18 essential clothing words with pronunciation and gender - including the nouns that refuse to decline, because пальто is always пальто no matter what you do to it grammatically.
Most Russian nouns change their endings across six cases. But пальто (coat) never changes form - it stays пальто in nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, and prepositional. It's always just пальто.
These are called indeclinable nouns (несклоняемые существительные). Most are borrowed words: кашне (scarf, from French), кимоно (kimono). The trick is that adjectives still decline around them: в новом пальто (in a new coat) - пальто stays frozen, but новом takes the prepositional case.
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| рубашка | rubashka | shirt | fem. |
| футболка | futbolka | T-shirt | fem. |
| куртка | kurtka | jacket | fem. |
| пальто | pal'to | coat | neut.; indeclinable |
| свитер | sviter | sweater | masc. |
| пиджак | pidzhak | suit jacket / blazer | masc. |
| плащ | plashch | raincoat | masc. |
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| брюки | bryuki | trousers | plural only |
| джинсы | dzhinsy | jeans | plural only |
| юбка | yubka | skirt | fem. |
| платье | plat'ye | dress | neut. |
| шорты | shorty | shorts | plural only |
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| шапка | shapka | hat / winter hat | fem. |
| обувь | obuv' | footwear / shoes | fem.; collective |
| ботинки | botinki | boots / shoes | plural; sing. ботинок |
| перчатки | perchatki | gloves | plural; sing. перчатка |
| шарф | sharf | scarf | masc. |
| носки | noski | socks | plural; sing. носок |
"Надень шапку!" (Put on your hat!) is the most stereotypical Russian mother phrase. Russians firmly believe that going outside in winter without a шапка causes everything from colds to meningitis. Grandmothers enforce this rule ruthlessly - even on adults.
Remove your shoes indoors. Russians always take off обувь at the door and switch to тапочки (slippers). Hosts provide guest slippers. Walking in outdoor shoes on someone's floor is a serious faux pas.
The ушанка is iconic. The fur hat with ear flaps (ушанка, from ухо - ear) is Russia's most recognizable clothing item. The flaps tie up on top when it's not freezing, and come down to cover the ears in deep cold.
Slova teaches пальто alongside its indeclinable behavior, and куртка with every case form - not just a word list.
Try Slova - the Russian vocabulary appBuilt by the team behind Slova - the Russian vocabulary app for learners who want grammar depth. Cases, conjugation, verbal aspect.