Thread: Oh my oh my Nouns and endings

Surely there has to be a simpler way of remembering Masculine Fem and Neuture endings for Nouns.

I am reading a recommended (off this forum) Russian text book but I am really struggling with the various endings when coming across the various genders. Is it really a matter of practice and practice or is there a simpler way to remember/understand. Or are some people just not cut out for Languages. blimey English was never this hard

If anyone has any suggestions in respect of making not neccesarily easier but just maybe a different tack I would appreciate your input as at the moment my studies have hit a brick wall.

There are a few basic definitions, but often you have to memorize. Off the top of my head:

Looking at the nom. singular form of a noun:

All nouns ending in -o or -e are neuter.

Almost all nouns ending in -a or -я are feminine

Nouns ending in a "hard" consonant are masculine
(б в г д з к л м н п р с т ф х ц )

Nouns ending in other consonants you have to memorize (ж ч ш щ), including the "soft sign" ь.

But certain suffixes, or word-forming morphemes are feminine, for example -ность (-ness).

What textbook are you using? I am surprised it does not explain some of these things. Usually there is a chart of some kind.

Originally Posted by chaika

Nouns ending in other consonants you have to memorize (ж ч ш щ), including the "soft sign" ь.

I don't remember the rule (maybe there are exceptions of some kind), but I'm pretty sure that nouns ending in ж, ч, ш, щ are mаsculine, and nouns ending in жь, чь, шь, щь (i.e. /ж, ч, ш, щ/ + ь) are feminine:
нож, меч, куш, плащ - mаsculinе
рожь, ночь, глушь, мощь - feminine

Originally Posted by ang12el

Surely there has to be a simpler way of remembering Masculine Fem and Neuture endings for Nouns.

I am reading a recommended (off this forum) Russian text book but I am really struggling with the various endings when coming across the various genders. Is it really a matter of practice and practice or is there a simpler way to remember/understand. Or are some people just not cut out for Languages. blimey English was never this hard

If anyone has any suggestions in respect of making not neccesarily easier but just maybe a different tack I would appreciate your input as at the moment my studies have hit a brick wall.

Are you talking about the different ending of nouns in the nominative case or in all cases?

The key is to not go too fast. Make sure you are confident with the endings of one gender before moving on to the others.