Gender of Nouns and Pronouns

Read the following sentences.

The little boy was crying.

He is my cousin.

My brother is a doctor.

Ravi saw him this morning.

My uncle lives in Australia.

In the above sentences the words ‘Boy’, ‘he’, ‘brother’, ‘Ravi’, ‘him’ and ‘uncle’ stand for a male (boy). They are therefore, said to be Masculine Gender. The names of all male persons or animals are said to be of the Masculine Gender. Example:  man, actor, uncle, hero, king, lion etc.

Read the following sentences.

Dia is a very pretty girl.

She looks sad.

Riya is my sister.

My mother cooks well.

My aunt loves her.

In the above sentences the words ‘Dia’, ‘girl’, ‘she’, ‘Riya’ ‘sister’, ‘mother’, ‘aunt’ and ‘her’ stand for a female (girl). The names of all female persons or animals are said to be of the Feminine Gender. Example: woman, aunt, daughter, actress, queen, lioness etc.

Read the following sentences.

This is a chair. It is made of wood.

My house is big.

Give me the book.

The tree fell down.

I need a pencil.

In the above sentences the words ‘chair’, ‘it’, ‘house’, ‘book’, ‘tree’ and ‘pencil’ stand for places and things. Things without life cannot be distinguished either as male or female; hence the names of such things are said to be of the Neuter Gender. Example: house, knife, tree, chair, table, book, ball etc.

Important Points:

1. The pronouns ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘us’ can be either Masculine or Feminine.

2. The Pronoun ‘he’ is used for Singular Masculine Noun, ‘she’ is used for Singular Feminine Noun, and ‘it’ is used for Singular Neuter Noun.

3. The pronouns ‘they’ and ‘them’ may be Masculine, Feminine or Neuter.

Example:

The boys are in the class. Ask them if they want to go out to play. (Masculine)

The girls have just arrived. Ask them if they want something to eat. (Feminine)

Here are some books lying on the table. They have many beautiful poems in them. (Neuter)

Here are list of Masculine and Feminine.