Gender of nouns
Identify masculine, feminine, common and neuter nouns.
Nouns can also tell us whether we mean a male, a female, either, or a lifeless thing. This is called gender, and it affects the pronouns we choose.
Gender is the form of a noun that shows whether it names a male (masculine), a female (feminine), either (common) or a thing without life (neuter).
Examples
- My nephew is five years old. (masculine)
- The waitress brought our dosas. (feminine)
- Our neighbour has a new car. (common)
- The bridge was built in 1990. (neuter)
- The hostess welcomed every guest. (feminine)
How it works
Different words
Some pairs use completely different words for the masculine and feminine.
father → mother, bull → cow
Adding an ending
Many feminine nouns are formed by adding -ess, sometimes with a small spelling change.
host → hostess, waiter → waitress
Changing a word in a compound
In some compound nouns, one part changes to show gender.
landlord → landlady, grandson → granddaughter
Common and neuter nouns
Common gender nouns like doctor, parent, child can mean either sex. Neuter nouns name lifeless things and take it.
Every parent was invited to the meeting.
Quick reference
| Masculine | Feminine | How it changes |
|---|---|---|
| nephew | niece | different word |
| husband | wife | different word |
| god | goddess | adds -ess |
| emperor | empress | -or becomes -ess |
| tiger | tigress | -er becomes -ess |
| salesman | saleswoman | part of compound changes |
| peacock | peahen | part of compound changes |
Common mistakes
✕The tigress fed his cubs.
✓The tigress fed her cubs.
The pronoun must match the feminine noun.
✕Mrs Iyer is our new chairman.
✓Mrs Iyer is our new chairwoman.
Mrs shows the person is a woman. (Chairperson also works.)
Worked example
Exercise 1
Tap the feminine noun.
The king met the queen.
✓queen.
Queen names a female.
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