A0 · Nullpunkt Kapitel 3

Meeting the Nouns

4 Gesamtregeln
40 Beispiele
1 Min.
Regeln in diesem Kapitel Schnelle Übung

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Unlock the building blocks of Russian by mastering noun gender, animacy, and basic plurals.

  • Categorize nouns into masculine, feminine, and neuter genders.
  • Distinguish between living people and inanimate objects.
  • Form simple plurals to describe the world around you.
Mastering the identity of every Russian object.

Was du lernen wirst

Introduction to basic noun gender and the concept of animate vs inanimate. Building a foundational vocabulary of common objects.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: correctly identify the gender of common household objects.
  2. 2
    By the end you will be able to: use 'Это' to introduce people and things.

Wichtige Beispiele (8)

1

Этот телефон очень старый.

This phone is very old.

Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?
2

Моя пицца холодная.

My pizza is cold.

Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?
3

Я вижу `друга`.

I see a friend.

Belebte vs. unbelebte Substantive (Belebtheit)
4

Я вижу `телефон`.

I see a phone.

Belebte vs. unbelebte Substantive (Belebtheit)
5

Мои друзья сейчас в кино.

My friends are at the cinema now.

Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)
6

Я люблю эти фотографии!

I love these photos!

Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)
7

Это мой телефон.

This is my phone.

Russisch 'Das ist': Das Zauberwort 'Это' (Eto)
8

Это Москва.

This is Moscow.

Russisch 'Das ist': Das Zauberwort 'Это' (Eto)

Tipps & Tricks (4)

💡

The Soft Sign Rule

If a word ends in 'ь', look it up immediately. Don't guess. Write it down with 'он' (he) or 'она' (she) to remember.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?
🎯

The Face Rule

If it has eyes and a mouth (like a doll or a chess king), Russian usually treats it as animate, even if it's plastic!
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Belebte vs. unbelebte Substantive (Belebtheit)
💡

The 'Stomach Kick' Mnemonic

To remember the sound of -ы, imagine someone just kicked you in the stomach. That 'ugh' sound is exactly what -ы sounds like. It's the 'hard' plural.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)
💡

The Finger Rule

If you can physically point your finger at it while saying it, you should probably use 'Это'.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russisch 'Das ist': Das Zauberwort 'Это' (Eto)

Wichtige Vokabeln (5)

стол table (masc) книга book (fem) окно window (neut) друг friend (animate) это this is

Real-World Preview

book-open

At the Library

Review Summary

  • M: cons, F: -а/-я, N: -о/-е
  • Это + Noun

Häufige Fehler

Nouns ending in -а are feminine. Remember the -а rule.

Wrong: Это книга (masculine)
Richtig: Это книга (feminine)

Tables cannot be animate. Only living creatures are animate.

Wrong: Это столы (animate)
Richtig: Это столы (inanimate)

You don't need the verb 'to be' in Russian present tense.

Wrong: Это есть книга
Richtig: Это книга

Next Steps

You've mastered the foundation. Keep going, the language is opening up to you!

Label your furniture with sticky notes

Continue to: Everyday Actions — Your First Verbs

Schnelle Übung (10)

Which word is animate?

Choose the animate noun from the list:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: собака (dog)
Animals are always animate. Trees and tables are inanimate.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Belebte vs. unbelebte Substantive (Belebtheit)

Find the mistake

Find and fix the mistake:

Russian biology: Is a 'flower' (цветок) animate?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: No, it is inanimate.
Grammatically, plants are inanimate in Russian.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Belebte vs. unbelebte Substantive (Belebtheit)

Which sentence correctly asks 'Is this a taxi?'

Choose the correct question:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Это такси?
Russian doesn't use the verb 'is' in this context, and 'Это' is the correct pronoun for identification.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russisch 'Das ist': Das Zauberwort 'Это' (Eto)

Find the mistake in this sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Мой пицца вкусная.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Моя пицца вкусная.
'Пицца' is feminine, so 'my' must be 'моя'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?

Find and fix the mistake in the sentence: 'Эта мой друг.'

Find and fix the mistake:

Эта мой друг.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Это мой друг.
Even if 'друг' (friend) is masculine, the phrase 'This is...' always uses the neutral form 'Это'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russisch 'Das ist': Das Zauberwort 'Это' (Eto)

Change the word in brackets to its plural form.

У меня есть новые (билет) ___.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: билеты
Билет is masculine and ends in a hard consonant, so we add -ы.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)

Which is the correct plural of 'окно' (window)?

Выберите правильную форму:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: окна
Neuter nouns ending in -о change to -а in the plural.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)

Identify the gender of 'окно' (window).

The word 'окно' is ___.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Neuter
Words ending in 'о' are neuter.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?

What is the gender of the word 'студент' (student)?

Choose the correct gender for 'студент':

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Masculine
It ends in the consonant 'т', which makes it masculine.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Nomen-Geschlechter: Er, Sie oder Es?

Find the mistake and choose the correct plural form.

Find and fix the mistake:

В этом районе есть красивые паркы.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: парки
Because of the 'Sensitive Seven' rule, 'к' must be followed by 'и', not 'ы'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Russische Plurale: Mehr als eins (-ы, -и)

Score: /10

Häufige Fragen (6)

It determines how adjectives and verbs behave. If you get the gender wrong, your whole sentence will sound slightly 'off' to a native speaker.
It is for nouns that aren't masculine or feminine. They usually end in -о or -е, like 'окно' (window) or 'поле' (field).
Yes! A ghost (привидение) or a dead person (покойник) is considered animate because they represent a human being.
Yes, all insects like муха (fly) or паук (spider) are animate. You ask 'Кто это?' (Who is this?) about them.
Look at the ending! Consonants are usually masculine, -а/-я are feminine, and -о/-е are neuter. If it ends in a soft sign (-ь), you just have to memorize the gender.
It often shifts! For example, 'рукА' (hand) becomes 'рУки' (hands). There isn't a single rule for this, so listen to native speakers or check a dictionary.
Vorheriges Kapitel
Me, Myself & I — Talking About You
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Everyday Actions — Your First Verbs
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