THERE ARE FOUR GENDER OF NOUNS
- MASCULINE GENDER
- FEMININE GENDER
- COMMON GENDER
- NEUTER GENDER
MASCULINE GENDER
The names of male animals or persons are said to be of Masculine Gender
eg :- lion, man, son, dog etc
FEMININE GENDER
The names of female animals or persons are said to be Feminine gender
eg :- girl, woman, hen, duck, lioness etc.
COMMON GENDER
The names of things which indicate either the masculine or the feminine gender as said to be of the common gender
eg :- doctor, teacher, orphan, child etc.
NEUTER GENDER
The names of the things that are neither male nor female are said to be of the Neuter Gender
eg :-Â pen, table, tree, car etc.
WAYS OF FORMING THE FEMININE OF NOUNS
There are three ways of forming the feminine of nouns.
I. By a change of word
II. By adding – ess to the Masculine
NOTE :- The following feminine are formed by adding -ess to the masculine after omitting the ‘vowel’ of the last syllable of the masculine.
By adding -ess in a less regular way
III. By placing a word before or after
Some other Masculine and Feminine are
NOTE :- Collective nouns, even when they denote living beings, are considered of the Neuter Gender as Jury, Committee.
- The jury has given its verdict
- The committee has formed its opinion
Animals and young children sometimes may be spoken of in the Neuter Gender.
Eg :-
- The child knows its mind ( his or her)
GENDER OF PERSONIFIED OBJECTS
Sometimes Objects without life are spoken of as if they were persons, then they may be regarded as male or females
- Things remarkable for strength, firmness or energy are regarded as males like sun, time, death, winter, thunder, ocean.
Eg :-
- The sun shot his bright rays
- Death always knows his victim.
2. Things remarkable for beauty, gracefulness and gentleness as regarded as females as the moon, the earth, nature, spring, charity etc.
Eg:-
- Â The moon shed her light on the roof
- Spring has her own charm and delight.
NOTE : A ‘ship’ is always spoken of as ‘she’
The ship fought her way through the stormy waves.
REWRITE THE SENTENCES CHANGING THE GENDER OF THE NOUNS.
- The monk played the part of a hero
The nun played the part of the heroine.
- His uncle is a widower.
Her aunt is a widow.
- The landlady went to the temple to pray to the Goddess.
The landlord went to the temple to pray to the God.
- The priest led the king to the castle.
The priestess led the queen to the castle.