The female gender is called feminine gender.
According to the Oxford Learner's Dictionary, the feminine gender refers to a class of words that denote female people or animals. These words often have a unique form compared to their male counterparts. Essentially, when we talk about nouns or pronouns that represent female beings, we're using the feminine gender.
Understanding Feminine Gender
The term "feminine gender" is a grammatical concept used in languages to distinguish between male and female entities. It applies to nouns, pronouns, and sometimes adjectives.
Key Aspects of Feminine Gender:
- Nouns: Nouns that refer to females, such as "woman," "girl," "hen," and "mare."
- Pronouns: Pronouns that substitute female nouns, such as "she" and "her".
- Special Forms: As noted by the Oxford Learner's Dictionary, feminine words often have distinct forms. For example, compare the English words "actor" and "actress," where "-ess" typically denotes the feminine form.
- Living Beings: This concept applies to human beings, animals, and birds.
Examples:
| Category | Masculine Gender | Feminine Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | man | woman |
| Humans | boy | girl |
| Animals | bull | cow |
| Animals | rooster | hen |
| Animals | stallion | mare |
| Pronouns | he | she |
The concept of feminine gender is not just limited to biological sex; it's about how languages categorize and express the idea of female entities.
