Noun and It's Impact (NOUN GENDER - Part- 4)

 

III NOUN GENDER 

Nouns can be classified into four categories of gender: 

1.Masculine

2.Feminine

3.Common

4.Neutral

 A. MASCULINE:

Words that indicate male people or animals are nouns belonging to the masculine gender.

Examples:

• The horse was in the stable when the fire broke out.
• All the boys can stand in one corner.
• The man eyed me suspiciously.
• The baron was the last person to enter the hall. 

Other examples of masculine gender are:

Bull, tiger, sportsman, hero, king, monk, abbot, father, brother, husband, duke, etc.

Words or nouns that indicate qualities of vigour and violence are also considered nouns of masculine gender. For instance: sun, summer, death, winter, God.

B. FEMININE:

Words that indicate female people or animals are nouns belonging to the feminine gender.

Examples:

• The mare was in the stable when the fire broke out. 
• All the girls can stand in one corner.
• The woman eyed me suspiciously.
• The baroness was the last person to enter the hall.

Other examples of feminine gender are:

Cow, tigress, sportswoman, heroine, queen, nun, abbess, mother, sister, wife, duchess, etc.

Words that indicate beauty, fragility, grace are also considered nouns of the feminine gender like moon and peace.

C. COMMON:

Words that indicate either male or female people are nouns belonging to the common gender.

Examples:

• Anita Desai is the author of Clear Light of Day. 
• Salman Rushdie is the author of Midnight's Children.
• Rita is Raman's sibling
• Raman is Rita's sibling
• Julia Roberts is an actor 
• Pierce Brosnan is an actor

Other examples of common gender are

Teacher, enemy, server, cousin, parent, host, police officer, spokesperson, worker, person, etc.

D. NEUTRAL:

Words that indicate neither male nor female are nouns belonging to the neuter gender.

Examples:

• Can I borrow that book?
• The river flows eastwards. 
• The table and the chair are in the room.
• The names are written on the board.
• Ram bought kites.pens. pencils, bags and a bicycle.

Changing masculine nouns to feminine nouns in four ways:

1. When-ess is added at the end of a masculine nouns

Abbot-Abbess, Tiger-Tigress, Duke-Duchess, Lion-Lioness, Emperor-Empress 

2. When a specific word is added either at the end or the beginning of the masculine noun.

Grandfather - Grandmother, Sportsman Sportswoman, Washerman - washerwoman, Milkman-Milkmaid, Baby girl-Baby boy, Landlord-Landlady.

3. When -a,-ix,-inc,-en is added at the end of the masculine noun.

Czar-Carina, Signor-Signora, Executor-Executrix

4. Using a word which is entirely different from the masculine noun.

boars- sows, boy-girl, dog-bitch, bull-cow, man-woman, husband-wife, brother sister, fox-vixen

                                                                               To be continue...