Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Every noun is masculine or feminine, and there is no neuter. Masculine: galds (table), brālis (brother). Feminine: māja (house), upe (river).
How It Works
Look at the ending of the dictionary form:
- Masculine: -s (galds, table), -š (ceļš, road), -is (brālis, brother), -us (tirgus, market).
- Feminine: -a (māja, house), -e (upe, river), and a small group in -s (pils, castle).
The ending -s can belong to either gender, so learn the feminine ones as you meet them. Common ones are sirds (heart), nakts (night), pils (castle), zivs (fish), acs (eye), auss (ear) and uguns (fire). See feminine nouns in -s.
A few other surprises:
- ūdens (water), akmens (stone), rudens (autumn), mēness (moon) and suns (dog) are masculine and have their own case forms. See nouns like akmens and suns.
- puika (boy) ends in -a but is masculine: mazs puika. See masculine nouns in -a and -e.
- Nouns that never change their ending, such as kino (cinema), radio and auto (car), are usually masculine. See nouns that never change.
For people, gender matches the person. Most words for people come in pairs: students / studente, ārsts / ārste (doctor), skolotājs / skolotāja (teacher), draugs / draudzene (friend). A woman who is a doctor is always ārste. Surnames change too: Bērziņš for a man, Bērziņa for a woman. See job titles for women.
Gender shows up in the words around the noun. Adjectives and most numbers from one to nine agree with it: liels galds (a big table), liela māja (a big house), divi galdi (two tables), divas mājas (two houses). See adjective agreement.
The plural keeps the gender: galdi (tables) are masculine and mājas (houses) feminine. See plural nouns.
Examples (6)
- Galds ir liels.
The table is big.
Word by Word: Table is big.
Galds ends in -s and is masculine, so the adjective is liels.
- Māja ir liela.
The house is big.
Word by Word: House is big.
Māja ends in -a and is feminine, so the adjective is liela.
- Pils ir veca.
The castle is old.
Word by Word: Castle is old.
Pils ends in -s but is feminine, so the adjective is veca.
- Ūdens ir auksts.
The water is cold.
Word by Word: Water is cold.
Ūdens is masculine, so the adjective is auksts.
- Puika ir mazs.
The boy is little.
Word by Word: Boy is little.
Puika ends in -a but is masculine.
- Viņa ir ārste.
She's a doctor.
Word by Word: She is doctor.
A woman doctor is ārste. Ārsts is used for a man.
Common Mistakes
Treating every noun in -s as masculine.
Pils ir vecs.Pils ir veca.Pils belongs to a small group of feminine nouns in -s, so an adjective describing it takes a feminine ending.
Treating puika as feminine because it ends in -a.
Puika ir maza.Puika ir mazs.Puika means boy and is masculine, even though it ends in -a.
Using the masculine job word for a woman.
Viņa ir skolotājs.Viņa ir skolotāja.Words for people change with the person. A female teacher is skolotāja.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- Adjective Agreement
Make adjectives match the gender of their noun.
Level 1 - First Declension: -s, -šFirst Declension: Masculine -s and -š
Learn the largest group of masculine nouns.
Level 1 - Fourth Declension: -aFourth Declension: Nouns in -a
Learn the largest group of feminine nouns.
Level 1 - Sixth Declension: -sSixth Declension: Feminine -s
Meet the feminine nouns that end in -s.
Level 2 - Nouns Like akmens and suns
See the masculine nouns ūdens, akmens and suns.
Level 3 - Job Titles for Women
Name jobs and roles for women.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Masculine and Feminine Nouns in Bubblegum
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