How to Say Cat in Russian

Russian does not contain a proper word for gender-neutral English word 'cat'; one can only say 'she-cat' or 'he-cat' for adult cats. However there is a gender-neutral word for kittens. All of these different words for 'cat' may confuse you. If you want to say the word 'cat' properly in Russian, see Step 1 to learn how.

EditSteps

1. If you are talking about a single she-cat, say 'koshka' (кошка).You pronounce the 'k' as in 'kind', 'o' as in 'boy', 'sh' as in 'shun', and 'ka' as in 'card'.
   
2. If you are talking about a single he-cat, say 'kot'. It is the same as English 'cat' but with 'o' instead of 'a'. This 'o' sounds like the o in 'boy'.
   
3. If you would like to call the cat using diminutive form (like Jake for Jakeson or Liz/Lisa/Beth for Elizabeth), you can use 'koshechka' (кошечка) for female and 'kotik' (котик) for male.
   
   • For 'koshechka', you pronounce it like 'k' as in 'kind', 'o' as in 'boy', 'sh' as in 'shun', 'ech' as in 'witch', and 'ka' and 'card'.
   • For 'kotik', you pronounce the 'k' as in 'kind', 'o' as in 'boy', 't' as in 'team', and 'ik' as in 'seek'.
4. If you are talking about more than one cat, you must use the plural form of the word. She-cats would become 'koshki' (кошки) ; he-cats - 'koty' (коты); diminutive form of these would be respectively 'koshechki' (кошечки) and 'kotiki' (котики).
   
   • For 'koshki', you pronounce it like 'ko' as in 'core', 'sh' as in 'shun', and 'ki' as in 'ski'.
   • For 'koty', you pronounce the 'ko' as in 'car', and 'ty' as 'timber'. For 'koshechki', you pronounce the 'ko' as in 'cold', 'she' as in 'Shetland', 'ch' as in 'change', and 'ki' as in 'ski'. For 'kotiki', you pronounce the 'ko' as in 'cold', 'ti' as in 'city', and 'ki' as in 'ski'.
5. If you are talking about a kitten or kittens, use 'kotyonok' (котёнок) to say kitten and 'kotyata' (котята) to say kittens. These words are already diminutive and don't have non-diminutive form.
   
   • To pronounce 'kotyonok', say the 'ko' as in 'car', 'ty' as in 'tea' (try to say the 't' softly), 'o' as in 'old', 'no' as in 'gnarly', and 'k' as in 'kind'.
   • For 'kotyata', pronounce the 'ko' as in 'car', 'ty' as in 'tea' (once again try to say the 't' softly), 'a' as in 'Allah', and 'ta' as in 'Tarzan'.

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