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Polseguera

English Grammar Step by Step

 

     UNIT 13
     GENDER1



MASCULINE FEMININE BABY
actor actor, actress
author author, authoress2
bachelor spinster
barman barmaid
bear, he-bear bear3, she-bear bear cub
boy girl
billy-goat nanny-goat kid
boy-friend girl-friend
bridegroom bride
brother sister
buck4 doe fawn, young rabbit
bull5 cow calf
cat, tomcat, tom cat, she-cat kitten
cock hen chick (newborn), chicken (young)
cock6 pheasant, pheasant hen pheasant, pheasant chick pheasant
conductor conductor, conductress
dog dog, bitch pup, puppy
duke duchess
duck, drake duck duckling
earl (British), count (European) countess
emperor emperor, empress
executor executor, executrix
father mother son (male), daughter (female), child7 (male and female); baby (newborn or very young)
father-in-law mother-in-law brother-in-law (male), sister-in-law (female)
fiancé fiancée
fox fox, vixen fox cub
goat, he-goat goat, she-goat kid
goose, gander goose gosling
gentleman lady
god god, goddess
half-brother half-sister
headmaster, headteacher headmistress, headteacher
heir heir, heiress
hero heroin, hero
host host, hostess
husband wife
king queen prince (male), princess (female)
lion lion, lioness lion cub
lord, gentleman lady
man8 woman9
manager manager, manageress
manservant maidservant
millionaire millionair, millionairess
monk nun
nephew niece
peacock, peafowl peahen, peafowl chick
pig, boar pig, sow piglet
poet poet, poetess
ram ewe lamb
stag, hart hind fawn
stallion, horse mare, horse foal (newborn); colt (male), filly (female)
stepbrother stepsister10
steward steward, stewardess
tiger tiger, tigress tiger cub
uncle aunt cousin (male and female)
usher usher, usherette
waiter waitress, waiter
widower widow
wizard witch
wolf, he-wolf wolf, she-wolf wolf cub

Fill in the blanks with the appropiate noun.

a  "His __________ is going to have a __________."
   "Really! I didn't know she was pregnant. I thought they didn't want to have children."
b  She is a __________, as she's the __________ of a duke.
c  Both the __________ and the __________ are very important at the early stages of a child.
d  She serves drinks in a bar. I think she's the best __________ I have ever met.
e  When his wife died, he became a __________.
f  The offspring of cats are called __________.
g  My cousin's mother is my __________.
h  __________ and __________! I should like to propose a toast for the next governor.
i  An unmarried old man is a __________; and a single old lady, a __________.
j  Someone whose job is to show people to their seats in a cinema is called an __________.
k  The __________ of the school lives just round the corner. She's very talkative.
l  My husband's brother is my __________.
m  A king and a __________'s son is a __________.
n  The opposite word for "monk" is "__________".
o  This __________ has just had piglets.
p  More than one __________ in a henhouse is not a good idea, since they would fight against one another.
q  A man who is going to marry is the __________; a woman, the __________.
r  A male horse is called "__________"; a female, "_________"; and the baby, "__________".
s  The baby of a tiger is a __________.
t  __________ and __________ only appear in fairy stories. They have magic powers.
u  A __________ is a girl who sees to the needs of passengers.
v  A person who writes poems is a __________.
w  The son of my sister is my __________.
x  The masculine term for "ewe' is "_________".
y  Look at that __________ with her ducklings!
z  A person who has a lot of money is a __________.

____________________
1  He, she and they (plural) refer to people; it and they (plural), to things and animals. Here is a list of the most common masculine and feminine nouns. It is also worth noticing that it is used when the sex of a baby is unknown. We may ask Is it a he or a she? if we want to know the sex of a baby. As you can see, the baby has been included when possible.

People personify things (like cars) or animals when they have an affection for them. She is quite common with countries and ships: Isn't she lovely! (Referring to a boat.)

And last but not least, some words refer both to a man and to a woman: pupil. If we want to specify the sex, we add male or female, man or woman, and so forth:
     boy-friend → girl-friend
     male pupil → female pupil
     headmaster → headmistress (headteacher is possible both for a man and for a woman.)
     a man student → a woman student
     barman → barmaid
     he-goat → she-goat

2  Generally speaking, suffixes ending in -ess, -ette or -ix are avoided nowadays, ie we prefer "author" to "authoress" to refer to a woman.
3  It is quite common to use the masculine form to refer to a female animal when we are not interested in its gender. Occasionally, the female term may be used to refer to the male. For instance, "duck".
4  "Buck" refers to male animals, especially to deer and rabbits. "Doe" is the feminine term: a buck rabbit → a doe rabbit. See "stag" as well.
5  "Bull", "cow" and "calf" may refer to large animals, such as elephants and whales.
6  "Cock" and "hen" are used to indicate the sex of birds; "chick", for the baby.
7  In the plural, we use "children". See unit 12, section 10.
8  Words containing -man in their masculine forms have -woman in their feminine forms: policeman → policewoman. If we wish to refer to both a man and a woman, it is much better to use -person (because the use of -man is considered to be sexist by many people): chairman (male) chairwoman (female), chairperson (male and female). Sometimes, we do not even need the word "person": chair (instead of chairperson). Occasionally, we do not use"-person": police officer (a man or a woman), policeman (a man), policewoman (a woman).
9  The plural of "man" is "men"; of "woman", "women". See unit 12, sections 10 and 22.
10 We can have other combinations with "step-", like stepfather.

Author: Miquel Molina i Diez

Pages: 1 and the key

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   Contents

   Introduction

   Notes

1  Negative and interrogative sentences (Page 2 and the key)

2  Short answers (Page 2 and the key)

3  Question tags (Page 2 and the key)

4  Questions and exclamations (Page 2 and the key)

5  So, neither, nor, either (the key)

6  Be, used to, would, be/get/become used to, dare, have, get, become, grow, go, turn, fall and feel (Page 2 and the key)

7  Verb tenses: forms (Page 2 and the key)

8  Irregular verbs

9  Verb tenses: uses (Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5 and the key)

10 Personal pronouns, possessives and reflexive pronouns (Page 2 and the key)

11 The genitive case (the key)

12 Singular and plural nouns (Page 2 and the key)

13 Gender (the key)

14 A, an, some, any, no, not, none, each, every and the; compounds of some, any, no and every (Page 2, Page 3 and the key)

15 Neither, not...either, none, not...any, both and all (the key)

16 A few, few, a lot, lots, a little, little, many, much, no and plenty (the key)

17 Enough, too, so and such (the key)

18 Comparative and superlative sentences (Page 2 and the key)

19 Adjective order (the key)

20 Relative clauses (Page 2 and the key)

21 Do and make (the key)

22 Modal verbs (Page 2, Page 3 and the key)

23 Infinitives, gerunds and present participles (Page 2 and the key)

24 Conditional sentences (Page 2 and the key)

25 Passive sentences (the key)

26 Reported speech (Page 2 and the key)

27 Purpose (the key)

28 Word order (the key)

29 Inversion (the key)

30 Connectors (Page 2 and the key)

31 Prepositions (Page 2, Page 3 and the key)

32 Phrasal verbs (the key)

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