Language/Standard-estonian/Grammar/Gender
Hi Standard Estonian learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will learn about the gender rules in Standard Estonian. We will look at the different genders, how to identify them and how to use them correctly. Let's get started!
Rules
Standard Estonian has three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The gender of a noun is usually indicated by the ending of the word. For example, the word for "book" is raamat, which is neuter. The word for "girl" is tüdruk, which is feminine.
The gender of a noun affects the form of the adjectives and verbs that are used with it. For example, the adjective ilus (beautiful) changes to ilus when used with a masculine noun, ilusa when used with a feminine noun, and ilusat when used with a neuter noun.
Examples
The table below shows some examples of nouns and their genders.
| Standard Estonian | Pronunciation | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| poiss | poi-ss | boy |
| tüdruk | ty-druk | girl |
| laps | laps | child |
| raamat | raa-mat | book |
| kass | kass | cat |
Practice
To improve your Standard Estonian Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!
Quiz
Test your knowledge of Standard Estonian gender rules with this quiz.
Questions
1. What is the gender of the word raamat? 2. What is the gender of the word poiss? 3. What is the gender of the word tüdruk? 4. How does the adjective ilus change when used with a masculine noun? 5. How does the adjective ilus change when used with a feminine noun?
Answers
1. Neuter 2. Masculine 3. Feminine 4. Ilus 5. Ilusa
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