5.4 - Hard, soft and mixed
Not only do noun endings change according to gender and number, in Ukrainian all nouns are also sub-divided into hard, soft and mixed. This is illustrated below, using endings for the most common groups of nouns:
Hard nouns
| masculine | for example |
| nouns ending in one of the consonants б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, с, т, ф, х | посуд, чоловік, аналіз |
| some nouns ending in р | долар, сир |
| a small number of mainly personal names and kinship terms ending in the above consonants + о | батько, Петро, тато, Дмитро |
| feminine | |
| nouns ending in а preceded by one of the consonants б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, с, т, ф, х | кімната |
| (some masculine nouns also have this form) | Микола |
| neuter | |
| nouns ending in о preceded by one of the consonants б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х * | село, місто, перо |
Soft nouns
| masculine | For example |
| nouns ending in ь preceded by д, дз, з, л, н, с, т or ц | кінь, хлопець, зять |
| nouns ending in й preceded by a vowel | Андрій, чай |
| some nouns ending in р | поштар, лікар |
| feminine | |
| nouns ending in я preceded by д, дз, з, л, н, с, т or ц | учениця, Оля, німкеня, гостя |
| (some masculine nouns also have this form) | суддя |
| nouns ending in я preceded by р | буря |
| nouns ending in я preceded by a vowel | надія, Марія |
| neuter | |
| a small number of indigenous words ending in е preceded by л, р or ц * | поле, лице, море |
| nouns ending in є preceded by a vowel (now mainly archaic)* | Євангеліє |
| nouns ending in я preceded by a double letter (the only exception to this is стаття which is feminine) | життя, заняття |
Mixed nouns
| masculine | For example |
| nouns ending in ж, ч, ш or щ | ніж, меч, марш, плющ |
| feminine | |
| nouns ending in а preceded by ж, ч, ш or щ | вежа, груша, площа |
| neuter | |
| nouns ending in е preceded by ж, ч or щ * | віче, ложе, прізвище |
* There are also a number of foreign loan words in е, є and о whose endings don't change, e.g. аташе, фойє, метро.
To practise recognising the type to which a noun belongs go to Exercise 5.4A.