1.2 Gender of Nouns (Masculine and Feminine)

1.2 Gender of Nouns (Masculine and Feminine)

In this module, you will continue to practice recognizing the masculine and feminine gender of nouns, both animate and inanimate.  You will also learn how to use the masculine and feminine forms for the numeral “one,” the possessive pronouns “my” and “your,” and the question word “what kind/which”.

Завдання 1

Read the short text below and note how even nouns that denote objects or concepts in Ukrainian have grammatical gender. Note also how you can tell the gender of these nouns by their endings, just like with animate nouns.

Приві́т! Я Е́ріка. Я америка́нка. Моя́ профе́сія – журналі́стка.
А це мій літа́к до Украї́ни. Моя́ адре́са там: Ки́їв, ву́лиця Го́спітальна, 12. Мій готе́ль – «Президе́нт».

Answer the following question about the text above.

Having arrived at her hotel in Kyiv, Erica is looking around her hotel room and unpacking. Provide the correct form of the possessive pronoun “my” to complete her comments.

Which of the comments above are about Erica’s hotel room?

Завдання 2

Erica is trying to find things in her luggage. Listen to the audio below to hear the first few words of the questions she asks herself as she looks for specific items. Choose the best word (both logically and grammatically) to complete each question.

 

Завдання 3

Look at the photo captions below and note how the numeral “one” changes depending upon the gender of the noun that it modifies.

coffee
оди́н чай
одна́ ка́ва

Complete the meal orders below using the bank of words provided. Pay careful attention to context when making your decisions on which word to use.

Завдання 4

Миха́йло cannot find his suitcase at the baggage claim area and is asked to provide a list of what is in it. Complete his list below by choosing the correct form of “one” from the pull-down menu.  Then answer the question that follows.

Ціка́во!

Some feminine nouns end in a consonant or a soft sign (-ь). These nouns are exceptions and have to be memorized.

Remember these common ones:

річ (‘thing’)
ніч (‘night’)
о́сінь (‘autumn/fall’)
моде́ль (‘model’)

A subgroup of these feminine nouns (denoting abstract concepts) end in a suffix –ість, which does not occur in masculine nouns:

націона́льність (‘nationality’)
мо́лодість (‘youth’)

Note, however, that the noun гість (‘guest’) is masculine. In this noun, –ість is not a suffix, but part of the root.

Завдання 5

Read the dialogues and note the masculine and feminine forms of the pronoun “your.” Note also that the question word “what kind/which” agrees in gender with the noun that is asked about.

  • Хто* твій гість?
  • Мій дя́дько. Він худо́жник.

* хто = “who”

  • Яка́* твоя́ націона́льність?
  • Я америка́нка.

*яка́ = “what kind, which”

Listen to the questions in the audio below and select the most appropriate response for each.

Now look at those responses again and mark all feminine nouns, pronouns, and numerals:

Мо́вний пазл

Look through the activities you have just completed and choose the correct statements below to summarize what you have learned.

А тепе́р тест!

Complete the brief dialogs below by filling in the missing words.  Then answer the question that follows.

Images courtesy of fotografierende, Aero Icarus, CoCreatr, Julius Schorzman