Masculine Nouns in -a

Masculine Nouns with -a

Level 3

Tata is masculine even though its cases resemble žena.

How It Works

For a male colleague, say moj kolega. The case series includes kolega, kolege, kolegi, kolegu and kolegom. Agreement and noun-declension class are separate choices.

With tata, compare tata je došao and vidim tatu. Masculine došao describes the father; the accusative noun still ends in -u.

Agreement in the plural and with nouns that can describe people of different genders requires attention to the particular noun and referent. This pattern is not a rule that every noun ending in -a is masculine.

Examples (3)

  1. Moj tata kuha.

    My dad is cooking.

    Moj is masculine singular.

  2. Čekam kolegu.

    I am waiting for a male colleague.

    The accusative of kolega is kolegu.

  3. Razgovaram s tatom.

    I am talking with my dad.

    The instrumental follows the -a noun pattern.

How It Connects

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

Masculine Nouns in -aLevel 3Masculine Nouns with -a

Learn This First

Masculine -a nouns share endings with common feminine nouns but require different gender agreement.