Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2022)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Nouns / Ways of forming the feminine gender

Ways of forming the feminine gender

February 14, 2011 - pdf

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 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

3) By placing a word before or after

  • Grandfather / grandmother
  • Manservant / maidservant
  • Landlord / landlady
  • Peacock / peahen
  • Salesman / saleswoman
  • Washerman / washerwoman

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.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,127,749 
201,073 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Will vs. Would June 26, 2022
  • See vs. Look vs. Watch June 23, 2022
  • General Grammar Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Tenses Gap Filling Exercise June 21, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 20, 2022
  • Subject Verb Agreement Exercise June 20, 2022
  • Prepositions Exercise June 19, 2022
  • Gap Filling Exercise June 19, 2022
  • Tenses Exercise June 18, 2022

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2022 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap