This article is recommended for beginners and advanced English learners. From it you will learn what gender nouns have in English, as well as how to take into account the gender of a noun when replacing a noun with a pronoun. The article is divided into 2 parts:

You can find more information about the English noun in the reference book.

Gender of nouns in English (for beginners)

In english animate nouns are mainly feminine and masculine. The middle genus includes babies ( babies) and animals ( animals). Pets ( pets) are masculine and feminine.

All inanimate nouns are neuter.

From a grammatical point of view, the gender of a noun must be taken into account when replacing a noun with a pronoun.

EXAMPLES
I like my flat. It is cozy. (flat = it, flat (flat) is an inanimate noun)

Exercise 1. Fill the table. Select from the list of words those that can be replaced by he, she, it, they.

Children, a cat, animals, a man, Mary, parents, Oleg, friends, a pen, books, mother, rain, a house, rice, February, summer, a river, Peter and Mike, a dog, windows, Tuesday, woman.

If in this exercise you are in doubt as to whether you have used the pronoun correctly they you are encouraged to study the topic English Pronouns for Beginners COMING SOON

Gender of nouns in English (for continuing)

As mentioned earlier, animate nouns in English are masculine and feminine. Besides common nouns such as boy-girl, man-woman, lord-lady, father-mother, sir-miss in English, there are still quite a few words that came from other languages, for example, from French.

Historically, it happened that ships and planes in English are feminine. Also the word England female.

EXAMPLES
England is proud of her poets.
What a fine yacht! She is very fast.

Masculine and feminine nouns in English

a lion - lion
a lioness - lioness (a female lion)

From a grammatical point of view, the gender of a noun must be taken into account when replacing a noun with a pronoun and when translating into Russian.

EXAMPLE
The maid-servant came to clean the room. She was very pretty.
Maid came to clean the room. She was very pretty.

Check out the tables that show the basic patterns of the formation of the gender of nouns in English.

* * *

Exercise 2. Write the noun of the opposite gender. Translate pairs of nouns.

son, brother, husband, nephew, uncle, king, gentleman, bride, monk, headmaster, cock, bull, actor, count, duke, emperor, god, host, tsar, prince, widow, hero, dog, boar, drake ( 25)

In many languages, including ours, all nouns are divided into three categories by gender: masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. In English, the overwhelming majority of nouns denoting objects belong to the neuter gender (it), but by no means he and not she... For those who are taking their first steps in English, it is very difficult to rebuild, but over time and with practice, such reservations disappear.

So, there is a gender category in English, just words are subdivided by gender differently than in Russian. How to determine the gender of a noun in Russian, or, for example, in German? Only by memorization. Of course, if you speak this language from birth, then you subconsciously acquire the generic affiliation of words (the words "coffee" and "birthday" do not count). In English, everything is much easier, because there are basic rules.

Names own are divided into two genders: masculine (masculine) and feminine (feminine), and are replaced by personal pronouns he or she.

Nouns denoting animals, are neutral and are replaced by a personal pronoun it.

Nouns that denote inanimate objects, are neuter and are replaced by a personal pronoun it.

As you can see, these simple rules make learning English much easier than learning Russian. But there are exceptions to each rule, which we will analyze with you.

• personal pronouns: he(he is masculine) she(she is feminine) it(it is neuter).
• object pronouns: him(his), her(her), it(his).
• possessive adjectives: his(his), her(her), its(his - neuter), and possessive pronouns: his(him and hers(her).

When talking about people, the pronouns he or she are used, depending on gender.

If they speak in general about a certain person whose gender is unknown or unimportant, then he / his / him is used. The pronoun he in this case can refer to both a man and a woman. This use is found in formal communication style.

If anybody calls, tell him to call back later. - If someone calls, tell him to call back later.

Opponents of gender inequality (and there are many of them) try to avoid this use of the pronoun he, which is why they often talk about an unknown person he or she / his or her / him or her:

When a customer pays by his or her credit card, he or she must enter pin code. - When a customer pays with their credit card, he or she must enter a pin code.

In everyday communication, when they mean a person whose gender is unimportant or unknown to the speaker, they use the pronoun they. Especially often they used after the words person, somebody, anybody:

Somebody called me, but when I answered, they hung up the phone. - Someone called me, but when I answered, they hung up.

