help to avoid grammatical errors.