Gender-related and Material Nouns

Gender-related

and Material

Nouns Lesson 21

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Lesson 21 – Gender-related and Material Nouns

Gender-related Nouns Grammatical gender is a system of noun classification. A common gender classification

includes masculine and feminine categories. Masculine nouns are words for men, boys

and male animals. Feminine nouns are words for women, girls and female animals.

General rule

English nouns rarely change form, even to indicate gender. As a general rule, only

nouns referring to people and some animals reflect gender in their form. By the

same token, unlike many other languages, the adjectives modifying nouns will

remain unchanged. However, some nouns traditionally had different forms.

Nowadays, people usually prefer more neutral forms.

MALE FORM FEMALE FORM NEUTRAL FORM

actor actress actor

chairman chairwoman chair or chairperson

headmaster headmistress head teacher or prinicipal

host hostess (social) host

steward stewardess (on an aircraft) cabin

attendant

policeman policewoman police officer

waiter waitress waiter

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A noun that denotes either a male or a female is said to be of the common gender.

Examples are:

A noun that denotes a thing that is neither male nor female is said to be of the neuter

gender.

Examples are:

It is thus seen that in modern English, the gender of a noun is entirely a matter of sex

or the absence of it. It has nothing to do with the form of a noun, which determines its

gender in many other languages.


parent child thief student teacher enemy

book pen tree glass house

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→Note that inanimate objects are often personified, that is, spoken of as if they were

living beings. We then regard them as males or females.

1. The masculine gender is often applied to lifeless objects known for strength or

violence. Examples are: sun, summer, winter, time, death etc.

2. The feminine gender is often applied to lifeless objects known for beauty or

gracefulness. Examples are: moon, earth, spring, autumn, nature, liberty, justice,

peace, mercy, hope etc.

Traditional work-roles

Some jobs were normally done by men in the past, and their names had no form for

women (e.g. fireman, fisherman). Some were normally done by women, and their

names had no form for men (e.g. nurses and secretaries were almost always women).

Nowadays, fire-fighter is preferred to fireman, and nurse is preferred for both sexes

instead of male nurse for a man. Personal assistant (or PA) is often used instead of

secretary. The neutral words are more politi ally orre t (not likely to offend anyone):

Two fire-fighters were

injured in a blaze at an

electronics factory

yesterday.

My rother s a nurse

in the local hospital.

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Animal Names

Some animal names have male and female forms. Very often, one of the names acts as

a neutral term, even if we know the sex of the animal.

MALE FORM FEMALE FORM NEUTRAL FORM

bull (old) cow; (young) heifer cattle

(general) dog; (father) sire (general) bitch; (mother) dam dog

drake duck duck

boar sow pig

stallion mare horse

ram ewe sheep

tiger tigress tiger

There were loads of

people out walking

with dogs today.

In the middle of this park

there was a lovely pond

with ducks swimming on it.

Note: If the gender of the person or animal is

known, one will generally use the pronoun "he"

or "she" to refer to it, as appropriate. When the

gender is left unstated, the pronoun "he" is

generally used when speaking of people, or "it"

when speaking of animals. Some objects are also

considered to be gendered in certain usages:

some people may refer to a boat or a car as

"she."


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Man and Woman

Certain nouns (especially the names of professions) are traditionally associated with

men or women, in which case one signals exceptions to the tradition by adding

"woman" (or "lady") or "man" to the term.

They are in a group of

male dancers.


My wife prefers to see

a woman doctor.

It is possible to make the distinction for these neutral words by adding the words male

or female or man or woman.

Infrequently, nouns describing things without a gender are referred to with a gendered

pronoun to show familiarity. It is also correct to use the gender-neutral pronoun (it).

I love my car.

She (the car) is my

greatest passion.

France is popular with

her (France's) neighbors

at the moment.

I travelled from England to

New York on the Queen

Elizabeth; she (the Queen

Elizabeth) is a great ship.

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Write the opposite gender noun on the blank.

1. father ___________________

2. sister ___________________

3. aunt ___________________

4. hen ___________________

5. priest ___________________

6. king ___________________

7. policewoman ________________

8. prince ___________________

9. actor ___________________

10. man ___________________

11. dressmaker _________________

12. niece ___________________

13. son ___________________

14. witch ___________________

15. husband ___________________

16. stewardess _________________

17. host ___________________

18. landlord ___________________

19. grandmother ________________

20. emperor ___________________

21. girl ___________________

22. director ___________________

23. salesman __________________

24. lioness ___________________

25. lord _________________

Write the opposite gender noun on the blank.

1. bear ___________________

2. chicken ___________________

3. horse ___________________

4. tiger ___________________

5. lion ___________________

6. pig ___________________

7. sheep ___________________

8. cattle ___________________

9. fox ___________________

10. elephant ___________________

11. rabbit ___________________

12. deer ___________________

13. sparrow ___________________

14. goose ___________________

15. bee __________________


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Lesson 20 – Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Ways of forming the feminine gender

There are three ways of forming the feminine gender.

1. By using an entirely different word.

•Bachelor

(masculine) / spinster

or maid (feminine)

•Boy / girl

•Man / woman

•Husband / wife

•Father / mother

•Brother / sister

•Son / daughter

•Horse / mare

•Monk / nun

•Buck / doe

•King / queen

•Cock / hen

•Dog / bitch

•Drake / duck

•Earl / countess

•Gander / geese

•Gentleman / lady

•Nephew / niece

•Uncle / aunt

2. By placing a word before or after

•Grandfather / grandmother

•Manservant / maidservant

•Landlord / landlady

•Peacock / peahen

•Salesman / saleswoman

•Washerman / washerwoman

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Lesson 20 – Concrete and Abstract Nouns

3. By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix etc) to the masculine gender

•Author (masculine) /

authoress (feminine)

•Baron / baroness

•Count / countess

•Giant / giantess

•Heir / heiress

•Host / hostess

•Lion / lioness

•Mayor / mayoress

•Poet / poetess

•Priest / priestess

In the following -ess is added after dropping the vowel of the masculine

ending. •Actor (masculine) /

actress (feminine)

•Enchanter /

enchantress

•Duke / duchess

•Emperor / empress

•Prince / princess

•Tiger / tigress

•Waiter / waitress

•Master / mistress

•Sorcerer / sorceress

Notes

A mayor can be a man or a woman. In British English, a mayoress is the wife of a male

mayor.

