Language/Croatian/Grammar/Gender-in-Croatian
As a Croatian language teacher, I’ve noticed that one of the trickiest parts of the Croatian language for foreign learners is the gender system. In this lesson, we’ll cover everything you need to know about the three genders in Croatian: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
What are genders in Croatian?
In Croatian, like in many other Slavic languages, every noun has a gender. They are classified into three categories: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Knowing the gender of a noun is important because it affects the way adjectives, pronouns, and verbs agree with it.
Masculine gender
Masculine gender is assigned to nouns referring to male humans or animals, as well as many inanimate objects. The masculine gender usually ends in -o, -e, -in, -an or consonants, but there are many exceptions.
Examples:
| Croatian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| muškarac | muʃkârat͡s | man |
| pas | pâːs | dog |
| vrtić | ʋr̩̂tiːt͡ɕ | kindergarten |
| novinar | nôʋinar | journalist |
Note that many words that end in -a are actually masculine, not feminine.
Feminine gender
The feminine gender is assigned to nouns referring to female humans or animals, some professions, and many inanimate objects. The feminine gender usually ends in -a or -i, but again, there are many exceptions.
Examples:
| Croatian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| žena | ʒěna | woman |
| kuća | kût͡ʃa | house |
| knjiga | kńiːɡa | book |
| majka | mâjka | mother |
Neuter gender
The neuter gender is assigned to nouns referring to things, concepts, and some animals. The neuter gender usually ends in -o, -e, or -je.
Examples:
| Croatian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| dijete | d͡ʑîːjɛtɛ | child |
| more | môːrɛ | sea |
| jaje | jâjɛ | egg |
| slovo | slôʋɔ | letter (of the alphabet) |
Some words can have different gender depending on the context:
| Croatian | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| radio | rádijɔ | radio (device), masculine; radio (station), neuter |
| zebra | zêbra | zebra (animal), feminine; zebra (crossing), neuter |
Irregularities
There are numerous exceptions to the rules for gender assignment. This can be frustrating for learners who are trying to memorize the gender of every noun. Here are some irregularities to be aware of:
- Some nouns change gender depending on the plural form (e.g. "zubi" (teeth) is masculine, but "zubalo" (set of teeth) is neuter). - Some nouns have different genders in different dialects or spoken registers (e.g. "gramofon" is masculine in standard Croatian, but neuter in some regional dialects). - A small number of nouns can be both masculine and feminine (e.g. "čovjek" (person) is masculine when referring to a male, but feminine when referring to a female). - Some nouns have ambiguous or unclear gender, especially loanwords from other languages (e.g. "taksi" (taxi) can be masculine or neuter).
Conclusion
That's all for now on the basics of gender in Croatian. While it can be challenging to learn all the gender patterns and exceptions, it's an important part of mastering the language. Keep practicing and you'll get the hang of it!
Sources
- Learn The Grammatical Croatian Genders: Masculine, Feminine ...
- Gender and plural in Croatian | coLanguage
- General rules for noun gender in Croatian
- Serbo-Croatian grammar - Wikipedia
Videos
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Grammar: Gender of Nouns - YouTube
Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Grammar: Gender and Number of ...
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