Lesson 26. What is grammatical gender
We already know a lot of Serbian words. Starting today we will study them like scientists. The first step is gender.
What gender is
In Serbian (just like in Russian) every noun (a word that names a thing, a person, or an animal) belongs to one of three genders.
How to tell the gender
Almost always you can figure out the gender from the last letter of the word:
| Ends in… | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| a consonant | masculine | brat, sto, hleb, grad |
| -a | feminine | mama, knjiga, škola |
| -o or -e | neuter | more, selo, dete |
The exceptions — there are only a few
Remember two small groups of exceptions.
“Masculine” words ending in -a. They name male people or are male names:
“Feminine” words ending in a consonant. They usually end in -ost or something similar:
Why you need to know the gender
You need the gender in order to match other words to it:
- Possessive pronoun:
moj brat,moja sestra,moje more. - Adjective:
crven auto,crvena jabuka,crveno sunce. - Verb in the past tense (later on):
bio je,bila je,bilo je.
If you put a word in the wrong gender, a native speaker will immediately hear “a foreigner”.
Exercises
Exercise 1
What gender is sestra?
Show explanation
sestra ends in -a → feminine.
Exercise 2
What gender is more?
Show explanation
more ends in -e → neuter.
Exercise 3
What gender is tata?
Show explanation
Even though tata ends in -a, this is an exception: masculine (because of the meaning — dad).
Exercise 4
Sort these words into three groups by gender: brat, mama, knjiga, more, grad, dete, škola, hleb.
Show answer
m.: brat, grad, hleb. f.: mama, knjiga, škola. n.: more, dete.
Exercise 5
How would you figure out the gender of an unfamiliar word cveća (without asking anyone)?
Show answer
Look at the ending. -a → most likely feminine. (If it ended in a consonant — masculine, in -o/-e — neuter.)
Lesson vocabulary
- rod (род)
- — gender
- imenica (именица)
- — noun
- muški rod (мушки род)
- — masculine gender
- ženski rod (женски род)
- — feminine gender
- srednji rod (средњи род)
- — neuter gender
- selo (село)
- — village
- reč (реч)
- — word
- auto (ауто)
- — car