Nouns: Gender of Nouns

Gender of Nouns

The word gender derives from the Latin word genus, meaning kind or sort. It indicates as to whether the noun in question is a masculine or a feminine. We know that all living organisms have got either masculine gender or feminine gender. Similarly, words are also divided into masculine, feminine, common and neuter genders. It should be kept in mind that the gender of a noun doesn’t mean that a masculine or female noun is physically having male or female sex respectively. It is just in grammar that we call some nouns as feminine and others as masculine.

The gender of a noun helps you use appropriate pronouns for nouns. For example, in the following sentence, the word moon is a feminine noun:

 The moon was concealing her face behind the clouds.

If you don’t know about the gender of the word moon, then you will certainly use incorrect pronoun for it. The word moon is a feminine noun. That’s why; the pronoun her is used here instead of it. It is very difficult to determine the gender of nouns on account of having no clear-cut rules. You should look up the word in a dictionary to know about its gender.

Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns are those nouns which indicate masculine things i.e., persons, places and animals, are called masculine nouns. For example, boy, brother, buck, bull, colt, dog, gentleman are all masculine nouns. Masculine gender is used for things having strength, prowess, violence and power. For example, Sun, Summer, Death, Winter etc.

Feminine Nouns

Nouns that denote feminine things or female sex are called feminine nouns. For example, girl, sister, mother, doe, cow, hen, country, and moon are all feminine nouns. Feminine gender is used for things having beauty and grace. For example, the words Moon, Earth, Autumn, Spring are feminine nouns.

Common Gender

Nouns that show either a male or a female gender are said to have got common gender.  Such like nouns are either male or female. For example, parent, baby, friend, pupil, enemy, cousin, orphan are of common gender. The word parent can be female as well as male.

Neuter Gender

Nouns that denote things, which are neither male nor female are said to have got neuter gender. Such like nouns have no masculine or feminine sex. For example, mango, tree, pen, book, laptop, table and chair are having neuter gender.

How to Form Feminine Nouns

There are many masculine nouns which have got entirely different feminine words. For example, Brother, Sister; Father, Mother; Son, Daughter; Buck, Doe; Horse, Mare etc.  

Feminine nouns can be formed by adding suffix like –ess to the masculine noun. For example: Baron, Baroness; Count, Countess; Heir, Heiress; Jew, Jewess; Lion, Lioness etc.

Feminine noun can also be formed by adding a word to the masculine nouns. For example: Grandfather, Grandmother; Stepbrother, Stepsister; Milkman, Milkwoman; Grandson, Granddaughter; Great-uncle, Great-aunt etc.