Noun - Gender
Utter the word sex and the students become eager to know what you are going to talk about. Disappointment follows when the grammarian tells the students that he (or maybe she, you have to be very careful) is to discuss gender.
There was a man and a woman. Both of them became teachers. They taught students who were either male (called boys) or female (called girls). But they also had to be constantly in touch with books, which were neither male nor female.
Now, a noun that denotes a male animal is said to be of the masculine gender. E.g: man (now don’t say man is not an animal!), boy.
A noun that denotes a female animal is said to be of the feminine gender. Ex: woman, girl.
A noun that denotes either a male or a female is said to be of the common gender. Ex: teacher, student.
A noun that denotes a thing without life, neither a male nor a female, is said to be of the neuter gender. Ex: book.
Rule: Collective nouns, even when they denote living beings, are considered of the neuter gender.
Incorrect: Harshad Patil had a herd of cows. He kept a herdsman to look after her.
Now what did the herdsman look after? Herd, of course. And the herd consists of cows (females), not bulls (males). So you think herd is a feminine noun. But this is not correct. Being a collective noun, it is neither male nor female. So, apply neuter gender.
Correct: Harshad Patil had a herd of cows. He kept a herdsman to look after it.
Rule: Young children and the lower animals are also referred to as the neuter gender.
Incorrect: The baby loves his toys.
Perhaps, because it hardly matters to a baby whether it is treated as male or a female, grammarians prefer to do away with sex in its case. So,
Correct: The baby love its toys.
Incorrect: The mouse lost his tail when the cat pounced on him.
I don’t think the above sentence has been written after verifying the mouse’s sex. We are often uncertain regarding the sex of lower animals. The mouse here may be a male or a female. So, the English language prefers the easy way out: treat it as of the neuter gender.
Correct: The mouse lost its tail when the cat pounced on it.
Rule: When objects without life are personified, they are considered of
1. The masculine gender if the object is remarkable for strength and violence.
Ex: Sun, Summer, Winter, Time, Death etc.
2. The feminine gender if the object is remarkable for beauty, gentleness and gracefulness. Ex: Earth, Moon, Spring, Nature, Mercy etc.
Incorrect: The Sun came from behind the clouds and with her brilliance tore the veil of darkness.
Convention does not see brilliance as a womanly quality, but a mainly one. So,
Correct: The Sun …. with his brilliance ….
Incorrect: Nature offers his lap to him that seeks it.
The offering of a lap is usually the mother’s role. Hence, Nature here should be treated as a feminine noun.
Correct: Nature offers her lap to him that seeks it.
Incorrect: The earth goes round the sun in 365 days. Can you calculate her speed.
The error being made here is that personification is being brought where it does not exist. In the above statement the earth is being treated as a body (a thing), not a person. The scientist here is not concerned with the womanly qualities of the planet. So, neuter gender should be applied.
Correct: The earth goes round the sun in 365 days. Can you calculate its speed.
Masculine | Feminine |
Bachelor | Spinster |
Boy | Girl |
Brother | Sister |
Bull | Cow |
Bullock | Heifer |
Dog | Bitch |
Father | Mother |
Gander | Goose |
Gentleman | Lady |
Horse | Mare |
Husband | Wife |
King | Queen |
Lord | Lady |
Papa | Mamma |
Compiled By: Chaudhary Amit V.
Source: (Book: English is easy written by Chetananand Singh), (Wren & Martin)
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