Some words ending in -ess are no longer used. Examples are: authoress and poetess.

Author and poet are now used for both men and women. The words steward and stewardess

are being replaced by other terms like flight attendant. Note that a flight attendant can be a

man or a woman.

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Fill in the blank space with the word for the female form of the noun.

1. bachelor ___________

2. boar ___________

3. boy ___________

4. groom ___________

5. brother ___________

6. buck ___________

7. hart ___________

8. stag ___________

9. bull ___________

10. bullock, ox, steer ___________

11. cock ___________

12. colt ___________

13. dog ___________

14. drake ___________

15. drone ___________

16. earl ___________

17. father ___________

18. gaffer ___________

19. shepherd ___________

20. hunter ___________

21. priest ___________

22. songster ___________

23. gander ___________

24. gentleman ___________

25. horse, stallion ___________

26. husband ___________

27. king ___________

28. lad ___________

29. Lord ___________

30. man ___________

31. monk, friar ___________

32. nephew ___________

33. papa ___________

34. ram ___________

35. sire ___________

36. sloven ___________

37. son ___________

38. uncle ___________

39. wizard ___________

40. preceptor ___________

41. protector ___________

42. prior ___________

43. giant ___________

44. heir ___________


45. enchanter ___________

46. prophet ___________

47. god ___________

48. emperor ___________

49. founder ___________

50. governor ___________

51. seamster ___________

52. host ___________

53. elector ___________

54. sorcerer ___________

55. tiger ___________

56. traitor ___________

57. viscount ___________

58. lion ___________

59. benefactor ___________

60. negro ___________

61. count ___________

62. peer ___________

63. dauphin ___________

64. poet ___________

65. deacon ___________

66. proprietor ___________

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Material Nouns Material noun is the name given to the material, substance or things made up of alloy.

It refers to the type of substance instead of individual particles of the substance.

Material nouns are not countable means we cannot count them because they are in

the forms of liquid, semi-liquid or solid.

Examples:

Cotton dresses are very

cheap and comfortable

My mom purchased a

gold ring for me.

I drink milk in the silver

cup.

My father has a shop for

diamonds.

Calcium is a good mineral

for health.

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Material nouns are names given to the raw elements or objects exist in

the nature and cannot be created by human being, however many new

things can be created by man using raw materials. The main source of

raw materials are nature, animals and plants. We have provided below

the list of common nouns under various categories such as:

a. Material nouns from nature: water, air, silver, gold, iron,

copper, sand, coal, rock, sunlight, rain, earth, salt, etc.

b. Material nouns from animals: egg, meat, honey, milk, silk,

leather, wool, etc.

c. Material nouns from plants: cotton, food, oil, wood, jute,

coffee, medicine, tea, rubber, perfume, etc.

d. Man made material nouns: acid, alcohol, asphalt, brick,

cement, butter, chalk, ghee, cheese, dacron, ebony, enamel,

felt, gelatin, paraffin, cloth, etc.

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Rules to be followed while using material nouns in a sentence

1. Generally, articles (a, an or the) are not used with material nouns when they are

uncountable such as:

Honey is wholesome food and beneficial to health.

Water boils only at 100°C temperature.

2. Articles (a and an) may be used with material nouns when they are countable

(denoting types of material or showing helping nature) such as:

I would like to eat a Dutch cheese.

It is a very healthy wine.

3. Use of 'the' and 'some' can also be done in the following way:

The honey in the bottle is mine. Don t give it others!

I saw there is some milk in the glass.

4. Use of Material Nouns in the Sentence

Material nouns are written in the capital letter when they occur in the start of sentence

otherwise written in small letter when occur anywhere in the sentence.

• I eat egg

• I wear cotton

• We get silk from silk worm.

• We should drink clean water.

• My mom wears diamond

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Identify the material nouns in the sentences below

1. Water is very necessary for life on the earth.

2. Oxygen is available only in fresh air.

3. Silver is used to make jewellery.

4. My sister has given me a chain of gold.

5. There is a pan of iron in my kitchen.

6. Copper is a metal used for various purposes.

7. Coal is found in coal mine.

8. We get sunlight from sun.

9. Rain is one of the sources of water.

10. Earth is the only known planet having life.

11. We should less salt in our diet.

12. My mom gives me two eggs daily.

13. We should not eat red meat.

14. Children should eat honey daily.

15. I drink cow milk only.


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Find the material noun here in each sentence and us it in your own sentence.

1. We live in house made up of wood.

2. My mom drink hot coffee in the early morning.

3. We should not late in getting medicine whenever we get ill.

4. We are not used of tea daily.

5. I never see the plant of rubber.

6. I have used a nice perfume.

7. I like cheese pizza very much.

8. Houses are manufactured using brick and cement.

9. I do not like to eat butter.

10. I get new clothes on each festival.

11. There are many utensils in my kitchen made up of iron.

12. Taj Mahal is built using marbles.

13. I drink milk daily in the night.

14. Most of the industries use fibre.

15. In the ancient time, most of the kitchen utensils were made up of brass.


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Gender-related and Material Nouns

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