What gender is the word dog in Russian? - briefly
The Russian word for "dog," which is "собака," is feminine. This means that any adjectives or pronouns used to describe it will be in their feminine form.
What gender is the word dog in Russian? - in detail
In the Russian language, nouns are assigned a grammatical gender, which can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. The gender of a noun often correlates with its ending but not always consistently. When it comes to the word "собака" (dog), it falls into the category of feminine nouns. This is evident from the ending "-а," which is typically associated with feminine gender in Russian.
To further illustrate this, let's consider some related words and their grammatical agreement:
- The possessive adjective "моя" (my) changes to "мой" when referring to a masculine noun, but it remains "моя" for feminine nouns. For example, "моя собака" (my dog).
- Similarly, the demonstrative pronoun "этот" (this) changes to "эта" for feminine nouns. Thus, "эта собака" is used to refer to a female dog.
In addition, when referring to dogs in general or using the word as an unspecified term, it remains in the feminine form. For instance, "Собаки любят выгулы" (Dogs love walks), where "собаки" is used in the plural form with the same feminine ending "-и."
It's also worth noting that while some languages differentiate between male and female animals, Russian does not make this distinction for many words. For example, whether referring to a male or female dog, the word "собака" remains unchanged. The context usually provides enough information for understanding without requiring grammatical changes based on gender.
In summary, the word "собака" (dog) in Russian is grammatically feminine, as indicated by its ending "-а." This gender assignment affects the agreement of related words and phrases, ensuring consistent usage throughout the language.