самец
samets
The Russian word for male is самец (samets).
The noun самец is used to refer to a male in a biological or zoological context, typically for animals. To describe things as being of the masculine sex or gender, such as a male voice, use the adjective мужской.
Meaning: human of masculine sex or gender (noun)
Which one should you use?
While самец refers to a male animal or biological subject, you should use мужчина when referring to an adult human male. For adjectives describing masculine qualities or gender, use мужской.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun самец changes its form depending on the case: самца is used for the genitive and accusative cases, and самцу is used for the dative case. The plural form is самцы.
How do you pronounce it?
samets
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use самец to refer to a human male. Instead, use мужчина for an adult man.
Did you know?
- While самец refers to a male animal, calling a human man a самец is a slangy way to describe him as a 'stud' or a highly virile 'alpha male'.
- The word самец shares its root with the Russian word сам meaning 'self'.
- Calling a person a самец in a romantic context can sound quite aggressive or predatory, as it focuses entirely on the animalistic nature of the subject.
Examples in context
- Жеребец самец лошади.A stallion is a male horse.This sentence illustrates using самец to identify a male horse.Tatoeba #2535918 by paul_lingvo, translation #2535224 by Balamax
- Эта птица самец или самка?Is that bird male or female?This sentence shows how to ask if a bird is a самец or a female.Tatoeba #2771506 by sharptoothed, translation #2771505 by sharptoothed
- Самец обезьяны умен от природы.The male ape is intelligent by nature.This sentence uses самец to describe a male ape.Tatoeba #6386411 by xmoffx, translation #43526 by fekundulo
- Он – мужчина.He is a man.
- Этот парень играет в футбол.This guy plays soccer.
- Этот мужик очень сильный.This dude is very strong.
- Этот мальчик учится в школе.This young lad goes to school.
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Dmitry and Olga are looking at birds in a park.
- Дмитрий DmitryСмотри, этот самец очень красивый.Smotri, etot samets ochen krasivyy.Look, this male is very beautiful.
- Ольга OlgaДа, у него яркие перья.Da, u nego yarkiye perya.Yes, he has bright feathers.
- Дмитрий DmitryА где сейчас самка?A gde seychas samka?And where is the female now?
- Ольга OlgaОна сидит на той ветке.Ona sidit na toy vetke.She is sitting on that branch.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries самец, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
