knI-gih (sometimes -и at the end of a word is pronounced -eh)
books
семья
sim-YA
family
семьи
sYEm-yih
families
дверь
d-vYE-(r) (short rolled-'r' on the end)
door
двери
dvYE-rih
doors
_________________________________
Feminine Plural Nouns: All end with an 'ih'- type sound
1. For feminine nouns ending with -a, remove the -a and replace it with -ы (see exceptions listed in next section).
Example, газета (newspaper) / газеты (newspapers)
Newspaper
газета
Pronounced:
gaz-YE-ta
Audio:
(Lena)
Newspapers
газеты
Pronounced:
gaz-YE-tei
Audio:
(Lena)
2. Exceptions to the previous rule:
After you have removed the -a from the feminine noun, if the last letter is -k, -г, -x, -ч, -щ, -ж, or -ш, then add -и
Example, книга (book) / книги (books)
Book
книга
Pronounced:
k-nI-ga
Audio:
(Lena)
Books
книги
Pronounced:
knI-gih (sometimes -и at the end of a word is pronounced -eh)
Audio:
(Lena)
3. For feminine nouns ending with -я, remove the -я and replace it with -и
Example, семья (family) / семьи (families)
Family
семья
Pronounced:
sim-YA
Audio:
(Lena)
Families
семьи
Pronounced:
sYEm-yih
Audio:
(Lena)
For all masculine and feminine nouns ending with soft-sign -ь, remove the -ь and replace it with -и
Example, дверь (door) / двери (doors)
Door
дверь
Pronounced:
d-vYE-(r) (short rolled-'r' on the end)
Audio:
(Lena)
Doors
двери
Pronounced:
dvYE-rih
Audio:
(Lena)
Spelling vs. Speaking
This is an advanced lesson because of the specific spelling rules for which there are many exceptions.
Practically speaking, if you want to make a feminine noun plural, just drop off the last letter and add an 'ih' sound.
