Gender
Gender is a grammatical category that determines the sex of nouns and pronouns. There are four genders in English:
1. Masculine Gender
2. Feminine Gender
3. Neuter Gender
4. Common gender
1. Masculine Gender: It denotes the male member of a species. For example: Man, tiger, boy, king, bull, husband, cock, lord, uncle, God, emperor, lion, etc.
2. Feminine Gender: It denotes the female member of a species. For example: woman, girl, queen, cow, wife, hen, lady, aunt, Goddess, empress, mare, etc.
3. Neuter Gender: It denotes the things without life or sex. For example: bread, church, door, book, table, tea, butter, floor, house, chalk, etc.
4. Common gender: It denotes the creatures of either sex and the same word can be used for both the male and female. For example: parent, child, teacher, student, spouse, servant, cousin, person, etc.
Things to remember:
(a) Some masculine nouns have no feminine forms. For example: Person, judge, captain, knight, etc.
(b) Names of ships, countries and fine arts are generally as feminine. For example:
· The Titanic sank with all her crew members.
· Our country expects everyone to love her.
· This poem has her own charm.
(c) Lower animals and young children are usually regarded as Neuter Gender. For example:
· The baby was crying for its mother.
· The snake crept into its hole.
(d) A few masculine nouns are sometimes used as nouns of common gender. For example: actor, poet, man, dog, author, horse, etc.