CHANGE OF GENDER
There are four kinds of genders:
a) Masculine Gender (male sex): man, men, boy, ox, hero, lion, prince, father
b) Feminine Gender (female sex): woman, girl, cow, heroine, lioness, sister
c) Common Gender (either a male or a female sex): teacher, doctor, parent, child, friend
d) Neuter Gender (nonliving things, animals whose sex we don’t know and sometimes babies whose sex we don’t know): table, pencil, book, pen, room, tree
1. MASCULINE – FEMININE
1. abbot – abbess [ABBOT = a man who is the head of an abbey of monks (महन्त(
2. administrator – administratrix
3. author – authoress
4. bachelor – maid, spinster
5. baron – baroness [BARON = a member of the lowest order of the British nobility. Baron is not used as a form of address, barons usually being referred to as ‘Lord’.]
6. benefactor – benefactress (BENEFACTOR = a person who gives money or other help to a person or cause]
7. boar – sow [BOAR = male pig]
8. bridegroom – bride
9. buck – doe [BUCK = the male of some horned animals, especially the fallow deer, roe deer, reindeer, and antelopes]
10. bull-calf – cow-calf (BULL-CALF = बछड़ा(
11. bullock – heifer [BULLOCK = बैल[
12. colt – filly [COLT = घोड़े का बच्चा]
13. conductor – conductress
14. count – countess [COUNT = a European man of the same social rank as an English ear]
15. cock-sparrow — hen-sparrow (COCK-SPARROW = गौरैया(
16. czar – czarina [CZAR = an emperor of Russia before 1917]
17. dairy-man — dairy-maid
18. director – directress
19. dog – bitch
20. drake – duck [DRAKE = a male duck]
21. drone – bee [DRONE = a male bee]
22. duke – duchess [DUKE = a male ruler of a small independent state]
23. earl – countess [EARL = a British nobleman ranking above a viscount and below a marquess]
24. emperor – empress
25. enchanter – enchantress [ENCHANTER = magician]
26. executor – executrix
27. founder – foundress
28. fox – vixen
29. gander – goose [GANDER = नर हंस[
30. gentleman – lady
31. giant – giantess
32. god – goddess
33. great-uncle – great-aunt [GREATUNCLE = an uncle of one’s mother or father]
34. governor – governess
35. hart – roe [HART = an adult male deer, especially a red deer over five years old]
36. he-goat — she-goat (HE GOAT = male goat)
37. heir – heiress [HEIR = a person legally entitled to the property or rank of another on that person’s death]
38. hero – heroine
39. horse – mare
40. host – hostess [HOST = a person who receives or entertains other people as guests]
41. hunter – huntress
42. instructor – instructress
43. Jew – Jewess [JEW = यहूदी; यहूदियों की मातृभाषा ‘Hebrew’ भाषा है; Israel is known as the land of the Jews.]
44. lad – lass [LAD = a boy or young man (often as a form of address)]
45. landlord – landlady
46. lion – lioness
47. lord – lady [LORD = a man of noble rank or high office; a nobleman]
48. manager – manageress
49. manservant – maidservant or woman servant
50. master – mistress (MASTER = teacher)
51. Master – Miss (MASTER = boy; MISS = girl)
52. milk-man — milk-maid
53. mayor – mayoress
54. monk (or friar) – nun [MONK = संन्यासी, मठवासी[
55. murderer – murderess
56. negro – negress [NEGRO = a member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to Africa south of the Sahara (हबशी(
57. nephew – niece
58. papa – mamma
59. patron – patroness [PATRON = a person who gives financial or other support to a person, organization, or cause; or a customer of a shop, restaurant, etc., especially a regular one]
60. peer – peeress [PEER = A member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron]
61. peacock – peahen
62. poet – poetess
63. preceptor – preceptress (PRECEPTOR = a teacher or instructor]
64. priest – priestess
65. prince – princess
66. prophet – prophetess [PROPHET = a person regarded as an inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will of God (पैगम्बर)
67. prosecutor – prosecutrix
68. ram – ewe [RAM = an uncastrated male sheep (भेड़ा(
69. salesman – saleswoman (but sometimes person is used instead of man or woman; e.g. salesperson, spokesperson.)
