Gender of Slovak nouns

The three Slovak genders

In Slovak language we differentiate between three genders:  

1. masculine = mužský rod
2. feminine = ženský rod
3. neutral = stredný rod

How to identify the gender

As Slovak language does not have articles in front of the nouns, it is harder to remember the genders of the words. However here are 2 tips:

• look at the ending of the words (endings in infinitive will tell you what gender (or) model it has)
  • masculine nouns usually end with a consonant (chlapec, stôl, dej..)
  • feminine nouns usually end with -a (žena, ulica, sukňa..)
  • neutral nouns usually ends with -o or -nie (mesto, pero, vysvedčenie, behanie...)

However, this is only a general rule. To identify the gender you need to know the model of the noun - each gender has corresponding models. You can find more about this topic in Models of Slovak nouns.

You should also have in mind, that we distinguish between genders not only for people, but also for animals, things and actions..

Here are some examples:

Try our exercises to train your skills!