GENDER OF NOUNS

In English, there are four types of genders:- 1. Masculine Gender, 2. Feminine Gender, 3. Neuter Gender and  4. Common Gender.

(1)	Masculine Gender	:	It refers to a male human or animal; as:- man, boy, uncle, son, brother, king, lion ………. etc
(2)	Feminine Gender	:	It refers to a female human or animal; as:- woman, girl, aunt, daughter, sister, queen, lioness………. etc.
(3)	Neuter Gender	:	It refers to lifeless things; as:- house, knife, tree, chair, table, desk, ball………. etc.
(4)	Common Gender	:	It refers to either a female or a male; as:- child, friend, cousin, person, pupil, parent, teacher………. etc.

WAYS OF FORMING THE FEMININE NOUN FROM A MASCULINE NOUN

A_ Feminine is formed by adding ‘ess’ to the masculine; as:-

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Lion	Lioness	Prince	Princess
Poet	Poetess	Shepherd	Shepherdess
Priest	Priestess	Host	Hostess
Author	Authoress	Count	Countess

B_ Sometimes the form is faintly changed before ‘ess’ is added; as:-

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
God	Goddess	Master	Mistress
Actor	Actress	Governor	Governess
Hunter	Huntress	Emperor	Empress
Tiger	Tigress	Negro	Negress

C_ Sometimes feminine is formed by a word different from masculine; as:-

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Bachelor	Maid	Horse	Mare
Boy	Girl	Husband	Wife
Brother	Sister	Son	Daughter
Bull	Cow	King	Queen
Cock	Hen	Man	Woman
Dog	Bitch	Nephew	Niece
Lad	Lass	Monk	Nun
Uncle	Aunt	Papa	Mamma
Gentleman	Lady	Sir	Madam
Hero	Heroine	bridegroom	Bride
Widower	Widow	Mr.	Mrs.

D_ Feminine of a compound noun is formed from masculine as follows:-

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine
Man-servant	Maid-servant	He-goat	She-goat
Gentleman	Gentlewoman	Landlord	Landlady
Step-son	Step-daughter	Dog-wolf	Bitch-wolf
Grand-father	Grand-mother	Milk-man	Milk-maid
Washer-man	Washer-woman	Pea-cock	Pea-hen
Fisher-man	Fisher-woman	Step-father	Step-mother
Father-in-law	Mother-in-law	Billy-goat	Nanny-goat