Language/Somali/Grammar/Gender

Somali Grammar - Gender

Hi Somali learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about the gender rules in Somali. We will look at the different genders and how to identify them. We will also look at some examples and practice using the gender rules. Finally, we will have a quiz to test your understanding.

Rules

In Somali, there are three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. The gender of a noun is usually determined by its ending.

Masculine nouns usually end in -a or -e. For example, the word for "teacher" is macallin, which is masculine.

Feminine nouns usually end in -o or -ee. For example, the word for "student" is arday, which is feminine.

Neuter nouns usually end in -i. For example, the word for "book" is buug, which is neuter.

There are some exceptions to these rules, so it is important to learn the gender of each noun.

Examples

The following table shows some examples of nouns and their genders.

Somali	Pronunciation	English Translation	Gender
macallin	mɑkɑlːin	teacher	Masculine
arday	ɑrdɑj	student	Feminine
buug	buːg	book	Neuter
guri	guːri	house	Masculine
caruur	cɑruːr	children	Feminine
sheeko	ʃeːko	story	Neuter

Practice

To improve your Somali Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

Quiz

Test your understanding of Somali gender rules with the following quiz.

Questions

1. What are the three genders in Somali?
2. What is the gender of the word macallin?
3. What is the gender of the word arday?
4. What is the gender of the word buug?

Answers

1. Masculine, feminine, and neuter
2. Masculine
3. Feminine
4. Neuter

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Related Lessons

• Adjectives
• Nouns
• Possession
• Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Adverbs
• Questions
• Conditional Mood
• Future Tense