Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns :
What in nature is called the difference of sex is in grammar called the difference of Gender. The following are therefore the different kinds of genders.
(i) Nouns denoting male animals are Masculine Nouns.
(ii) Nouns denoting female animals are Feminine Nouns.
(iii) Nouns denoting animals of either sex are Common Nouns.
(iv) Nouns denoting things of neither sex, that is, things without life are Neuter Nouns.
Generally Material and Abstract Nouns are of the Neuter Gender, since they denote things without life, things of neither sex. Collective Nouns are generally Neuter, since
they denote groups and groups as such have no life.
Ways of forming the feminine of nouns
There are three different ways by which a Masculine Noun is changed to a Feminine Noun.
A) By a change of word in the Masculine Nouns
B) By adding a word to the Masculine Nouns
C) By adding ESS to the Masculine
Let us see one by one to learn how to form feminine nouns from masculine nouns.
A ) By a change of word in the Masculine Nouns
Masculine….Feminine
1. Bachelor…..spinster
2. Bachelor…..maid
3. Boar….sow
4. Boy….girl
5. Brother….sister
6. Buck….doe
7. Bull….cow
8. Bull….ox
9. Bullock….heifer
10. Cock….hen
11. Colt….filly
12. Dog….bitch
13. Drake….duck
14. Drone….bee
15. Earl….countess
16. Father….mother
17. Friar….monk
18. Friar….nun
19. Gander….goose
20. Gentleman….lady
21. Hart….hind
22. Horse….mare
23. Husband….wife
24. King….queen
25. Lord….lady
26. Man….woman
27. Nephew….niece
28. Papa….mamma
29. Ram….ewe
30. Sir….madam
31. Son….daughter
32. Stag….hind
33. Swain….nymph
34. Uncle….aunt
35. Wizard ….witch
B) By adding a word to the Masculine Nouns
Feminine nouns can be formed by adding prefixes and suffixes to the Masculine nouns.
Let us see how Feminine nouns are formed by adding a prefix or changing the prefix.
Masculine….Feminine
1. Bull-calf….cow-calf
2. Buck-rabbit….doe-rabbit
3. Cock-sparrow….hen-sparrow
4. He-goat….she-goat
5. Jack-ass….she-ass
6. Jack-ass….jenny-ass
7. Man-servant….maid-servant
Let us see how Feminine nouns are formed by adding a suffix or changing the suffix.
Masculine….Feminine
1. Grand-father….grand-mother
2. Great-uncle….great-aunt
3. Land-lord….land-lady
4. Pea-cock….pea-hen
5. Dairy-man….dairy-maid
6. Washer-man….washer-woman
C) By adding ESS to the Masculine
(a) By adding ESS to the Masculine without any change in the form of the Masculine.
Masculine….Feminine
1. Author….authoress
2. Baron….baroness
3. Count….countess
4. Giant….giantess
5. God….goddess
6. Heir….heiress
7. Host….hostess
8. Jew….Jewess
9. Lion….lioness
10. Manager….manageress
11. Mayor….mayoress
12. Patron….patroness
13. Peer….peeress
14. Poet….poetess
15. Priest….priestess
16. Prince….princess
17. Prior….prioress
18. Prophet….prophetess
19. Shepherd….shepherdess
20. Viscount….viscountess
(b) By adding ESS and omitting the vowel of the last syllable of the Masculine
Masculine….Feminine
1. Actor….actress
2. Benefactor….benefactress
3. Conductor….conductress
4. Director….directress
5. Enchanter….enchantress
6. Founder….foundress
7. Hunter….huntress
8. Inspector….inspectress
9. Instructor….instructress
10. Negro….negress
11. Porter….portress
12. Preceptor….preceptress
13. Songster….songstress
14. Tempter….temptress
15. Tiger….tigress
16. Traitor….traitress
17. Votary….votaress
18. Waiter….waitress
(c) By adding ESS to the Masculine in less regular way
Masculine….Feminine
1. Abbot….abbess
2. Duke….duchess
3. Masculine….Feminine
4. Master….Miss
5. Mr. …. Mrs.
6. Emperor….empress
7. Governor….governess
8. Lad….lass
9. Master….mistress
10. Marquis….Marchioness
11. Marquess…. Marchioness
12. Murderer….murderess
13. Sorcerer….sorceress
But the feminine forms are not much used in modern English. Author and poet are being applied to man and woman alike.
God….goddess : In this GOD is changed into GODDESS by adding ESS after adding additional D. Note that here there is a change in the masculine (adding or dropping letter) before adding ESS.
Note that where an unmarried lady of any age is referred to as Miss whereas a man, whether married or unmarried, is referred to as Mr.
RELATED PAGES :
- The Noun
- Kinds of Nouns
- Kinds of Nouns in English
- Types of Nouns in English
- Correct Usage of Nouns
- Classification of Nouns
- Proper Nouns
- Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns
- Collective Nouns
- Nouns of Multitude
- Material Nouns
- Compound Nouns
- Concrete Nouns
- Countable Nouns
- Uncountable Nouns
- Count Nouns
- Mass Nouns
- Pronouns
- Abstract Nouns formed from Adjectives
- Abstract Nouns formed from Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns formed from Verbs
- Abstract Nouns of the same form as Verbs
- Absolute Phrases
- Noun and Gender
- Nouns and Gender
- Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns
- Masculine Nouns
- Feminine Nouns
- Ways of forming the feminine of nouns
- Exceptional Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns
- Exceptional Feminine Nouns
- Foreign Feminine Nouns
- Nouns in Common Gender
- Common Gender Nouns
- Neuter Pronouns
- Neuter Gender Nouns
- Gender of Personified Things
- Noun and Case
- Kinds of Cases in English
- Noun and Number
- Singular and Plural
- Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns
- Ways of forming plurals
- Formation of Plurals
- Compound Nouns and Plurals
- Noun Infinitive
- Noun to Verb
- The Noun
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