When a person enters university, they should become more responsible. - When a person enters the university, he must become more responsible.

Concerning animals, then sometimes you can find the pronouns he and she in relation to our smaller brothers. He and she used when talking about their pets, or fairy-tale characters. These pronouns, used in relation to the animal, emphasize that the speaker endows the animal with intelligence, some kind of human qualities, feelings:

Some inanimate nouns denoting cars, motorcycles sometimes replaced with the pronoun she. The same goes for ships and boats:

I took a ride in Bob "s car. She is so fast! - I took a ride in Bob's car. She is so fast!

We have not seen the St. Mary since she sailed to the north. “We have not seen Saint Mary since she sailed north.

She can also refer to titles countries, but this is rarely seen, usually they use it:

Canada develops diplomatic relationship with other countries. Recently she has signed a new agreement. - Canada is developing diplomatic relations with other countries. She recently signed a new agreement.

There are pairs of nouns masculine - feminine:

bachelor / spinster- bachelor / unmarried woman
boy / girl- boy / girl
brother / sister- brother / sister
father / mother- dad mom
gentleman / lady- gentleman / lady
grandfather / grandmother- grandfather grandmother
grandson / granddaughter- grandson, granddaughter
husband / wife- husband wife
king / queen- king / queen
man / woman- man Woman
monk / nun- monk / nun
nephew / niece- nephew niece
sir / madam- sir / madam
son / daughter- son daughter
uncle / aunt- Uncle Aunt
widower / widow- widower / widow

The same goes for animals. For some species, there are different names for males and females:

bull / cow- bull / cow
rooster / hen- rooster / chicken
gander / goose- gander / goose
pig / sow- boar / sow
ram / ewe- ram / sheep
stallion / mare- stallion / mare

If it is necessary to indicate the sex of the animal, but there is no separate word for this, the pronouns he or she are used:

he-elephant- elephant
she-elephant- elephant
he-cat- cat
she-cat- cat

And in other animals, the names of females are formed using the suffix -ess:

lion / lioness- lion / lioness
tiger / tigress- tiger / tigress

Some profession names also change their gender using the -ess suffix and the words man / woman:

actor / actress- actor / actress
steward / stewardess- steward / stewardess
waiter / waitress- waiter / waitress
policeman / policewoman- police man / police woman
postman / postwoman- postman man / postman woman
salesman / saleswoman- seller man / seller woman

However, all the same opponents of gender inequality insist that the names of professions be the same for both sexes. As a result, all police officers began to be called policeofficers, sellers - salespeople, stewards and flight attendants - flightattendants... But still there are words that can mean both a woman and a man: chairman(chairman), spokesman(speaker). But more and more often instead of a word man a neutral word is used person or word woman: chairperson, spokesperson.

Sometimes the genus can be identified using the words man, woman, male, female. Have you ever thought about the fact that there are such professions that are associated with a particular gender? For example, soldier(soldier) , boxer(boxer) and footballer(footballer) evoke a male image in our minds, and such activities as nurse(nurse), model(model), babysitter(nanny for children) are usually associated with women. In life, it happens the other way around: women are boxers, and men are nurses. Then gender should be noted:

Woman boxer, woman footballer, male babysitter, male model

Some nouns can change their gender, for example, the words friend (friend / girlfriend), teacher (teacher / teacher), student (student / student) and others like that. How to determine the gender of such nouns in a sentence? Using context and pronouns.

My friend is a big fan of Sting. She knows all his lyrics by heart! - My friend is a big Sting fan. She knows the lyrics of all his songs.

Have you met the new teacher? They say, he is very strict. - Have you met the new teacher yet? They say he is very strict.

This is the student who passed her exams with flying colors. She is the best student in the college. - This is a student who has passed the exams perfectly. She is the best student in college.

As you can see, if at the beginning it is not clear what gender the person is, then in the future everything becomes clear when the speaker uses a pronoun.

Remembering the simple rules that we talked about in this article, you will not have to return to this topic anymore. I wish you success!

If you need professional help in learning English, our teachers are ready to help you. Try it and the positive result will not keep you waiting long!