70. seamster -seamstress [SEAMSTER = a person employed at sewing; especially tailor]
71. shepherd – shepherdess [SHEPHERD = a person who tends and rears sheep; गड़रिया[
72. signor – signora [SIGNOR = a title or form of address used of or to an Italian-speaking man, corresponding to Mr or Sir]
73. songster – songstress (SONGSTER = a person who sings, especially fluently and skillfully; or a person who writes songs or verse)
74. sorcerer – sorceress [SORCERER = a person who claims or is believed to have magic powers; a wizard]
75. stag – hind (STAG = a male deer, especially a male red deer after its fifth year]
76. stallion – mare [STALLION = an uncastrated adult male horse]
77. steward – stewardess [STEWARD = a person employed to look after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train; or a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club or other institution]
78. sultan – sultana
79. tempter – temptress [TEMPTER = प्रलोभक, बहकाने वाला]
80. testator – testatrix [TESTATOR = a person who has made a will or given a legacy (वसीयत करने वाला(
81. traitor – traitress [TRAITOR = कपटी, देशद्रोही, विश्वासघाती]
82. uncle – aunt
83. viscount – viscountess (VISCOUNT = a British nobleman ranking above a baron and below an earl)
84. votary – votaress (VOTARY = (a person, such as a monk or nun, who has made vows of dedication to religious service, अनुयायी, धर्मसंघी(
85. waiter – waitress
86. widower – widow
87. wizard – witch [WIZARD = (in legends and fairy tales) a man who has magical powers]
2. COMMON GENDERS
assistant | cook | fool | leader | player | speaker |
author | dancer | foreigner | minister | professor | spouse |
baby | dealer | friend | monarch | pupil | student |
child | decorator | guest | neighbour | reader | teacher |
cook | designer | guide | orator | relation | teenager |
cousin | doctor | helper | orphan | relative | thief |
clerk | driver | infant | parent | servant | typist |
client | enemy | lawyer | person | singer | worker |
NOTE-I: If we want to clear the gender of such a noun, we use GENDER MARKER for clarity; e.g.
a) boy friend – girl friend
b) man teacher – woman teacher
c) male child – female child
NOTE-II: If a noun referring to a singular common gender is representing the whole class of persons, we use pronouns and possessive adjectives of the masculine gender HE/HIM/HIS). If referring to plural we use THEY/THEM/THEIR; e.g.
a) If a student works hard, he is sure to succeed. (not HER or THEY)
b) No person did his work. (not HER or THEIR)
c) If any person comes, ask him to wait for me. (not HER or THEM)
d) If an employee is ill, he must send his medical certificate to the office itself.
e) A teacher can’t do a good job if he does not like his students.
But we use IT/ITS for the common nouns CHILD, INFANT, BABY if their sex is unknown or it’s not essential to describe their sex. We use HE/SHE/HIS/HER only if the sex is known of these nouns; e.g.
a) The child is eating, do not disturb it.
b) The baby has broken her right arm. (means the sex of the baby is know.)
c) A child learns to speak the language of its environment
NOTE-III: We, generally, use HE for male pet animals and SHE for female pet animals; e.g.
a) Your dog has lost his sense completely.
b) Go and find the cat and bring her to me at once.
NOTE-IV: EVERYBODY/EVERYONE, SOMEBODY/SOMEONE, NOBODY/NO ONE, ANYBODY/ANYONE
When the sex is not determined, the pronoun or possessive adjective of the masculine gender should be used for EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, NOBODY, EACH, etc. as there is no singular pronoun of the third person to represent both male and female, e.g.
a) Anybody can leave me if he wants.
b) Everyone is walking as fast as he can.
c) Each student must bring his own books in class.
d) Each of the girls must carry her own bag. (Here the sex is determined already.)
3. NEUTER GENDER (things without life)
Things without life are often personified, that is, they are spoken of as if they were living beings. We then regard them as males or females.
NOTE-I: Ships and sometimes cars and other vehicles when regarded with affection or respect are considered feminine; e.g.
a) The ship struck a rock, which tore a huge hole in her side.
b) The ship lost her boats in the storm.
NOTE-II: The Masculine Gender is often used for objects known for strength and violence; e.g.
Death | Ocean | Sun | Summer | Winter |
Thunder | Wind | Time | War |
a) The sun sheds his beams on rich and poor alike.
b) Death lays his icy hand on kings.
NOTE-III: The Feminine Gender is sometimes used for objects remarkable for beauty, fertility, gentleness, and gracefulness; e.g.
Autumn | Flattery | Justice | Moon | Spring |
Charity | Hope | Liberty | Nature | Truth |
Earth | Humility | Mercy | Peace | Virtue |
Fame | Jealousy | Modesty | Pride |
a) The moon has hidden her face behind a cloud.
b) Spring has spread her mantle of green over the earth.
NOTE-IV: Name of a country if is used as a geographical unit we consider it a non-living thing and therefore we use IT/ITS as a pronoun for that, but if used as a political/economical unit, we use SHE/HER as a pronoun instead; e.g.
a) The name of our country is India. It is one of the largest countries in Asia. (geographical unit)
b) India is proud of her engineers. (political unit)
c) India has been able to improve her social condition since she got independence. (economic unit)
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