6 Gender

At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:

€€ identify the gender of nouns.
€€ distinguish between different genders of nouns.
€€ appropriately use masculine, feminine, common and neuter genders in
sentences.

Change the underlined nouns from feminine to masculine and vice versa. Make
other necessary changes. One has been done for you.
1. My father visits his nephew every month.
My mother visits her niece every month.

2. The daughter resembles her mother.

_____________________________________________________________
3. The author wrote a book about an actress.

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4. His father-in-law is a poet.

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5. The king is a widower.

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6. The priestess offered prayers to the goddess.
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7. The bridegroom was welcomed by his mother-in-law.
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 Nouns that refer to females are said to be in the feminine gender. For
example, mother, sister, daughter, etc.
Nouns that refer to males are said to be in the masculine gender. For
example, father, son, brother, etc.
Nouns that refer to non-living things are said to be in the neuter gender.
For example, pen, pencil, books, etc.

Changing Masculine to Feminine

€€ Masculine nouns that end with r, can be changed into feminine nouns by removing
the vowel before the last letter and adding –ess.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
tiger tigress emperor empress
actor actress waiter waitress
hunter huntress actor actress
conductor conductress instructor instructress
€€ Other masculine nouns can also be changed into feminine nouns by adding –ess.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
poet poetess count countess
lion lioness priest priestess
manager manageress patron patroness
prophet prophetess shepherd shepherdess
steward stewardess mayor mayoress
host hostess prince princess
€€ Masculine nouns can also be changed into feminine nouns by using a completely
different word.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
father mother hero heroine
husband wife gander goose
brother sister earl countess
cock hen uncle aunt
stallion mare bridegroom bride
gentleman lady stag hind

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 Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
monk nun lord lady
bachelor maid/spinster wizard witch
dog bitch widower widow
bull cow drake duck
lad lass sir madam
€€ Masculine compound nouns can be changed into feminine compound nouns by
adding a suffix or a prefix.
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
he-bear she-bear grandfather grandmother
bull-calf cow-calf landlord landlady
headmaster headmistress peacock peahen
milkman milkmaid man-servant maid-servant
policeman policewoman cock-sparrow hen-sparrow
A. Change the following masculine nouns into their feminine forms.
1. hunter _________________ 7. stallion _________________
2. giant _________________ 8. buck _________________
3. sir _________________ 9. milkman _________________
4. gentleman _________________ 10. peacock _________________
5. widow _________________ 11. host _________________
6. drake _________________ 12. wizard _________________
Look at the table given below.
Common Masculine Feminine
person man woman
parent father mother
child boy/son girl/daughter
spouse husband wife
server waiter waitress
monarch king queen
homeowner landlord landlady
sibling brother sister
principal headmaster headmistress

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 Nouns that refer to both masculine and feminine gender, i.e., the nouns in
which the difference between masculine and feminine genders has been
lost, are said to be in common gender.

Let’s have a look at a list of some common gender words.

baby bird child cattle cat
companion cousin doctor dancer deer
director employee enemy friend guest
guardian infant musician minister neighbour
owner passenger parent pig president
pupil relative singer sheep servant
student swan teacher tutor worker
The above list highlights that nouns that denote a class of people, like teacher, doctor,
friend, minister, etc., generally belong to the of common gender. For example,
´´ We went on a field trip with our teachers.
´´ Some of my relatives live abroad.
Usually, animals are known by one general word. However, many animals have specific
names for male and female forms.
Let’s have a quick look at the table to know the common gender of animals.
Common Masculine Feminine
rabbit buck doe
fox fox vixen
horse stallion mare
duck drake duck
sheep ram ewe
deer buck doe
lion lion lioness
peafowl peacock peahen
tiger tiger tigress
goose gander goose
cattle bull cow
pig boar sow
chicken cock hen

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 €€ Cow is the feminine gender and bull is the masculine gender of animals like cattle,
elephant, crocodile, giraffe and hippopotamus.
€€ Jack is the masculine gender and jenny (or jill) is the feminine gender of animals
like donkey and rabbit.
€€ Sow is the feminine gender and boar is the masculine gender of animals like pig,
bear, hedgehog and jellyfish.

B. Categorise the following nouns as common, masculine, feminine or neuter.

speaker table mare teacher stewardess
musician castle television cock neighbour
sultana stag singer gander trees

Common Gender Masculine Gender Feminine Gender Neuter Gender

C. Rewrite the following sentences using common gender nouns. One has been done
for you.
1. My mother and father have left for my grandmother and grandfather’s place.
My parents have left for my grandparents’ place.

2. We have twenty-five men and ten women in the hall.

______________________________________________________________
3. I love my brother and sister.

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 4. The waiter and the waitress were busy.
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5. The drake and the duck swam happily in the lake.

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6. The roosters and the hens were running around the farm.

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D. Read the paragraph carefully. Write the gender of the nouns in the brackets
provided beside them. Write C for common, M for masculine, F for feminine and
N for neuter.
My name is Akshay ( ). My father is a doctor ( ), and my mother is a teacher ( ).
I have a brother ( ) and a sister ( ). My siblings ( ) are twins. I love to read story
books ( ). My grandparents ( ) stay with us. My uncle ( ) and aunt ( ) also live
nearby. On weekends, I play with my cousins ( ). My uncle ( ) narrates wonderful
stories ( ). He is a part-time writer ( ). I have a pet dog ( ), whose name is Pirate.
I love my family and my pet.
NCF C-2.2

Initiative & Self-Direction

Re-read the above chapter. Now, let’s play a game to test your knowledge.
Take 4 sheets of paper. Cut each sheet into 6 equal-sized pieces. You should have 24 small
pieces of paper in total.
On each small piece of paper, write a noun from the list below: doctor, queen, table,
lion, student, book, actress, father, child, chair, teacher, cat, hen, uncle, friend, pencil,
nurse, rooster, cousin, lamp, mother, dog, singer, computer.
Mix up all the pieces of paper. Now, sort these nouns into the correct gender categories—
Masculine, Feminine, Common and Neuter.
After sorting, count how many nouns you have in each category.
Choose three nouns from your sorted piles and use them in a short story. Make sure your
story shows that you understand the gender of each noun you’ve chosen!

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