GENUL

SUBSTANTIVELOR
Romanian is the only Romance language that preserved al 3 genres from Latin:
masculine, feminine and neuter.

- Bun! Intr, te rog!

- Bun!
- mi cer scuze, este nc mult dezordine la mine: nclmintea e
pus aiurea, haine aruncate peste tot, vase nesplate, caiete i cri pe
scaune, cuierul e plin de paltoane, fulare, umbrele i cciuli, pe
fotoliu sunt vase i cni...sunt cutii peste tot. De-abia m-am mutat i
nu am avut timp s fac ordine prin lucruri.
- Nu-i face griji de asta sunt aici.
- Mulumesc mult de tot. Chiar mi-e greu de una singur. Vreau nti s
punem vasele n dulap, apoi hainele n ifonier. Apoi punem crile
n bibliotec.
- Bine. S trecem la treab!

GENUL
SUBSTANTIVELOR

Lexical meaning:

natural gender:
- brbat, biat, domn,
curcan, urs, coco etc.
professions:
- elev, student, profesor,
farmacist, croitor etc.
nationalities:
- romn, arab, bulgar
englez, grec etc.
all months:
- ianuarie, februarie etc.
most of the names of
trees:
- plop, castan, nuc, mr etc.
*But: magnolie, salcie
f.
Letters of the alphabet,
musical notes, names
of cars and planes,
numbers etc when they
are used as nouns.
- a, b, re,doi, patru, BMW
etc.

1-2 Test

Masculin

un biat doi biei

un brbat doi brbai
un frate doi frai
un copil doi copii
un ochi doi ochi

Endings:
consonants : brbat, doctor etc.

*But: borrowed proper names: Carmen, Lulu

-u (the majority) : fiu, ministru, socru, membru etc.
-i : ochi, rinichi, muchi, genunchi etc.
*But: days of the week luni, mari + the word zi
f.
-e (just 20%) : frate, cine, perete, rege, preedinte
*But: 80% are feminine carte, noapte, floare.
-o (not common, just +animate) : flamingo
*But: if they are objects
they are neuter radio

GENUL
SUBSTANTIVELOR

Lexical meaning:

natural gender:
- fat, femeie, doamn,
cmil, giraf, curc etc.
professions:
- elev, profesoar,
casnic, croitoreas etc.
nationalities:
-romnc, japonez,
italianc, arboaic etc.
all seasons & days:
- luni, mari, var, iarn
etc.
names of countries &
languages:
- Albania, Frana, Italia,
romn, spaniol etc.
*But: Maroc, Iran, Cipru,
Mexic
neuter.
names of fruits:
-par, prun, lmie,
nuc, cais etc.
*But: mr(n), ananas(m),
pepene(m), mango(n) etc.

1-2 Test:

Feminin

o fat dou fete

o femeie dou femei
o fiic dou fiice
o sor dou surori
o mn dou mini

Endings:
all nouns ending in : fat, mam, cas, mas etc.

*But: tat, pa, pop, pap m.

the diphthong -ie : femeie, statuie, lmie, foaie, oaie,
cheie etc.
*But: months of the year
m.
the hiatus i/e : cofetrie, farmacie, librrie, fotografie
etc.
-a : basma, pijama, sarma etc.
-ea : cafea, perdea, stea, saltea, osea etc.
-e (the majority) : scrisoare, facultate, floare etc.
-toare (+animate): dansatoare, muncitoare,
nvtoare etc.
suffixes: c, -oaic, -oare, -ere, -ire,-are, -i:
franuzoaic, sosire, plecare, linguri, favoare etc.

GENUL
SUBSTANTIVELOR

Lexical meaning:
Latin words who kept

their neuter gender.

words designating
inanimate objects.
monosyllabic words
(+inanimate):
- ou, pix, pod, cod, curs,
ceas, vis, lac, dar, bar etc.
polysyllabic words:
- caiet, apartament,
avion, popor etc.
some human body
parts:
- picior, cap, nas, deget
etc.
most of the words
borrowed from other
languages (especially
appliances):
- calculator, televizor,
telefon etc.

1-2 Test:

Neutru

un scaun dou scaune

un picior dou picioare
un liceu dou licee
un fluviu dou fluvii
un stilou dou stilouri

Endings:
consonants : scaun, picior, ifonier etc.
-iu : fluviu, premiu, acvariu etc.
-eu : muzeu, liceu, curcubeu, trofeu etc.
-ou: cadou, birou, cadou, stilou etc.
-u (just 20%) : exemplu, tetru, timbru, lucru etc.
-e (invariable) : nume, prenume, pronume,
renume.