Fermer and fermersha: how the professions are built
A profession is assembled from a verb or from a thing: uchit gives uchitel, stroit gives stroitel, perevodit gives perevodchik, programma gives programmist. Take the word apart and you can guess professions you were never taught. For example: “Моя сестра переводчица, а брат строитель” — My sister is an interpreter and my brother is a builder. A rule from the Russian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a…
How it works
A profession is assembled from a verb or from a thing: uchit gives uchitel, stroit gives stroitel, perevodit gives perevodchik, programma gives programmist. Take the word apart and you can guess professions you were never taught.
-tel and -chik grow from verbs: vospitatel, perevodchik, lyotchik. -nik grows from a thing or a place: okhrannik next to okhrana, dvornik next to dvor. -ist likes science and the stage: programmist, pianist; skripach goes its own way.
A woman has her own shape: uchitel — uchitelnitsa, stroitel — stroitelnitsa, perevodchik — perevodchitsa, sportsmen — sportsmenka. This is grammar, not courtesy: about a woman doctor people say vrach, and it is right.
Two traps. Portnoy has no feminine pair: a woman at the sewing machine is portnikha, a word of its own. And pekar and pechnik are different people: the first bakes bread, the second lays stoves.
Table
| From what | A man | A woman |
|---|---|---|
| the verb uchit | uchitel | uchitelnitsa |
| the verb stroit | stroitel | stroitelnitsa |
| the verb perevodit | perevodchik | perevodchitsa |
| the verb trenirovat | trener | trener |
| the thing programma | programmist | programmistka |
| the thing ferma | fermer | fermersha |
| the thing okhrana | okhrannik | okhrannitsa |
| a word of its own | portnoy | portnikha |
By example
- Моя сестра переводчица, а брат строительMoya sestra perevodchitsa, a brat stroitelMy sister is an interpreter and my brother is a builder
- Портниха сшила костюм, а пекарь испёк хлебPortnikha sshila kostyum, a pekar ispyok khlebThe seamstress made a suit and the baker baked bread
- Кто в вашей семье учитель, а кто программист?Kto v vashey seme uchitel, a kto programmist?Who is a teacher in your family and who is a programmer?
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to name a profession?
A profession is assembled from a verb or from a thing: uchit gives uchitel, stroit gives stroitel, perevodit gives perevodchik, programma gives programmist. Take the word apart and you can guess professions you were never taught.
Profession tails: -tel, -chik, -ist?
-tel and -chik grow from verbs: vospitatel, perevodchik, lyotchik. -nik grows from a thing or a place: okhrannik next to okhrana, dvornik next to dvor. -ist likes science and the stage: programmist, pianist; skripach goes its own way.
A woman professional: which word?
A profession is assembled from a verb or from a thing: uchit gives uchitel, stroit gives stroitel, perevodit gives perevodchik, programma gives programmist. Take the word apart and you can guess professions you were never taught.
Why portnoy has no feminine pair?
Two traps. Portnoy has no feminine pair: a woman at the sewing machine is portnikha, a word of its own. And pekar and pechnik are different people: the first bakes bread, the second lays stoves.
What does it look like in a Russian example sentence?
“Моя сестра переводчица, а брат строитель” (Moya sestra perevodchitsa, a brat stroitel) — My sister is an interpreter and my brother is a builder. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.