How do you say cat in Russian?

Cat in Russian is кошка (koshka) for a female cat or кот (kot) for a male cat. Кошка is feminine, кот is masculine. In everyday speech, кошка is the generic word for 'cat' (like English), while кот specifically means a male cat or tomcat.

How do you say dog in Russian?

Dog in Russian is собака (sobaka). It's a feminine noun regardless of the dog's actual sex - even a male dog is 'собака.' The word пёс (pyos) specifically means a male dog and is masculine, but собака is the standard, everyday word.

Do Russian animal words have grammatical gender?

Yes. Every Russian noun has a grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and animal words are no exception. The grammatical gender often doesn't match the animal's biological sex: собака (dog) is always feminine, медведь (bear) is always masculine. This matters because adjectives and past-tense verbs must agree with the noun's gender.

Russian Animals - 20 Animal Words with Gender & Pronunciation

Grammar hook - grammatical gender vs. biological sex

Russian nouns have grammatical gender that doesn't always match reality. Собака (dog) is always feminine - even if it's a 50kg male Rottweiler. Медведь (bear) is always masculine - even if she has cubs. Adjectives and past-tense verbs must agree with the grammatical gender: Большая собака убежала (the big dog ran away) - all feminine endings, even for a male dog.

Pets & domestic animals

Russian	Pronunciation	English	Gender
кошка	koshka	cat	fem.
кот	kot	male cat / tomcat	masc.
собака	sobaka	dog	fem.
лошадь	loshad'	horse	fem.
корова	korova	cow	fem.
свинья	svin'ya	pig	fem.
курица	kuritsa	chicken / hen	fem.

Wild animals

Russian	Pronunciation	English	Gender
медведь	medved'	bear	masc.
волк	volk	wolf	masc.
лиса	lisa	fox	fem.
заяц	zayats	hare / rabbit	masc.
олень	olen'	deer	masc.
змея	zmeya	snake	fem.
рыба	ryba	fish	fem.
птица	ptitsa	bird	fem.
лев	lev	lion	masc.
слон	slon	elephant	masc.
обезьяна	obez'yana	monkey	fem.
мышь	mysh'	mouse	fem.
бабочка	babochka	butterfly	fem.

Animals in context

У меня есть кошка и собака.

U menya yest' koshka i sobaka.

I have a cat and a dog.

у меня есть + nominative - the standard "I have" construction

Медведь - символ России.

Medved' - simvol Rossii.

The bear is a symbol of Russia.

Россия → России (genitive) - "of Russia"

Я боюсь змей.

Ya boyus' zmey.

I'm afraid of snakes.

бояться + genitive: змея → змей (gen. plural)

Эта лошадь очень быстрая.

Eta loshad' ochen' bystraya.

This horse is very fast.

быстрая (fem.) agrees with лошадь (fem.) - adjective agreement

Cultural context

Медведь (bear) is the Russian national symbol - so much so that the word has become a stereotype. Russians are well aware of the "Russians and bears" cliche. The name Медведев literally means "son of a bear."

Animals in pet names. Russians call their partners зайка (bunny), котик (kitty), and рыбка (little fish). These are among the most common terms of endearment - far more popular than calling someone "baby" or "honey."

Кошка vs. кот matters. If you see a cat and don't know its sex, say кошка (the generic). Saying кот implies you know it's male. Using the wrong one for someone's pet might get you corrected.

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Animals in Russian.

Pets & domestic animals

Wild animals

Animals in context

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