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

NOUN AND THEIR TYPES | LEARN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

NOUNS 

NOUNS AND THEIR TYPES

       Read these sentences:

•         The wolf killed the goat.
•         I saw a monkey on that tree.
•         Hari went to the market to buy some clothes.

The words written in bold type are naming words. The words wolf, goat and monkey are names of animals. The words tree and market are the names of places. Hari is the name of a person. The word clothes refer to a thing. Such words are called nouns.

A NOUN is the name of a person, place, animal or thing.

      There are four kinds of nouns:

•        The Common Noun
•        The Proper Noun
•        The Abstract Noun
•        The Collective Noun

        THE PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

     Read these sentences:

•        The boy made hundred runs.
•        Sachin made hundred runs.

When we say “ Sachin made hundred runs”, we are talking about a particular person of that name. Sachin is the name of one particular person. Sachin is his own special name, and is, therefore, called a Proper Noun. (Proper means one’s own)

A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person or place like Ram, Sita, Mumbai, India, etc.

* A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.

In the given sentences, when we say,”The boy made hundred runs”, the name boy may be given to anybody. It does not belong specially to any one particular person. It is a name common to all boys. It is, therefore, called a Common Noun.

A Common Noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind like boy, girl, country, town, book, etc.

Let’s have a look at a few more examples:

•        Sita is a Proper Noun, whereas girl is a Common Noun.
•        Hari is a Common Noun, whereas boy is a Common Noun.
•        Delhi is a Proper Noun, whereas town is a Common Noun.
•        Rose is a Proper Noun, whereas flower is a Common Noun.

THE ABSTRACT NOUNS

We can see the sun, we can touch a book, but we cannot see or touch brightness or happiness. They are the names of things that we can only think of. Such names are called Abstract Nouns.

An Abstract Noun is the name of something that we can only think of; as,

Sweetness                      Kindness                  Darkness

Weakness                       Pity                          Pain

Happiness                     Honesty                   Childhood

Brightness                     Doubt                      Greed

Sickness                        Hope                        Sleep

Pleasure                       Beauty                     Courage

Wisdom                         Quarrel                   Love

THE COLLECTIVE NOUNS

When a noun is the name of a number (or collection) of people or
 things considered as one, such as army, flock, bunch, it is called a Collective Noun.

A Collective Noun is the name of a number of people or things considered as one.

Here are a few examples of Collective Nouns:

a team of players                                  a litter of puppies

a swarm of bees                                    a pack of wolves

an army of soldiers                               a fleet of ships

a flight of stairs                                     a bunch of keys

a herd of cows                                       a clump of trees

a cluster of stars                                    a shoal of fish

a band of musicians                              a gang of thieves

a crew of sailors                                    a crowd of people

a choir of singers                                  a jury of judges

a bouquet of flowers                            a bundle of sticks

an album of stamps                              a pride of lions