GENDER OF NOUNS
Gender on nouns forms the basis to classify whether a certain noun may be replaced by the pronouns ‘he’, ‘she’, or ‘it’. In practical English, animals are normally referred to by ‘it’ but when their sex is privileged, they may be spoken of as ‘he’ or ‘she’. Four technical terms can be used to classify nouns, namely: masculine, feminine, common and neuter gender. All nouns that designate males are classified as masculine gender, those designating females are classified as feminine gender, those designating either males or females are classified as common gender, and those designating neither males nor females are classified as neuter gender.
The example of these categories is seen below.
Masculine Feminine Common Neuter
boy girl child/person book
son daughter child/person kingdom
father mother parent house
king queen monarch/sovereign table
man woman person lake
schoolmaster schoolmistress head teacher train, etc.
According to authorities, collective nouns, even when they denote living beings, and young children like infants or babies and the lower animals like worms are referred to as the neuter gender. The masculine gender is often employed for such objects which are ‘remarkable for strength and violence’ as the sun, summer, winter, time and death whereas the feminine gender is often applied to those ‘remarkable for beauty, gentleness and gracefulness’ as the moon, the earth, spring, autumn, nature, liberty, justice, mercy, peace, hope and charity. They further assert that there are certain nouns which are personified. A ‘ship’ and a ‘country’ are spoken of as ‘she’.
There are four ways by which the masculine gender is distinguished from the feminine one:
1. By using completely different words.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
bachelor maid/spinster boar sow
boy girl buck doe
bridegroom bride bullock heifer
brother sister colt filly
earl/count countess drone bee
monk nun gander goose
widower widow stallion mare
wizard witch drake duck
2. By simply adding –ess from the masculine to form the feminine (as in the first two columns of the table below), and occasionally with some slight changes (as in the last two columns of the table below).
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
Author authoress abbot abbess
Baron baroness actor actress
Count countess benefactor benefactress
Heir heiress duke duchess
Lion lioness enchanter enchantress
Mayor mayoress marquis marchioness
Steward stewardess Negro Negress
Viscount viscountess seamster (tailor) seamstress
3. When words of common gender are made use of to distinguish the masculine from the feminine, it simply forms these words into compound words by adding words which denote the sex.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
boy cousin girl cousin great uncle great aunt
bull-calf cow-calf he-bear she bear
cock sparrow hen sparrow he-goat/billy-goat she-goat/nanny-goat
grandfather grandmother jack-ass jenny-ass
manservant maidservant man friend woman friend
tomcat tabby cat
4. English may also have adapted a number of foreign endings as ‘—ine’, ‘—trix’, or ‘—a’ to show the sex distinction.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
administrator administratix hero heroine
beau belle signor signora
czar (tsar) czarina (tsarina) sultan sultana
executor executrix testator testatrix
Source: Ansah, J. A. (2022). An Easier Approach to English Grammar (The Complete Edition). Green Foliage.
