Understanding the Gender of Nouns in Romanian for English Speakers

What is Gender in Romanian Nouns?

In Romanian, every noun has a gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Unlike English, where gender is mostly natural (referring to living beings), Romanian assigns gender to all nouns, including inanimate objects. Understanding noun gender is essential because it affects the form of adjectives, pronouns, and verbs that relate to the noun.

The Three Genders in Romanian

Romanian nouns are categorized into three genders:

• Masculine (masculin)
• Feminine (feminin)
• Neuter (neutru)

Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns typically refer to male people or animals, but many inanimate objects are also masculine. They usually end in a consonant or the vowel -e in the singular form.

Examples of masculine nouns:

• băiat – boy
• frate – brother
• copac – tree
• telefon – telephone

Feminine Nouns

Feminine nouns often refer to female people or animals, but many objects are feminine as well. They usually end in -ă or -iune in the singular form.

Examples of feminine nouns:

• fată – girl
• soră – sister
• carte – book
• mașină – car

Neuter Nouns

Neuter nouns behave like masculine nouns in the singular and feminine nouns in the plural. They often end in a consonant or -e in the singular, but their plural endings are feminine.

Examples of neuter nouns:

• un birou (desk) – masculine singular
• două birouri (desks) – feminine plural
• un ou (egg) – masculine singular
• două ouă (eggs) – feminine plural

How to Identify the Gender of Romanian Nouns?

While there are some patterns, there are exceptions, so it is important to learn nouns with their articles or adjectives to remember their gender.

• Masculine nouns often end in a consonant or -e.
• Feminine nouns often end in -ă or -iune.
• Neuter nouns behave like masculine in singular and feminine in plural.
• Learn nouns with their definite articles: un (masculine), o (feminine).

Definite Articles and Gender

Romanian uses suffixes as definite articles, which change according to gender and number:

• Masculine singular: -ul (e.g., băiatul – the boy)
• Feminine singular: -a (e.g., fata – the girl)
• Neuter singular: behaves like masculine (e.g., biroul – the desk)
• Plural (all genders): -ii or -le depending on the noun

Examples of Nouns with Articles

Tips for English Speakers Learning Romanian Noun Genders

Since English does not assign gender to most nouns, Romanian learners should:

1. Memorize nouns with their articles to remember gender.
2. Practice with adjectives and pronouns to see gender agreement.
3. Use flashcards to reinforce masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns.
4. Listen to native speakers and repeat to internalize patterns.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Be careful not to assume gender based on English equivalents. For example, telefon (telephone) is masculine in Romanian, even though 'telephone' has no gender in English.