Feminine Nouns

Level 1

Feminine nouns usually end in -a. Some end in a consonant and still take feminine partners.

How It Works

Most feminine nouns end in -a.

  • People: sestra, majka, učiteljica
  • Things: kuća, kafa, knjiga, rijeka

A second, smaller group ends in a consonant: noć (night), stvar (thing), riječ (word), ljubav (love), pamet (mind). These nouns still behave as feminine, so you use velika stvar and moja riječ.

All nouns that end in -ost are feminine too: mladost (youth), radost (joy).

Be careful with tata (dad), Mirza and a few other words that name men. They end in -a but are masculine. A final -a is a strong clue, not a rule without exceptions.

Examples (5)

  1. Moja sestra pije kafu.

    My sister drinks coffee.

    Sestra ends in -a and takes moja.

  2. Kuća je velika.

    The house is big.

    The adjective ends in -a to match kuća.

  3. Noć je hladna.

    The night is cold.

    Noć ends in a consonant but is feminine.

  4. Riječ je nova.

    The word is new.

    Riječ is another feminine noun that ends in a consonant.

  5. Rijeka je široka.

    The river is wide.

    The adjective široka matches the feminine noun.

Common Mistakes

  • Treating a feminine consonant noun as masculine.

    Noć je hladan.
    Noć je hladna.

    Noć is feminine, so the adjective takes -a.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Feminine NounsLevel 1

Learn This First

Feminine nouns follow from knowing there are three genders.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

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