1.1.

Gender of Nouns in the Nominative Case (Hard Stem)

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 nouns. The gender of a noun is shown by it's ending.

 Masculine nouns are nouns end in a consonant (have Ø*

ending in the Nominative case): Иван, дом.
 Feminine nouns are nouns end in the vowel -а in the
Nominative case: Анна, лампа.
 Neuter nouns are nouns end in the vowel -о in the
Nominative case: окно.

* Ø stands for 'zero' - absence of an overt ending

We will agree to label masculine gender as м.р. (мужской

род), feminine gender as ж.р. (женский род), neuter gender
as ср.р. (средний род).

1.2. 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 replaces any masculine noun (Иван, дом

- он).
 The pronoun она replaces any feminine noun (Анна,
комната - она).
 The pronoun оно replaces any neuter noun (окно - оно).

Compare the following sentences in Russian and in English.

Note what Russian pronouns are used in place of English 'it'.
Click each statement to listen.
1. Это 1. This is Ivan. He is a
Иван. Он журналист. journalist.
2. Вот парк. Он слева. 2. This is a park. It is
 on the left.
3. Это 3. This is Tanya. She is
Таня. Она студентка. a student.
4. Это наша 4. This is our
школа. Она справа. school. It is on the
right.
5. Где письмо? - Вот оно. 5. Where is the letter? -
Here it is.
1.3. "The" and "a"
In Russian there are no words for "the" and "a".
So, журналист means either "the journalist" or "a
journalist"; письмо means either "the letter" or "a letter".

1.4. The Verb "to be" in the Present tense

In Russian the verb "to be" is not used in the present tense. In
English you would say: "He is a journalist"; "She is a student";
"Where is the letter? - Here it is", but in Russian you simply
say: Он журналист; Она студентка; Где письмо? - Вот оно!

1. Hard Stems and Soft Stems

Nouns of masculine, feminine and neuter gender have hard
stems or soft stems.

 Hard stem ends in a hard consonant: дом-Ø, ламп-а, окн-

о (final м, п, н are hard in these words).
 Soft stem ends in a soft consonant: словар-ь, песн-я,
мор-е (final р, н, р are soft in these words).

We learned earlier that a hard consonant is indicated by the

vowels а, о, у, э, ы; a soft consonant is indicated by the
vowels я, ё, ю, е, и and the soft sign ь.
If a paired consonant is the last letter in a word it is considered
hard (see Pronunciation and Spelling Guide for more details
and examples).
  Soft stems of masculine nouns are indicated by the
letters -й and -ь (soft sign): музей, словарь.
 Soft stems of feminine nouns are indicated by -я and -
ь: песня, дверь.
 Soft stems of neuter nouns are indicated by -ё and -
е: ружьё, море.

For the nouns that end in ь, you must learn their gender when
you learn the words. Feminine nouns that end in ь are labeled
as f.or ж., in the word lists and dictionaries, for
example: дверь ж. - door (if a noun that ends in ь has no
special label, it is masculine).
ж. (= женский род ) - f. (=feminine);

Compare the spelling and pronunciation of hard and soft stem

nouns. Click the words to listen.
Hard Soft
stem stem
Masculine
дом-Ø музе-й house, museum
словар- dictionary
ь
Feminine
ламп-а песн-я lamp, song
<="" p="" двер-ь door
style="vertical-
align: top;
margin-top:
0px; margin-
bottom: 0px;">
Neuter
окн-о ружь-ё window, gun
мор-е sea

2. Exceptions: Masculine or Feminine?

All nouns referring to men and boys are masculine, even though
 some of them end in -а or -я. For example: папа -
dad, дедушка - grandfather, дядя - uncle, and many men's and
boy's nicknames: Миша, Серёжа, Ваня, etc.

Exercises Упражнения
Vocabulary building: memorize the gender of
most common nouns that end in ь
Practice determining the gender of nouns
(focus on nouns that end in ь and exceptions)
Practice determining the gender of nouns
(focus on nouns that end in ь and exceptions)

1. Nominative Plural of Nouns

Это лампа. Это лампы.

