Russian
Русский

58 - пятьдесят восемь

fifty eight

59 - пятьдесят девять

fifty nine

60 - шестьдесят

sixty

61 - шестьдесят один

sixty one

Двадцать первый (21-й) урок

Twenty first lesson

УРОК НОМЕР ДВАДЦАТЬ ОДИН (№21)

Lesson number twenty one (#21)

There are three genders in Russian : masculine, feminine and neuter.
To name living creatures, the masculine s used for males, the feminine for females.
But, for inanimate objects or abstract nouns there is no mechanical rule.
However it is very easy to know the genders of nouns thanks to their endings.

1.1

город

town, city

стол

(one) time, an occurrence

language, tongue

друг

ресторан

frost (extreme coldness)

подарок

gift (a present)

But there are also masculine nouns in й and ь.

портной

a do-nothing, an idler, "a lazy one"

день

Feminine : the ending а or я (save for a few exceptions) denotes the feminine.
Thus :

работа

country (countryside) or village

комната

a room; bedroom = спальня, спальная комната

игрушка

theater troop; company = компания

зима

When a noun in а is not feminine, it is because its meaning makes it impossible.
E.g.,

папа

daddy

There are also feminines in ь, like

мать (мама)

mother

Neuter. — The neuter is characterized by the final о, е, and sometimes мя.
Thus :

слово

letter (to some one); a letter of an alphabet is буква

место

time (on clock)

In short :
  masculine : consonant, й or ь.
  feminine : а or я or ь.
  neuter : о or е or мя.

Вот красивый самовар

here is a beautiful room bedroom.

Этот самовар красив

this samovar is beautiful.
AK-NOTE : Real meaning is "this samovar is in a state of beautifulness".

this room bedroom is beautiful.

AK-NOTE : See lesson 20, note 6, AK-NOTE about adjectives as adverbs.

Declensions : we have only had a glimpse of the declension of nouns.
In the masculine, we have seen that the dative is in у :

Ваш ребёнок

your (pl.) child (nominative)

Вашему ребёнку

to or for your child (dative) (the о of the last syllable is left out).

Ваш муж

your (pl.) husband.

Вашему мужу

Жажда

Без

, is always followed by the genitive, as if one said : without of thirst.

Игрушка

Tweested English Section

REFERENCES. — If a word or a turn of speech keeps escaping your memory,
make a reference to it by noting down the page further on in the book.

These are nothing but bits of declensions, which simply serve to show us the principles.
Be prepared for more intricate things, but do not be afraid :
we ask of you no sensational achievement,
we shall do as the bird which, twig by twig, builds its nest.