Noun Gender

Level 1Sounds Like rod na imenkite: maški; ženski; sreden

Every Macedonian noun has a gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. You can usually tell from the last letter: град, жена, село.

How It Works

The three genders.

  • Masculine – usually ends in a consonant: град, брат, стол → нов град, градот. See Masculine Nouns Ending in a Consonant.
  • Feminine – usually ends in -а: жена, куќа, книга → нова куќа, куќата. See Feminine Nouns Ending in A.
  • Neuter – usually ends in -о or -е: село, море, дете → ново село, селото. See Neuter Nouns.

What follows the gender. Adjectives change their ending (see Adjective Agreement), and so do еден, една, едно (see One and A) and the article (see The Definite Article).

Gender is grammar. It does not always match meaning: девојче (girl) is neuter because it ends in -е.

A few exceptions. Some nouns ending in a consonant are feminine, such as ноќ (night) and радост (joy): see Feminine Nouns Ending in a Consonant. A few nouns for men end in -а or -о but are masculine, such as татко (father): see Masculine Nouns in A and O.

Tip. Learn each new noun together with an adjective or its article, such as нова куќа or ноќта.

Examples (6)

  1. Ова е нов град.

    This is a new city.

    Град is masculine, so the adjective is нов.

  2. Ова е нова куќа.

    This is a new house.

    Куќа is feminine, so the adjective is нова.

  3. Ова е ново село.

    This is a new village.

    Село is neuter, so the adjective is ново.

  4. Жената е од Струга.

    The woman is from Struga.

  5. Детето е мало.

    The child is small.

  6. Имам еден брат и една сестра.

    I have one brother and one sister.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the masculine adjective with a feminine noun.

    нов куќа
    нова куќа

    Куќа ends in -а and is feminine, so the adjective ends in -а too.

  • Leaving an adjective in the masculine after a neuter noun.

    Детето е мал.
    Детето е мало.

    Дете is neuter, so an adjective after е also takes the neuter ending -о.

  • Using the masculine number one with a neuter noun.

    еден село
    едно село

    Село is neuter, so it takes едно.

How It Connects

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Noun GenderLevel 1

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