Nominative singular is the main form of nouns and adjectives

(nouns and adjectives given in dictionaries are in the nominative
singular). You have seen the nominative singular of nouns in
sentences like: Это лампа. - This is a lamp; Это учебник.
- This is a textbook.
From this lesson you will learn how to say: These are lamps;
These are textbooks, i.e. how to make nouns plural. Remember
the rules below.

 To form the nominative plural of

most masculine and feminine nouns replace the
nominative singular ending by -ы for hard stems and -и for
soft stems.

Hard stem Soft stem

Singular -> Singular ->
 Plural Plural
Masculine
журнал - музей - музеи magazine(-s),
журналы museum(-s)
словарь - dictionary(-ies)
словари
Feminine
лампа - лампы песня - песни lamp(-s),
song(s)
дверь - двери door(-s)
Plural ending -
ы -и

 To form the nominative plural of neuter nouns replace the

nominative singular ending by -а for hard stems and -я for
soft stems:

Hard stem Soft stem

Singular -> Singular ->
Plural Plural
Neuter
письмо - ружьё - ружья letter(-s), gun(-
письма s)
платье - платья dress(-es)
Plural ending -
а -я

Notes

 Hard stem masculine nouns have zero ending (no ending),

so we simply add -ы to form the plural (in other words, we
replace zero by -ы): журналØ -> журналы.
 A soft stem is a stem that ends in a soft consonant. The
letter ь and the vowel letters я, е, ё, ю, и indicate that the
preceding consonant is soft. If there is no one of these six
letters at the end of the stem, we assume that the stem is
hard.
 When forming the nominative plural of nouns never break
 the 7-letter spelling rule: after г, к, х, ж, ш, щ, ч write -и ,
not -ы (no matter if the stem is hard or soft): книга -
книги (books), учебник - учебники (textbooks), стих -
стихи (poems), нож - ножи (knives), карандаш -
карандаши (pencils), etc.

 Some Russian nouns shift their accent (stress) in the

plural. Such words are marked in the dictionaries. Click the
following words to listen, pay attention to the stress shift in
the plural:

карандаш - pencil(s)
карандаши
словарь - dictionarie(s)
словари
письмо - letter(s)
письма
ружьё - ружья gun(s)
окно - окна window(s)

 Masculine nouns with stems that end in -ок or -ец lose the
vowels о, е whenever an ending is added. Compare the
singular and plural forms of nouns напиток (a drink),
подарок (a gift), огурец (a cucumber), канадец,
(Canadian).

напиток - drink(s)
напитки
подарок - gift(s)
подарки
огурец - огурцы cucumber(s)
канадец - canadian(s)
канадцы
 For some nouns denoting profession or occupation plurals
are formed from both masculine and feminine forms. Study
the usage of the plurals студенты and студентки:
 Том студент и Иван Инна студентка и Анна
студент. студентка.

Том и Иван студенты . Инна и

(A group of male Анна студентки .
students) (A group of female
students)
Том, Иван, Инна и Анна студенты.
(A group of male and female students)

Exercises Упражнения
Choose the correct ending for the nominative
plural of masculine and feminine nouns
Choose the correct ending for the nominative
plural of neuter nouns
Fill in the blanks with the correct plural endings
(masculine, feminine, neuter)
Fill in the blanks with the correct plural forms
(masculine nouns with stems in -ок or -ец )

1. Personal pronouns
Memorize Russian personal pronouns:

я I мы we
ты you вы you
он, она, оно (singular) они (plural)
he, she, it they

Study the usage of personal pronouns. Click the following

statements to listen, then read them aloud.
1. - Я студент. А 1. - I am a student.
 ты? And you?
2. - Я тоже студент. 2. - I am a student too.
3. - Мы студенты. А 3. - We are students.
вы? And you?
4. - Мы тоже 4. - We are students
студенты. too.
5. - Он студент. А 5. - He is a student.
она? And she?
6. - Она тоже 6. - She is a student
студентка. too.
7. - Где письмо? - 7. - Where is the
Вот оно! letter? - Here it is!
8. - Где студенты? - 8. - Where are
Вот они! students? - Here they
are!

Remember that the pronouns он and она are used to replace

not only animate nouns (such as a boy, a girl, a student, etc.),
but also inanimate (such as a house, a pencil, a pen , etc.).
Compare:
9. - Где карандаш? 9. - Where is the
- Вот он! pencil? - Here it is!
10. - Где ручка? - 10. - Where is the
Вот она! pen? - Here it is!

