Ch 1 · Lesson 25Russian · Chapter 1 · Lesson 25 · Grammar primer
День, ночь, папа: the exceptions, and he or she for it
A soft sign can be either gender, so learn the word with it. and are men, so masculine. And a book is : Russian has no it.
The short version
A book is she, a table is he
? . (Gde kniga? Vot ona.)
Why?Hide
Russian has no word for it. A thing is , or according to its noun's gender. So where is the book? Here she is, because is feminine. It sounds odd for a week, then it sounds normal.
The soft sign: learn the gender with the word
A noun ending in -ь can be masculine or feminine, and nothing in the spelling tells you which.
| Masculine | English | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| day | | night |
| guest | | exercise book |
| dictionary | | door |
Learn every -ь noun with a word that shows its gender, and you will never have to guess:
One small help: after , ш, ч and щ, a final -ь means feminine, as in .
Папа and дядя: men in -а
Grammar follows meaning for people. (dad), (uncle), (grandad) and (man) end in -а or -я, but they are men, so they are masculine.
.- This is my dad..- This is my uncle.
my dad
my uncle
my grandad
a man
So , not . In the cases they still change their endings like , which is the only awkward part, and it can wait.
Он, она, оно: it takes the noun's gender
Russian has no separate word for it. A thing is , or , exactly as its noun is masculine, feminine or neuter.
| Question | Answer | English |
|---|---|---|
? | . | Where is the table? Here it is. |
? | . | Where is the book? Here it is. |
? | . | Where is the window? Here it is. |
Calling a table he and a book she sounds odd at first. After a week it sounds normal. Russian subject pronouns has the rest of the set.
Going further: The whole system on one screen and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
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Lesson 25 of 43 in this chapter