Noun Gender
Belarusian nouns have three genders: мой стол (masculine), мая кніга (feminine), маё акно (neuter).
How It Works
Typical endings.
- Masculine: a consonant, -ь or -й: стол, дзень, чай. See masculine nouns.
- Feminine: -а or -я: кніга, зямля; and some nouns in a soft consonant or ж, ш, ч: ноч, соль. See feminine nouns.
- Neuter: stressed -о or -ё: акно, жыццё. See neuter nouns.
The akanye trap. Because of akanye, an unstressed neuter -о is written -а: мора (sea), слова (word), лета (summer). These look feminine but are neuter: Мора было цёплае. (The sea was warm.)
Meaning wins for people. A few nouns for men end in -а but are masculine: мой бацька (my father), мужчына (man). See masculine nouns in -а.
What agrees with gender.
- adjectives: новы дом, новая кніга, новае акно (adjective agreement)
- possessives: мой, мая, маё (мой and твой)
- pronouns: ён, яна, яно (third-person pronouns)
- past-tense verbs: стол стаяў, кніга ляжала, акно было
Belarusian is not Russian here. Some nouns have a different gender from their Russian look-alikes. For example, боль (pain), медаль (medal) and цень (shadow) are masculine in Belarusian. Learn the gender with each new noun.
In the plural there is no gender difference: мае кнігі, мае сталы.
Examples (6)
- Гэта мой стол.
This is my table.
Word by Word: This my table.
Стол ends in a consonant, so it is masculine: мой.
- Гэта мая кніга.
This is my book.
Word by Word: This my book.
Кніга ends in -а and is feminine: мая.
- Гэта маё акно.
This is my window.
Word by Word: This my window.
Акно ends in stressed -о and is neuter: маё.
- Мора было цёплае.
The sea was warm.
Word by Word: Sea was warm.
Мора ends in -а only because of akanye; it is neuter.
- Мой бацька працуе ў школе.
My father works at a school.
Word by Word: My father works in school.
Бацька ends in -а but is masculine.
- Ноч была доўгая.
The night was long.
Word by Word: Night was long.
Ноч ends in a consonant but is feminine.
Common Mistakes
Treating a neuter noun in unstressed -а as feminine.
Мора была цёплая.Мора было цёплае.Мора is neuter; its -а comes from akanye. The verb and adjective need neuter endings: было, цёплае.
Giving a masculine noun in -а feminine agreement.
Мая бацька працуе.Мой бацька працуе.Бацька means father, so it is masculine despite the -а ending.
Copying the gender of a Russian look-alike noun.
Моцная боль прайшла.Моцны боль прайшоў.In Belarusian боль is masculine, so the adjective and the past-tense verb take masculine endings.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- Masculine Nouns
Endings and examples of masculine nouns.
Level 1 - Feminine Nouns
Endings and examples of feminine nouns.
Level 1 - Neuter Nouns
Endings of neuter nouns, including unstressed -а and -е.
Level 1 - Adjective Agreement
Adjectives agree with the noun's gender.
Level 1 - Masculine Nouns in -аMasculine Nouns Ending in -а
Nouns like бацька that are masculine despite -а.
Level 3 - Akanye: Unstressed о and э Written as а
Explains why some neuter nouns end in -а.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Noun Gender in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Belarusian lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