2. Pronouns ты and вы
In Russian there are two different words for you: ты and вы.

 Вы is used whenever you are speaking to more than one

person, or as a formal way of addressing one person. In a
formal letter the pronoun Вы is capitalized when used to
address one person on formal/polite terms.
 Ты is used whenever you are speaking informally to one
person only. You would use ты to address a child or a
friend.
 The younger generation prefer the less formal ты while
older people often feel more comfortable using Вы.
 Exercises Упражнения
Translate into Russian

1. Asking Whose?
Study the following dialogues. Note what Russian pronouns
correspond to English whose and my. Click each statement to
listen, then read aloud.
1. - Чей это 1.
карандаш?
- Это мой
карандаш.
- Whose pencil is
this?
- This
is my pencil.
2. - Чья это книга? 2.
- Это моя книга.
- Whose book is
this?
- This
is my book.
 3. - Чьё это 3.
письмо?
- Это моё
письмо.
- Whose letter is
this?
- This
is my letter.
4. - Чьи это книги? 4.
- Это мои книги.
- Whose books
are these?
- These
are my books.

As you can see, Russian has four different forms for

English whose and my. That is because Russian possessive
pronouns мой (my), твой (your, yours - sing.), наш (our,
ours), ваш (your, yours - pl.) and interrogative
pronoun чей? (whose?) agree with the nouns they modify in
gender and number. That means:

 мой, твой, наш, ваш are used to modify masculine nouns;

 моя, твоя, наша, ваша are used to modify feminine
nouns;
 моё, твоё, наше, ваше are used to modify neuter nouns;
 мои, твои, наши, ваши are used to modify plural nouns.

2. The Possessive Pronouns его, её, их.

Study the following dialogues. Note what Russian pronouns
correspond to English his. Click each statement to listen, then
read aloud.
1. - Чей это
карандаш?
- Это его
карандаш.
- Whose
pencil is
this?
- This
is his pencil.
2. - Чья это
книга?
- Это его
книга.
- Whose
book is this?
- This
is his book.
3. - Чьё это
письмо?
- Это его
письмо.
- Whose
letter is this?
- This
is his letter.
4. - Чьи это
книги?
- Это его
книги. *Note the pronunciation
- Whose of его - [йиво]!
books are
these?
- These
are his book
s.
Unlike the pronouns мой, твой, наш, ваш, the pronouns его*
(his, it's), её (her; hers, it's), их (their; theirs) never change their
form, no matter what noun they modify (masculine, feminine,
neuter, or plural).
Study the usage of the pronouns его, её, их:
 студент (он) -
это его карандаш, его книга, его письмо, его карандаш
 и, книги, письма;
 студентка (она) -
это её карандаш, её книга, её письмо, её карандаши,
книги, письма;
 студенты (они) -
это их карандаш, их книга, их письмо, их карандаши,
книги, письма.

The chart below lists all possessive pronouns:

whos my your( our(s your( his he thei Noun
e s) ) s) r r
Masculi чей мо твой наш ваш каранда
ne ? й твоя наш ваш ег е их ш
Feminin чья мо твоё а а о ё книга
e ? я твои наш ваш письмо
Neuter чьё мо е е книги
Plural ? ё наш ваш
чьи мо и и
? и

3. The Possessive Pronoun Ваш, ваш.

The possessive pronoun ваш (ваша, ваше, ваши) is used the
same way as the personal pronoun вы to address more then
one person or one person on formal/polite terms (in that case
Ваш, Ваша, Ваше, Ваши is capitalized). Compare:
1. - Таня, Оля, это - Tanya, Olya, is that
ваша кошка? your cat?
2. - Иван Петрович, это - Ivan Petrovich, is that
Ваша книга? your book?
3. - Анна Петровна, это - Anna Petrovna, are
Ваши дети? these your children?
*Петрович, Петровна - patronymic names
Exercises Упражнения
Practise using Possessive
Pronouns мой, твой, наш, ваш
Practise using Possessive Pronouns
его, её, их
Practise using Possessive Pronouns
мой, твой, наш, ваш, его, её, их
Translate into Russian