Gender

GENDER

In general we use the same word for masculine and feminine nouns. They are called common gender nouns. Masculine nouns are used for men, boys and male animals. Feminine nouns are used for women, girls and female animals. Take a look:

child

dancer

writer

teacher

doctor

enemy

student

singer

engineer

friend

lawyer

neighbor

All the nouns above can be used with feminine or masculine nouns. For example, when you say “child” you can talk about a boy or a girl. See other examples:

The engineer works really hard. – engineer can be a man or woman.

My friend is coming to the birthday party. – friend can be a boy or a girl friend.

But there are some nouns that have a different form for feminine words:

Add sufixe -ess

Examples:

The Prince and the Princess got married last September.

The actress was great, but I didn’t like that actor’s work.

Different Words

Examples:

My son likes to play the guitar, but my daughter prefers the violin.

The Queen died two months ago and the king is already looking for a new one.

The groom looked really anxious while waiting for the bride.

Animals

Examples:

During our safari, we saw a lion and a lioness.

Bulls are more dangerous than cows.

Compound Nouns

Examples:

She likes her father-in-law, but she doesn’t like her mother-in-law.

My grandmother and my grandfather are divorced. They don’t live together anymore.

Also learn from Captain English about Numerals.