For example, Boris Aleksandrovich Ilyish believes that the category of gender as a grammatical category does not exist in the English language. No noun in modern English exhibits any morphological features in its belonging to the masculine or feminine gender. And in words like actor - actress, prophet--prophetess the difference between words is only lexical.

Belyaeva M.A. believes that in the English language gender is not a grammatical, but a purely semantic category. In modern English, there is no grammatical category for the gender of nouns. Nouns refer to one gender or another for a purely semantic basis: the masculine gender includes nouns denoting male persons ( a father father, a brother brother, a son son), the feminine gender includes nouns denoting females ( a mother mother, a sister sister, a daughter daughter), the neuter nouns usually refer to nouns denoting inanimate objects ( a room a table a table a pen a pen). Nouns for animals are usually neuter.

V.V. Gurevich believes that there is no proper grammatical category of gender in the English noun, since there are no corresponding grammatical indicators (endings). In English, in cases where the gender of a noun differs, this is a semantic category, not a grammatical one, since neither the noun itself, nor the definition to it have formal gender indicators. Gender is determined only by reference to the personal pronoun 3 y. units h. ( he, she, it) .

However, we cannot but take into account the opinion of other researchers (M. Swan, I.P. Krylova, E.M. Gordon), who distinguish the category of the genus and talk about the activity and passivity of this category.

The gender category - masculine, feminine, neuter - was once inherent in the nouns of the Old English period. However, the historical development of the morphological structure of the English language led to the fact that the category of grammatical gender, devoid of morphological means of expression, ceased to exist. It is being replaced by a new category, which Professor V.N. Yartseva called the category of activity - passivity.

The essence of this new grammatical category consists in distinguishing two classes of words in the noun system: active nouns and passive nouns.

Active nouns are those nouns that, as the subject of a sentence, control the complement. This can include both persons, that is, people, and non-persons, that is, objects that, due to the current situation, are considered by the speakers as active.

Passives are those nouns that, being the subject of a sentence, do not require an addition. As V.N. Yartsev, the determining factor is the speaker's attitude to a given fact, generated by a specific situation of objective reality.

The category of activity - passivity has its material expression in language. Nouns of the active category correlate with the personal pronouns he, she according to their natural sex, with the relative pronoun who - which they take the possessive affix - "s.

Nouns of the passive category correspond only to the personal pronoun it and to the relative pronoun which:

She spent a great deal of money on her clothes, which she got from the most fashionable dressmakers in Paris ... (W.S. Maugham. The Lion "s Skin).

"I liked that picture," she said quietly, "I" m sorry you took it back. "(H.S. Walpole. A Picture).

They are also used in a prepositional phrase with of:

"The first gentleman detached a slip of paper and gave it to her." (J. Galsworthy. Maid in Waiting).

"The engine of his car purred into the morning air, while his mind went back to his mother" s death and his father "s." (G. Gordon. Let the Day Perish).

There are three kinds: masculine, feminine, and neuter. The belonging of words to one genus or another is to some extent related to the belonging of the concepts that they denote to the male or female sex (as in other languages).

For instance:

• - masculine - he, father, son, boy, king, brother;
• - feminine - she, mother, daughter, girl, queen, sister.

As for the neuter gender, all other words are referred to it: inanimate nouns ( table, idea, finger) and animate nouns that can be both masculine and feminine ( driver, sheep, child, monarch).

It should be noted that some authors distinguish four genders: masculine, feminine, neuter and common. They refer to the neuter genus inanimate objects or concepts ( carpet, dream, soul). And to the common gender, in their opinion, are animate nouns that can refer to both the male and female sex ( doctor, baby, horse).

The distinction between feminine and masculine is often carried out by using different words, or gender-defining morphemes. There are three ways to define a gender:

• 1. Feminine nouns are formed by attaching the suffix -ess to masculine nouns:
  • - count - countess; host - hostess; lion - lioness; prince - princess; baron - baroness; mayor - mayoress; priest - priestess; manager - manageress; heir - heiress; giant - giantess; patron - patroness; steward - stewardess; shepherd - shepherdess.

