NOUNS: GENDER | LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

NOUNS: GENDER | LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

We already know about nouns and pronouns. Noun is the name of a person, place, animal or thing. And the pronouns are the words that are used in place of these nouns. If we are talking about any person, then that can be a male or a female. If we talk about things or places, they can never be male or female. According to this characteristic, nouns have been classified in different categories called gender.

Let’s have a look at the different types of genders -

1. MASCULINE GENDER :

Nouns and pronouns referring to males are said to be of the masculine gender.

For example – boy, he, man, uncle, bull, etc.

 2. FEMININE GENDER :

Nouns and pronouns referring to females are said to be of the feminine gender.

For example – girl, she, woman, aunt, cow, etc. 

3. COMMON GENDER :

Words like child and friend can be used for both males and females. They are, therefore, said to be of common gender.

For example – cousin, parent, pupil, person, etc.

4. NEUTER GENDER :

Nouns and pronouns referring to things are said to be of the neuter gender. ( Neuter means neither masculine nor feminine.)

For example – chair, house, tree, book, table, etc.

• Sometimes the words used for animals are of the neuter gender.

         For example – Where is the dog? It is in the garden.

        Where is the cat? It is under the table.

• Sometimes we think of them as masculine or feminine, especially when they are pets.

         For example – I have a pet dog. His name is Bruno.

        I have a pet cat. She is called Kitty.

• The pronouns I, me, you, we, us can be either masculine or feminine, whereas the pronouns they and them can even be neuter ,that is these pronouns can be used for people as we used for people as well as for things.

For example – The girls have come back. Ask them if they need anything.   (feminine)

Look at the trees. They have so many branches with lots of fruits on them. (neuter)

Following is a list of some nouns that we speak in our daily life and their opposite gender-

Masculine		Feminine
actor		actress
bachelor	spinster
boy		girl
bridegroom	bride
brother		sister
bull		cow
cock		hen
conductor	conductress
deer	doe
dog		bitch
donkey	jenny
drake	duck
drone	bee
duke	duchess
emperor	empress
father		mother
fiance	fiancee
fox	vixen
gentleman	lady
god	goddess
goose	gander
governor	matron
grandfather		grandmother
he		she
headmaster	headmistress
heir	heiress
hero		heroine
horse	mare
host	hostess
hunter	huntress
husband		wife
king		queen
lad	lass
landlord	landlady
lion	lioness
man		woman
milkman	milkmaid
monk	nun
Mr	Miss/ Mrs
murderer	murderess
negro	negress
nephew		niece
peacock	peahen
pig	sow
poet	poetess
policeman	policewoman
prince		princess
sheep	ewe
shepherd	shepherdess
sir	madam
son		daughter
sorcerer	sorceress
tiger	tigress
uncle		aunt
waiter	waitress
washerman	washerwoman
widower	widow
wizard	witch