NOUN GENDER

Noun-Gender 

 The Noun-Gender tells us about the sex of the noun. In Grammar-Nouns, there are FOUR GENDERS.

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

Example: • 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.

 The next in the Noun-Gender is feminine gender.

 2. Feminine gender: A noun is said to be in the feminine gender if it refers to a female member of a species. Woman, lioness, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow and actress are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we use.

 Example: • 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.

 The next in the Noun-Gender is common gender. 

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

 Example: • A child is playing in the play-ground.

 • A Parliamentarian should have command over his language. In these sentences the words, “child" and “parliamentarian" are nouns of common gender.

 The next in the Noun-Gender is neuter 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.

 Example: • Computer has brought about drastic changes in our lives.

 • Tree is cleansing 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.

 Example: 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.

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

 ii. 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.

 Example i. The moon is so bright at this time that she induces a 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 for your reference.

 Masculine genders-----Feminine genders 

 1. Bachelor----- Spinster 

 2. Bachelor----- Maid

 3. Bullock----- Heifer 

 4. Dog----- Bitch 

 5. Drone------ Bee 

 6. Horse----- Mare 

 7. Nephew----- Niece 

 8. Jew----- Jewess

 9. Wizard----- Witch 

 10. Heir----- Heiress 

 11. Manager----- Manageress 

 12. Poet----- Poetess 

 13. Shepherd----- Shepherdess 

 14. Benefactor----- Benefactress 

 15. Hunter----- Huntress 

 16. Negro----- Negress 

 17. Emperor----- Empress 

 18. Traitor----- Traitress 

 19. Prince----- Princess

 20. Lion----- Lioness

 21. Bull----- Cow 

 22. Ox----- Cow 

 23. Mayor----- Mayoress

 24. Tiger----- Tigress

 25. Actor----- Actress

 26. Host----- Hostess

 27. Uncle----- Aunt

 28. Monk----- Nun

 29. Gentleman----- Lady

 30. Duck----- Duchess

 Practice Time

 Exercise-1

 Change the nouns in bold from the feminine/masculine to the masculine/feminine. 

1. My uncle visits his nephew every weekend. 

2. The lady has several drakes on her farm.

 3. The daughter is more talkative than her mother.

 4. Does any actor like to play the role of the prince?

 5. Their queen is a widow.

 6. The manager is still a bachelor.

 7. In the movie, the tiger was killed by the hero.

 8. His son-in-law is a steward. 

9. The count has one brother. 

10. The author is writing a book about the emperor.

 Exercise-2

 Change the nouns in bold from the masculine to the feminine. 

11. The bridegroom spoke to the priest. 

12. His brother works as a waiter. 

13. The dog barked at the milkman. 

14. A cock was killed by a fox.

15. The manservant has worked many years for the duke. 16. Her husband is a conductor. 

17. He was a postman before he became a postmaster. 

18. The lad wants to be a monk. 

19. The sultan owns a stallion.

 20. Her father-in-law is a landlord 

Exercise-3 

Match the masculine gender with the feminine gender. cock                             doe

 priest                          mayoress

 drake                          ewe 

 mayor                         maid

 wizard                        nun 

 nephew                      duchess

 monk                         witch

 salesman                   priestess

 ram                            hen 

 bachelor                    saleswoman

 buck                          duck

 duke                          niece