All Russian nouns are divided into three categories: masculine, feminine and neuter. These categories are called genders. Nouns are declined according to their gender, and the declension of adjectives and conjugation of verbs also depends on it, so it's extremely important to know which noun belongs to which category.

Actually, it's much easier than it sounds. In some other languages (for example, in French), you can't know the gender of a noun unless you look it up in a dictionary. In Russian there're some simple rules to help you: you just have to look at the ending of the noun.

Nouns ending in a consonant are masculine: человек (a person), телефон (a telephone).

Nouns ending in "а" or "я" are mainly feminine: собака (a dog), Мария (Maria).

Nouns ending in "ь" (soft sign) are mainly feminine, too: кровать (a bed), дочь (a daughter). Please, note that there are a few exceptions.

Nouns ending in "o" or "e" are neuter: письмо (a letter), полотенце (a towel).

Practice: