Unit 4: Gender

1)   Nouns and pronouns can be classified according to masculine, feminine and common gender.

2)   The masculine gender refers to a male.

Examples:

king

boy

man

he

3)   The feminine gender refers to a female.

Examples:

queen

girl

woman

she

More examples :

People

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
brother	sister	wizard	witch
Bachelor	spinster	Shepherd	Shepherdess
Hero	Heroine	Waiter	Waitress
Husband	Wife	Giant	Giantess
Man	Woman	Father	Mother
Prince	Princess	Conductor	Conductress
King	Queen	Bridegroom	Bride
Monk	Nun	Son	Daughter
Nephew	Niece	Gentleman	Lady
Widower	Widow	Ogre	Ogress
uncle	aunt	master	mistress

Animals

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Male	Female	Gander	Goose
Lion	Lioness	Bullock	Heifer
Tiger	Tigress	Cob(swan)	Pen
Boar	Sow	Buck(deer)	Doe
Cockerel	Hen	Hawk	Bowess
Bull	Cow	Leopard	Leopardess
Ram	Ewe	Lion	Lioness
Drake	Duck	Ram(sheep)	Ewe
Stallion(horse)	Mare	Wolf	She-wolf
He-goat	She-goat	Tom cat	Tabby cat
Buck(deer)	Doe	Drone(bee)	Queen
Dog(fox)	Vixen	Buck(kangaroo)	Roo
leopard	leopardess	Jack(wallaby)	jill

4)    A common gender can be used to refer to either a male or a female. There is no change in its form.

Examples:

Animal	Friend	Passenger
Baby	Guest	Pupil
Bird	Infant	Singer
Cat	Orphan	Teacher
child	owner	traveller

Exercise

Choose the feminine gender of the underlined words.

1)    My uncle likes to bake.

a)    aunt

b)    sister

c)    mother

d)    daughter

2)    The gander is swimming in the pond.

a)    hen

b)    fowl

c)    goose

d)    cockerel

3)    Look! Here comes the prince!

a)    lass

b)    queen

c)    princess

d)    daughter

4)    A giant chased Jack all the way down the beanstalk.

a)    witch

b)    agress

c)    giantess

d)    manageress

5)    The manager is a strict man who demands efficiency from all the workers in the company.

a)    landlady, lady

b)    directress, lady

c)    secretary, female

d)    manageress, woman

6)    My landlord has only one room left for rental.

a)    tenant

b)    landboy

c)    classmate

d)    roommate

7)    The lion hunts to feed its young.

a)    vixen

b)    tigress

c)    lioness

d)    ynanny-goat

8)    He was hailed a hero for saving the children from the burning building.

a)    She, idol

b)    She, heroine

c)    He, popstar

d)    She, champion

9)    The monks walked quietly down the narrow corridor.

a)    nuns

b)    maids

c)    countesses

d)    baronesses

10)  The actor who lives in the large house on the hill, has five cars.

a)    actress

b)    mistress

c)    teacher

d)    priestess