Russian Gender

When I was living in Russia (the first of 2 times) and studying the Russian Language, Russian History and Russian Government  - with only me in the class -  I asked my Russian Language Teacher how do I tell if a Russian Word is Feminine, Masculine or Neutral?

English doesn’t have Gender in the same sense as Russian, French, Spanish, German, etc. do.

No one sat there deciding that a “house” would be Masculine in English and a “Dog” would be Feminine in English -for example.

My Teacher (a Woman) told me that if the word ended in “а” (a) or “я” (Ya) then it was Feminine.

She then added that if something generally doesn’t work then it is Feminine such as “Car” (Russian: “Машина”.)

I then asked her if that meant the Country of Russia (Russian: Россия) doesn’t work because it is Feminine and ends in a “я.”

She looked around the Classroom as though someone else was there or listening to us (it was always just me and my Teacher in the Classroom) and said very loudly (in Russian, but I will translate it into English): “Mother Russia always works and always will work.”

I then asked her (Just because I like to push the envelope) how Russia could be both Feminine (as in “Матушка Россия” or “Mother Russia”) and Masculine as in “Fatherland” (Russian: “отечество”.)

 I asked if Russia could be a “Hermaphrodite” (Russian: Гермафродит.)

She started looking like one of those cartoon steam trains that explodes and quickly changed the subject.

This was back in 2002 (Putin was President back then too and People were scared of him and his Henchmen as they continue to be today.)

Note 1: The second time (in 2004) I studied in Russia I asked a different Russian Language Teacher of Mine (also a Woman) the same question about Gender in Russian and she only said the thing about the endings and that it has always been so and to just accept and memorize that they are – in Russia Students (even Foreigners studying in Russia) aren’t supposed to think they are just supposed to memorize and repeat like Robots.

Note 2: I have always asked the same question about Gender when I was studying any Language (German in Germany, French or Ukrainian.)