5. The category of gender.

6. In many European languages the names of things, such as book, chair, radio, table have gender: that is they are classified grammatically as masculine, feminine or neuter, although very often gender doesn't relate to sex. Grammatical gender barely concerns nouns in English. It mainly concerns personal pronouns, where a distinction is drawn between e.g. he she and it; possessive adjectives, his, her and its; and relative pronouns, where a distinction is drawn between who and which.

7. Identifying masculine and feminine through nouns

8. A few nouns are automatically replaced by masculine or feminine pronouns, or by it. Some of these are as follows:

9. 1) Contrasting nouns describing people (replaceable by e.g. 'he/she')

10. bachelor/spinster, boy/girl, brother/sister, father/mother, gentleman/lady, grandfather/grandmother, grandson/granddaughter, husband/wife, king/queen, man/woman, monk/nun, Mr/Mrs, nephew/niece, sir/madam, son/daughter, uncle/aunt;

11. 2) Contrasting nouns describing animals (normally replaceable by 'it')

12. bull/cow, cock (or rooster)/hen, dog/bitch, gander/goose, pig (boar)/sow, ram/ewe, stallion/mare, drake/duck, drone/bee;

13. 3) '-ess' endings and other forms indicating sex/gender

14. A common way of indicating sex or gender is to change the ending of the masculine noun with the suffix –ess: actor/actress, god/goddesss, heir/heiress, host/hostess, prince/princess, steward/stewardess, waiter/waitress. This distinction is becoming rarer so that words like author, instructor and manager are now commonly used for both sexes. Some words, such as poetess, are falling into disuse because they are considered disparaging by both sexes. In a few cases, -ess endings are used for female animals, e.g. leopard/leopardess, lion/lioness, tiger/tigress. Or he-/she- (stressed) is used as a prefix in e.g. he-goat/she-goat, or wolf/she-wolf

15. Similar references can be made with other endings, etc. as well: bridegroom/bride hero/heroine, lad/lass, landlord/landlady, male/female, masseur/masseuse, usher/usherette, widower/widow

16. 4) Identifying masculine and feminine by 'man', 'woman', etc.

17. Certain nouns ending in -man refer to males: e.g. dustman, policeman postman, salesman. Others, ending in -woman, refer to women: e.g. policewoman, postwoman, saleswoman. A few, such as chairman can be used for men and women.

18. We tend to assume that words like model and nurse refer to women and words like judge and wrestler refer to men. If this is not the case and we wish to make a point of it, we can refer to a male model or a male nurse, or to a woman judge or a woman wrestler.

20. Make-female-young-group distinctions for some animals

21. ANIMAL	MALE	FEMALE	YOUNG	GROUP
    cattle	bull	cow	calf	herd
    cat	cat	queen	kitten	-
    chicken	cock	hen	chick	brood (for chicks)
    dog	dog	bitch	puppy	pack
    duck	drake	duck	duckling	flock
    fox	dog	vixen	cub	-
    goat	billy (goat)/he-goat	nanny (goat)/ she-goat	kid	herd
    goose	gander	goose	gosling	flock, gaggle
    horse	stallion	mare	foal	herd
    lion	lion	lioness	cub	pride
    pig	boar	sow	piglet	herd
    sheep	ram	ewe	lamb	flock
    tiger	tiger	tigress	cub	pride
    bee	drone	bee	-	swarm

23. Identifying masculine or feminine through pronouns

24. With many nouns we don't know whether the person referred to is male or female until we hear the pronoun: My accountant says he is moving his office. My doctor says she is pleased with my progress.

25. This applies to nouns such as: adult, artist, comrade, cook, cousin, darling, dear, doctor, enemy, foreigner, friend, guest, journalist, lawyer, librarian, musician, neighbour, orphan, owner, parent, passenger, person, pupil, relation, relative, scientist, singer, speaker, spouse, stranger, student, teacher, tourist, traveller, visitor, writer. Sometimes we can emphasize this choice by using both pronouns: If a student wants more information he or she should apply in writing. However, this is becoming less acceptable. The tendency is to avoid this kind of construction by using plurals:

26. Students who want more information should apply in writing.

6. The category of case.

Case denotes the relation of a noun or a pronoun to other words in a sentence. In English, there are three cases:

• the nominative

• the objective

• the possessive

Note

The nominative case is also called the subjective case. The possessive case is also called the genitive case.

English nouns have exactly the same form in the nominative and the objective case. The possessive case of nouns is marked in written English by adding 's or s’ to the noun. English pronouns have different forms for each case.

The Nominative Case

Nouns and pronouns in the nominative case, also called the subjective case, are used as the subjects of a clauses.

For example

George speaks. The door was shut.

Nouns in the nominative case may be used:

• as the subject of a clause.

• to repeat and further identify the subject.

• independent of any other word.

For example

In the sentences: Peter was an apostle. Peter is the subject and in the nominative case. In the sentence: The stars are suns. the stars is the subjects and in the nominative case. In the sentence: Milton, the poet, was blind. the poet repeats and identifies the subject and is in the nominative case. In the sentence: It was John, the beloved disciple the beloved disciple repeats and identifies the subject and is in the nominative case. In the sentence: Henry, attend to your studies. Henry is an independent word. It identifies the understood you that is the subject of the lause. In the sentence: It was John, the beloved disciple. the beloved disciple repeats and identifies the subject and is in the nominative case. In the sentence: Mary, are you ready? Mary is an independent word. It identifies the understood you that is the subject of the clause.

    

The Possessive Case

The possessive case is also called the genitive case. The possessive case denotes the relation of property or possession. In English, possession is shown by the use of the possessive case of a noun or pronoun or by the use of a prepositional phase beginning with of.

For example

The fact that David owns a harp is shown by David's harp or the harp of David.

The possessive singular of nouns is regularly formed by adding an apostrophe (') and the letter s to the nominative.

For example

man's fate David’s songs

When the plural noun ends in s, the apostrophe (') only is added.

For example

boys’ bicycles ladies' careers

Both an apostrophe (') and an s are added when the plural ends in any other letter than s.

>For example

men's jobs women's professions children’s schools

Note

The apostrophe (') in the plural is a modern invention used to denote the possessive case. In Lord Grey's letter to the Prince of Wales, written in the latter part of the twelfth or the first of the thirteenth century, are these expressions:

 Our liege Lordes pryve seal

 The Kynges commaundement

 The Erles ground

Notice that none of these possessive nouns, Lordes, Kynges, and Erels use the apostrophe as they would in modern English. In modern English they would be written Lord's, King's, and Earl's.

When the singular ends in a, or in a letter or combination of letters having the sound of s, and the addition of a syllable would be harsh, the poets and some prose writers add the apostrophe (') only.

For example

Peleus' son goodness' sake conscience' sake Moses' seat Cockatrice’ den

Note

Some difference of opinion prevails among writers regarding the form of the possessive in some cases where the singular ends in s. Some writers add only the apostrophe, but others use the apostrophe and an additional s. Thus, we have:

 Adams’ Express or Adams’s Express

 Otis’ letters, or Otis’s letters

Authority favors the additional s especially if a syllable can reasonably be added in pronouncing the word, such as:

 Barnes's ideas

When the singular and plural of a noun are alike, the apostrophe precedes the s in the singular, and follows it in the plural.

For example

Singular deer's and plural deers' Singular sheep's and plural sheeps'