Lesson 14 - Some notes on nouns' gender

Nouns ending with -Ь can be either feminine or masculine in gender. You should remember the gender of some of these nouns by heart.

The best advise i can give when determining the gender of the nouns that ends with «Ь» is to listen to the sound of the word. Normally feminine ones sound just a little softer.

The following table lists a few nouns for your reference.

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Masculine gender

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Feminine gender

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гостЬ

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медалЬ

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огонЬ

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солЬ

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словарЬ

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кроватЬ

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денЬ

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тетрадЬ

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паренЬ

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ночЬ

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дождЬ

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дочЬ

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рублЬ

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осенЬ

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голубЬ

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дверЬ

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коренЬ

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матЬ

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пенЬ

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жизнЬ

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календарЬ

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лошадЬ

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портфелЬ

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нефтЬ

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кораблЬ

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цепЬ

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рублЬ

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площадЬ

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The good news is that nouns ending in -Ь are relatively rare in Russian.

In addition, most of them are masculine if they end in -ТЕЛЬ and feminine if they end in -ОСТЬ as shown in the table below.

The feminine nouns ending in -ОСТЬ often name abstract concepts such as courage, speed, poverty, etc.

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Masculine gender

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Feminine gender

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учиТЕЛЬ

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новОСТЬ

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порТЕЛЬ

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скорОСТЬ

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зриТЕЛЬ

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молодОСТЬ

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двигаТЕЛЬ

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беднОСТЬ

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You will notice even more exceptions as you progress with your Russian studies. For example, the nouns времЯ and имЯ are neuter instead of being feminine. Should you come across a noun whose gender is a mystery to you, you can always refer to your Russian dictionary.