In this post, we’ll learn words ending in the soft sign [ь].
| Russian has 3 genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Luckily, identifying a noun’s gender is quite easy – the ending indicates it. |
This, however, is not the case for nouns ending in –ь. Identifying the gender for such nouns is not easy.
Thankfully there is some good news: these nouns can only be either masculine or feminine.
More good news: I have compiled a list for you. It is not a complete list, but it is pretty extensive.
| Masculine |
First, some helpful hints…
| All months of the year are masculine [most end in the soft sign] ex. январь [January], февраль [February], апрель [April], etc. |
| If a noun denotes a masculine person, then it’s masculine. ex. парень [boy], учитель [male teacher], писатель [male writer], читатель [male reader], мечтатель [male dreamer], etc. |
| Compound words with a masculine word as the base, maintain the gender. ex. день [day], thus полдень [noon] is the same gender. |
| дождь | rain |
| алкоголь | alcohol |
| руль | steering wheel |
| день | day |
| ноготь | nail |
| локоть | elbow |
| коготь | claw |
| корень | root |
| олень | deer |
| камень | stone |
| гость | guest |
| конь | horse [male] |
| медведь | bear |
| лосось | salmon |
| картофель | potato, potatoes |
| огонь | fire |
| портфель | wallet |
| Кремль | Kremlin |
| словарь | dictionary |
| корабль | boat |
| ремень | belt |
| червь | worm |
| зверь | beast |
| уголь | coal |
| спектакль | spectacle |
| стиль | style |
| календарь | calendar |
| кабель | cable |
| путь | path |
| имбирь | ginger [spice] |
| Feminine |
First, some helpful hints…
| If a noun denotes a feminine person, then it’s feminine. ex. мать [mother], дочь [daughter], etc. |
| Compound words with a feminine word as the base, maintain the gender. ex. ночь [night], thus полночь [midnight] is the same gender. |
| The majority of nouns ending in the soft sign are feminine. |
| любовь | love |
| суть | essence |
| прибыль | profit |
| роль | role |
| обувь | footwear |
| вещь | thing |
| кость | bone |
| челюсть | jaw |
| ветвь | branch |
| сеть | net |
| кисть | paintbrush |
| речь | speech |
| церковь | church |
| кровать | bed |
| постель | bed |
| боль | pain |
| бровь | eyebrow |
| страсть | passion |
| форель | trout |
| власть | power |
| болезнь | sickness, illness |
| боязнь | fear |
| грудь | chest |
| соль | salt |
| ночь | night |
| жизнь | life |
| очередь | line |
| кровь | blood |
| цель | goal, target |
| осень | fall, autumn |
| дверь | door |
| помощь | help |
| ладонь | palm [of the hand] |
| лошадь | horse [female] |
| моль | moth |
| марковь | carrot |
| Сибирь | Siberia |
| площадь | square, plaza |
| ложь | lie |
| сыпь | rash |
| тетрадь | workbook; notebook |
| реальность | reality |
| скорость | speed |
| гордость | pride |
| мышь | mouse |
| мысль | thought |
| песнь | canto [poem] |
| радость | delight |
| скатерть | tablecloth |
| степень | degree |
| тень | shade; shadow |
| смерть | death |
| деталь | detail |
| память | memory |
| мебель | furniture |
| Беларусь | Belarus |
| цепь | chain |
| треть | third [of a whole] |
| четверть | quarter [of a whole] |
| There is a good reason for knowing the correct gender for these nouns. They decline differently! These nouns are both in the prepositional case. Она родилась и выросла в Сибири. She was born and raised in Siberia. Этого глагола в словаре нет. This verb isn’t in the dictionary. |
I think that clarifies things quite a bit. I don’t have much else to say here, which is why I will sign off for now. See you soon!
| Last Edit: 01/02/2026. |
My Slavic Studies 