Questions & Answers about Соседка сердится, когда дети кричат под её окном.
What does сосе́дка mean, and why is it not just сосе́д?
Сосе́д = neighbor (male neighbor, or neighbor in general if gender is unknown or irrelevant).
Сосе́дка = female neighbor.
The suffix -ка often makes a feminine noun from a masculine one:
- учени́к → учени́ца (pupil m. → pupil f.)
- вра́ч → (no regular feminine) but
- сосе́д → сосе́дка
In this sentence, the speaker either knows the neighbor is a woman or wants to emphasize that fact, so сосе́дка is used. In English, neighbor doesn’t show gender, but Russian usually does.
Why is it серди́тся and not something like серди́та or серди́тый?