Page 23 - Grammar Glow - 5
P. 23

Feminine Gender


          A noun that denotes a female is said to be of the feminine gender.

                  Nouns such as woman, girl, mother, queen, lioness, cow and mare are said to
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                  be of the feminine gender.

                  The pronouns she and her are said to be of the feminine gender.
              O

          Common Gender


          A noun that denotes both male and female is said to be of the common gender.

                  Nouns such as parent, carpenter, child, bird, teacher, doctor and baby are said
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                  to be of the common gender.

                  The pronouns I, me, you, we and us are said to be of the common gender.
              O

          Neuter Gender


          A noun that denotes a thing without life (a non-living thing) is said to be of the neuter
          gender.

                  Nouns such as pencil, pen, book, wall, box, blackboard and fan are said to be
              O
                  of the neuter gender.

                  The pronoun it is said to be of the neuter gender.
              O

          Formation of Feminine Nouns


          Let’s read the ways in which a feminine noun can be formed from a masculine noun.

                  We add -ess to the masculine gender with or without making any changes to
              O
                  the spelling.


                 Masculine               Feminine                     Masculine               Feminine

               duke                    duchess                      master                  mistress

               God                     Goddess                      priest                  priestess

               host                    hostess                      prince                  princess

               hunter                  huntress                     shepherd                shepherdess


               author                  authoress                    tiger                   tigress

               poet                    poetess                      waiter                  waitress



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