Noun - Gender

GENDER 

The word ' gender ' comes from Latin ' genus ', kind or sort.

The Noun-Gender tells us about the sex of the noun.

In Grammar-Nouns, there are four genders. :--

1. Masculine Gender

2. Feminine Gender

3. Common Gender

4. Neuter Gender

1. MASCULINE GENDER :--

A noun is said to be in the Masculine gender if it refers to a male character or member of a species.

Man, tiger, hero, boy, king, horse and actor are nouns of masculine gender.

Examples:

* A boy is playing in the play-ground.

* Hero of the movie is not a native of this country.

In these sentences the words “boy” and “hero” are masculine-gender nouns.

*****************************************************************************************
2. FEMININE GENDER :--

A noun is said to be in the feminine gender if it refers to a female member of a species.

Woman, tigress, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow and actress are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we use.

Examples:

* A girl is playing in the play-ground.

* Heroine of the movie is not a native of this country.

In these sentences the words “girl” and “heroine” are feminine-gender nouns.

*****************************************************************************************

3. COMMON GENDER :--

A noun is said to be in Common gender if it refers to a member of species which can be a male or a female.

Child, student, friend, applicant, candidate, servant, member, pupil, parent,

thief, person, and leader are few of the common-gender nouns.

Examples:

* A child is playing in the play-ground.

* A leader should fulfill his promises.

In these sentences the words, “ child ” and “ leader ” are nouns of common gender.

*****************************************************************************************

4. NEUTER GENDER :--

A noun is said to be in the neuter gender if it refers to a member of a species which is neither a male nor a female.

Normally nouns referring to lifeless objects are in neuter nouns.

Chair, table, tree, star, mountain, street, book, car, school,
paper, pencil and computer are few of the neuter nouns which We use regularly.

Examples:

* Computer has brought about drastic changes in our lives.

* Trees cleanse the air.

* Stars are not visible in the day-time.

* Books are our best friends.

In these sentences the words, “computer”, “tree”, “stars” and “books” are the neuter-gender nouns.

*****************************************************************************************

NOTE:

(a). Collective nouns, even if they refer to living-beings, are used as neuter-nouns.

Examples:

(i). The army is doing its task.

(ii). The police are called to manage the situation.

In these sentences the nouns (army and police) refer to only living-beings. But they are used only as neuter-nouns.

*****************************************************************************************

(b).Objects noted for their power, strength, and violence are used as Masculine gender nouns.

The sun, summer, time, death etc… are masculine-gender nouns.

Examples:

(i). The sun is so scorching now that we can not go out now to face him without an umbrella.

(ii). The death is cruel. He is as certain as tomorrow.

In these sentences the words “sun” and “death” have been used as Masculine-gender nouns.

****************************************************************************************

(c). Objects noted for their beauty, gentleness and grace are used as feminine-gender nouns.

The moon, the earth, spring, charity etc… are feminine-gender nouns.

Examples:

(i). The moon is so bright at this time that she induces romantic mood in us.

(ii). The earth is patient. Her beauty is spoiled day-by-day.

*******************************************************************************************

 The masculine-genders and their respective feminine-genders have been given below .

MASCULINE	FEMININE
bachelor	spinster
boy	girl
brother	sister
father	mother
daddy	mummy
papa	mummy
nephew	niece
son	daughter
uncle	aunt
husband	wife
gentleman	lady
lord	lady
king	queen
man	woman
monk	nun
friar	nun
sir	madam
earl	countess
wizard	witch
buck	doe
bull	cow
ox	cow
bullock	heifer
cock	hen
peacock	peahen
colt	filly
dog	bitch
drake	duck
drone	bee
gander	goose
hart	roe
horse	mare
ram	ewe
stag	hind

*********************************************************************************************

 By adding (-ess  )
 

MASCULINE	FEMININE
author	authoress
baron	baroness
count	countess
giant	giantess
heir	heiress
host	hostess
jew	jewess
lion	lioness
manager	manageress
mayor	mayoress
patron	patroness
peer	peeress
poet	poetess
priest	priestess
prophet	prophetess
shepherd	shepherdess
steward	stewardess
viscount	viscountess

********************************************************************************************

(-ess) is added after dropping the vowel of the masculine ending,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MASCULINE	FEMININE
actor	actress
benefactor	benefactress
conductor	conductress
enchanter	enchantress
founder	foundress
hunter	huntress
instructor	instructress
negro	nigress
abbot	abbess
duke	duchess
emperor	empress
preceptor	preceptress
prince	princess
songster	songstress
tempter	temptress
seamster	seamster
tiger	tigress
traitor	traitress
waiter	waitress
master	mistress
murderer	murderess
sorcerer	sorceress

******************************************************************************************

By adding (-ine, -trix, -a, etc.)
-----------------------------------------

MASCULINE	FEMININE
hero	heroine
testator	testatrix
czar	czarina
sultan	sultana
signor	signora
fox	vixen

*********************************************************************