25 essential food words with pronunciation and gender - the vocabulary that hits you at every meal, every supermarket, and every time someone's mother-in-law insists you eat more.
When you want "some" of a food (not all of it), Russian uses the genitive case - the "partitive genitive." Compare:
Дай мне хлеб - Give me the bread (specific, accusative)
Дай мне хлеба - Give me some bread (partitive, genitive)
This pattern applies to all uncountable foods: воды (some water), сахара (some sugar), молока (some milk). One case change turns "the thing" into "some of the thing."
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| хлеб | khleb | bread | masc. |
| молоко | moloko | milk | neut. |
| мясо | myaso | meat | neut. |
| рыба | ryba | fish | fem. |
| сыр | syr | cheese | masc. |
| яйцо | yaytso | egg | neut. |
| рис | ris | rice | masc. |
| масло | maslo | butter / oil | neut. |
| соль | sol' | salt | fem. |
| сахар | sakhar | sugar | masc. |
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| суп | sup | soup | masc. |
| каша | kasha | porridge / cereal | fem. |
| салат | salat | salad | masc. |
| пирожок | pirozhok | small pie / pastry | masc. |
| блин | blin | pancake / crepe | masc. |
| борщ | borshch | borscht (beet soup) | masc. |
| Russian | Pronunciation | English | Gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| вода | voda | water | fem. |
| чай | chay | tea | masc. |
| кофе | kofe | coffee | masc.* |
| сок | sok | juice | masc. |
| пиво | pivo | beer | neut. |
| вино | vino | wine | neut. |
Кофе is grammatically controversial. Traditionally кофе is masculine (чёрный кофе - black coffee), even though it ends in -е like a neuter noun. Purists insist on masculine. In 2009, the Russian government officially accepted neuter too (чёрное кофе). Using masculine still signals education; using neuter won't get you corrected in most settings.
Bread is sacred. Russians consider throwing away bread disrespectful - a holdover from Soviet-era food shortages and wartime famine. When a Russian grandmother says "Доешь хлеб" (finish your bread), she means it.
Tea culture runs deep. Russians drink tea constantly - more per capita than the British. "Чай будешь?" (Will you have tea?) is how visits start. Saying no feels like declining hospitality itself.
Slova teaches хлеб with its genitive хлеба, instrumental хлебом, and the phrases where each form appears - 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.