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nouns gender

THE NOUN: GENDER
 You know that living beings are of either the male or the female sex. Now compare
the words in the following pairs:
Boy (Lion, Hero, Cock-sparrow)
Girl (Lioness, Heroine, Hen-sparrow)
What do you notice?
The first word of each pair is the name of a male animal.
The second word of each pair is the name of a female animal.
A noun that denotes a male  is said to be of the Masculine Gender.

   Examples:- Boy, Lion, Hero, Boy-friend.
A noun that denotes a female is said to be of the Feminine Gender.
 
Examples:- Girl, Lioness, Heroine, Girl-friend.
A noun that denotes either a male or a female is said to be of the Common Gender. As- Parent, child, friend, pupil, servant, thief, relation, enemy, cousin, person, orphan,
student, baby, monarch, neighbour, infant.
A noun that denotes a thing that is neither male nor female (i.e., thing without life) is
said to be of the Neuter Gender.
 As- Book, pen, room, tree.

It will be thus seen that in Modern English the Gender of a noun is entirely a matter of sex or the absence of sex. It has nothing to do with the form of a noun, which determines its gender in many other languages, e.g., in Urdu where bagiche is masculine and lakri is feminine.
Objects without life are often personified, that is, spoken of as if they were living
beings. We then regard them as males or females.

The Masculine Gender is often applied to objects remarkable for strength and violence;
As-The Sun, Summer, Winter, Time, Death.

The sun sheds his beams on rich and poor alike.

The Feminine Gender is sometimes applied to objects remarkable for beauty, gentleness and gracefulness.As- The Moon, the Earth, Spring, Autumn, Nature, Liberty, Justice, Mercy, Peace, Hope,Charity.

The moon has hidden her face behind a cloud.
Spring has spread her mantle of green over the earth.
Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war.

This use is most common in poetry but certain nouns are personified in nrose too. A shin is often spoken of as she.
As- The ship lost her boats in the storm.

Collective nouns, even when they denote living beings, are consider of the neuter gender.
  As- The army showed its strength.
Lower animals are often considered as Neuter gender.
The mouse the rope with its teeth.

Ways of Forming the Feminine of Nouns
 There are three ways of forming the Feminine of Nouns:
(1) By using an entirely different word; as
Masculine -- Feminine
Bachelor -- maid, spinster
Boy -- girl
Brother -- sister
Buck -- doe
Bull (or ox) -- cow
Bullock -- heifer
Cock -- hen
Colt -- filly
Dog -- bitch
Drake -- duck
Drone -- bee
Earl -- countess
Father -- mother
Gander -- goose
Gentleman -- lady
Hart -- roe
Horse -- mare
Husband -- wife
King -- queen
Lord -- lady
Man -- woman
Monk (or friar) -- nun
Nephew -- niece
Papa -- mamma
Ram -- ewe
Sir -- madam
Son -- daughter
Stag -- hind
Uncle -- aunt
Wizard -- witch
(2) By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix, -a, etc) as,
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
[Note that in the following -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 -- negress
Abbot -- abbess
Duke -- duchess
Emperor -- empress
Preceptor -- preceptress
Prince -- princess
Songster -- songstress
Tempter -- temptress
Seamster -- seamstress
Tiger -- tigress
Traitor -- traitress
Waiter -- waitress
Master -- mistress
Murderer -- murderess
Sorcerer -- sorceress
Note:- The suffix -ess is the commonest suffix used to form feminine nouns, from the
masculine, and is the only one which we now use in forming a new feminine noun.

Masculine -- Feminine
Hero -- heroine
Testator -- testatrix
Czar -- czarina
Sultan -- sultana
Signor -- signora
Fox – vixen
Executor—executrix
Prosecutor—prosecutrix
Testator--testarix
(3) By placing a word before or after; as,
Masculine -- Feminine
Grandfather -- grandmother
Great-uncle – great-aunt
Man-servant – maid-servant
Landlord -- landlady
Milk-man – milk-woman
Peacock -- peahen
Sales-man – sales-woman
Washe-rman – washer-woman
Step-brother—step-sister
Boy-friend—girl-friend
He-goat—she-goat
He-bear—she-bear
Bull-calf—cow-calf
Bridegroom—bride
Son-in-law—daughter-in-law
Father-in-law—mother-in-law
Brother-in-law—sister-in-law

Some more words denoting male or female.
Masculine                        Feminine
     Mr.                                    Mrs.
     Master                              Miss    


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