Some masculine nouns ending in -er, -or drop vowels - and -O- respectively:

- waiter-waitress; warder - wardress; actor -actress; murder - murderess; emperor - empress; tiger - tigress.

And other (including zero) morphological markers are also used:

• - bridegroom - bride; widower - widow; hero - heroine; usher - usherette; sultan - sultana; testator - testatrix; executor - executrix; master - mistress.
• 2. Different words are used for feminine and masculine gender:
  • - uncle - aunt; gentleman - lady; madam - sir; monk - nun; duke - duchess; wizard - witch; bachelor - spinster.

Particular attention should be paid to the separation of animal names by gender. Some of them (*) can serve as a general name for a class of animals, regardless of gender:

• - drake - duck *; gander - goose *; drone - bee *; tiger * - tigress; lion * - lioness; cock - hen; dog * - bitch; pig * (boar) - sow; sheep * - ewe; fox * - vixen; bull - cow *; horse * (stallion) - mare (filly).
• 3. The words contain elements indicating gender:
  • - men-servant - maid-servant; he-goat - she-goat; billy-goat - nanny-goat; he-sparrow - she-sparrow; he-wolf - she-wolf; landlord - landlady; boy-friend - girl-friend; man-driver - woman-driver; businessman - businesswoman.

Gender markers are sometimes used only in relation to gender, for which this property, the action is not usual, typical:

- male nurse - nurse; doctor - woman doctor; chairman - madam chairman.

• 1. As a result of personification, some inanimate nouns can be considered animate and as a result, like all animate nouns, can be either feminine or masculine:
  • Masculine - death, the fatherland, sun, winter;
  • · feminine - creation, nature, luck (Lady Luck), the earth (Mother Earth), the mother-land, the mother-language (a mother- tongue), fortune, fame, the moon, religion.
• 2. The names of countries, cities can refer to the feminine gender when they denote political and economic unity. But when they denote geographical unity, they are considered neutral.

Sometimes cars, trains and ships (yachts, ships, etc.) can refer to the female gender, especially if this emphasizes the reverent attitude towards them. However, if the vehicle belongs to a woman, she talks about it. he.

And the verb are the two most important parts of speech in any language. Indeed, in any of our messages there will be an object or phenomenon and its action (or lack of action), for example : Katya called me last night -Kate called me yesterday evening... The action object can be removed from this sentence - to me, or the circumstance of time - last night, but the noun and the verb stand "apart"; any of our statements cannot do without them.

The study of such a part of speech as a noun most often begins with the definition of a gender category. So, gender is a lexico-grammatical category, presented as the opposition of several classes of words, most often two or three. The gender category is constant, but not all nouns can distinguish it (in Russian - the nouns pluralia and singularia tantum - that is, those that have only plural or singular).

As for the English language, strictly speaking, there is no grammatical category of gender (noun gender, grammatical gender) as such. This means that there are no definite morphological, derivational and syntactic means of expression.

Compare with Russian:

How to determine the gender of a noun in English? It's very simple: the gender of a noun is determined by its lexical meaning. Thus, a noun indicates a biological belonging to a gender.

Basic provisions on the gender of nouns in English

1. Animated nouns are both masculine and feminine. How to check yourself? A noun can be replaced with a pronoun he or she respectively:

Masculine gender (Masculine Gender)

Male animate creatures are:

A man, a son, a groom, an ox, a king, a gentleman

NB: noun man not only matters 'the male', but also 'Human':

Every man should have a job.Every person has to work.

Feminine (Feminine Gender)

The names of female animate beings:

A woman, a girl, a daughter, a bride, a hen, a cow, a queen, a lady

The feminine gender also includes such nouns as:

a ship -ship, vessel

a car -car

a boat -a boat

I want a new car, honey. She doesn’ t suit me... I want a new car, honey. She me not arranges.

Do you want to try my boat? She is very fast, really!Would you like to take a ride on my boat? She's very fast, seriously!

Generic nouns (Common Gender)

These nouns, as in Russian, can refer to either a female or a male person:

A baby, a teacher, a doctor, a scientist

I need to see my doctor.I need to see my doctor.

Are there any scientists in history in your city?Are there history scholars in your city?

