Look at the last letter of the word. For the large majority of nouns, that gives you the gender. Ends in a consonant? Usually masculine. Ends in -a? Usually feminine. Ends in -o or -e? Usually neuter. Learn the pattern first, then notice the common words that break it.
Published 9 July 2026 · Updated 11 September 2026
Gender can look like a memorisation problem, especially if your reference point is German and its der/die/das. Serbian and Montenegrin give you more help: the final letter predicts the gender of most nouns. Once you learn the common exceptions, gender becomes something you can often read off the page rather than memorise separately for every word.
Here's the same rule laid out with a little more room, and a column for the word you'll actually hang the gender on — the adjective:
| Ends in… | Gender | Examples | With "good" |
|---|---|---|---|
| a consonant | usually masculine | grad, stan, prozor | dobar grad |
| -a | usually feminine | kuća, voda, žena | dobra kuća |
| -o / -e | usually neuter | selo, more, pivo | dobro pivo |
Gender isn't decoration. It's the hinge the rest of the sentence swings on. An adjective has to match its noun, so "good" changes shape three ways: dobar grad (a good city), dobra kuća (a good house), dobro pivo (a good beer). The past tense does the same — a man says bio sam (I was), a woman says bila sam. Possessives too: moj, moja, moje all mean "my", picked by the gender of the thing owned (that's the whole story in our guide to Serbian possessive adjectives). Get the noun's gender right and every word that leans on it lines up. Get it wrong and a native speaker still understands you, but it grates the way saying "a good houses" grates in English.
The ending pattern has exceptions worth learning early. Some common feminine nouns end in a consonant, not -a: noć (night), stvar (thing), ljubav (love), krv (blood). They look masculine if you apply only the basic ending rule, but they take feminine agreement. Learn them in phrases as you meet them.
Some masculine nouns also end in -a, including tata (dad) and deda (grandpa). Male names such as Nikola and Luka likewise take masculine agreement even though the usual ending pattern points to feminine.
| Looks like… | Actually… | Words to know |
|---|---|---|
| ends in a consonant (so "masculine") | feminine | noć, stvar, ljubav, krv, reč — mostly abstract words |
| ends in -a (so "feminine") | masculine for these examples | tata, deda; male names like Luka, Nikola |
| ends in -o (so "neuter") | a few are masculine | auto (car); male names like Marko follow the person |
These examples show why the ending rule is a strong first guess rather than a law. Use it for unfamiliar nouns, but learn common exceptions with an agreeing adjective so their gender is visible.
If your English instinct gives the sea a gender, ignore it: more ends in -e and is neuter. Let the Serbian or Montenegrin form lead.
Don't sit and memorise gender lists — that's the German habit this language lets you drop. Learn each new noun inside a tiny phrase with an adjective attached: not grad but stari grad (the old town), not kuća but bijela kuća (a white house). The adjective ending stamps the gender in for you, and you're rehearsing the agreement at the same time. Two jobs, one flashcard. After a few weeks the endings sort themselves, and you'll find you can guess the gender of a word you've never seen — because you're reading it, not recalling it.
Guess the gender from the ending. Watch for the two that are hiding.
If you want the agreement drilled properly, the next things to learn are the cases, where these same endings start shifting for a reason. Our guide to the accusative case picks up right where gender leaves off, and the genitive is the busy one you'll meet everywhere. Gender first, though — it's the foundation the cases are built on.
How do I know if a Serbian or Montenegrin noun is masculine, feminine or neuter? Look at the last letter of the dictionary form. A consonant is usually masculine, -a is usually feminine, and -o or -e is usually neuter. That covers the large majority of nouns; common exceptions are worth learning early.
Which common nouns break the ending rule? Some common feminine nouns end in a consonant: noć (night), stvar (thing), ljubav (love) and reč (word). Some masculine nouns end in -a, including tata (dad) and deda (grandpa), and male names such as Luka and Nikola also take masculine agreement.
Why does noun gender even matter? Adjectives, past-tense verbs and possessives all change their ending to agree with the noun's gender. Get the gender right and the words around it fall into place; get it wrong and a native speaker will usually still understand you, but it can sound jarring.
In the app, every noun the fox teaches you comes wrapped in a real sentence with its gender already agreeing, so you absorb the pattern instead of memorising a chart. Try a lesson and watch how fast the endings start to feel obvious.