If the speaker intends to clarify the gender of a general noun, then the noun is added boy, girl, man, woman, or replace with a personal pronoun:

I'm going to attend a lecture of modern woman-writers.I'm going to attend a lecture by contemporary writers.

I know only one woman-president.I only know one woman president.

Look at that baby! She has such a lovely cheeks!Look at this baby! What lovely cheeks she has!

Neuter gender (Neutral Gender)

The names of inanimate beings, animals, objects and phenomena.

Abox, asheep, a deer, a doll, an interview

My granny has a sheep.My grandmother has a sheep.

I want to play with the new doll!I want to play with a new doll!

1. Animals and pets are of the neuter genus and, accordingly, are replaced by the pronoun it.

If the speaker wants to clarify the sex of the animal or show his affection, then he will use the personal pronoun of the 3rd person, masculine or feminine:

My friends have a raccoon. He is a baby - only 6 month old!

My friends have a raccoon. He is still a baby - he is only 6 months old!

There is no grammatical category of gender, that is, changes in the composition of a sentence related to the gender of a noun, in English. This means that it doesn't matter if you are talking about a waiter or a waitress, both of them will still be very polite (very polite / polite).

In Russian, for comparison, the grammatical category of gender is: the waitress is polite, and the waiter is polite.

Gender in English is manifested only through nouns and pronouns:

• Personal pronouns he (he, masculine), she (she, feminine), it (it, neuter);
• Reflexive pronouns: his (him, masculine), her (her, feminine), himself (to himself, by himself), herself (to herself, her), itself;
• Noun suffixes: poetESS;
• Nouns with meaning, clearly indicating gender: boy (boy, masculine), girl (girl, feminine), bag (bag, neuter);
• Additional nouns-qualifiers indicating gender: woman-cosmonaut (woman-cosmonaut, feminine);
• Job titles: milkman (milkman, masculine), milkmaid (milkmaid, feminine).

This girl is my friend. She is cute (This girl is my friend. She is cute).

This boy is my friend. He is cute (This boy is my friend. He is cute).

The middle genus includes almost all inanimate objects, as well as plants, birds and animals. Pets are an exception.

The logic here is this: if some creature or object seems to you animate, that is, literally having a soul, able to experience, feel, you can "give" it a masculine or feminine pronoun, depending on its gender. That is, a cow preparing for slaughter will be called it by native speakers of English, and her beloved cat Snowflake will be called she.

In addition to pets, the exception when choosing a genus is apparently your favorite vehicles: ship (ship), boat (boat), car (car), and are usually replaced by the pronoun she, that is, she.

My car is under repair. I broke her

Also an exception is a number of geographical names. Usually, the names of countries, as inanimate objects, will be replaced by the pronoun it. But if we are talking about a country as a state with its own political and economic characteristics, culture and traditions, it is appropriate to say she.

Russia has decided to boost her low birthrates.

Exceptions are also objects and phenomena that previously served as an object of worship. For example, Earth, nature, fertility, war.

The Earth took pity on us. She brought us forth fruits.

The war was brutal. He took many lives (The war was brutal. He (literally) took many lives).

Many words in the English language are called unmarked, that is, they do not have a gender category at all, neutral - without additional clarification, it is impossible to understand from them whether they are talking about men or women. Such words include, for example, kinship names (parent, sibling, cousin, infant, baby, child, kid), names of animals and birds (duck, goose, fox, rabbit, goat, cat, dog), names of professions (doctor, driver, teacher, pilot, shop-assistant, journalist) and others.

However, due to the desire for gender equality, not only social order is changing, but also the language. For example, some modern dictionary entries contain a note at GENDER link (see the article GENDER). The corresponding article contains the following remark: “When you are writing or speaking English it is important to use language that includes both men women equally. Some people may be very offended if you do not. Further, the recommendation on gender correct language use notes: The suffix -ess in names of occupations such as actress, hostess and waitress shows that the person doing the job is a woman. Many people now avoid these. Instead you can use actor or host (although actress and hostess are still very common) or a neutral word, such as server for waiter and waitress. " and in relation to women. Other can offend someone. Instead of words indicating the sex of a person, for example, "actress" and "waitress", use neutral words "actor" and "waiter").