Do you know what gender grammar is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on gender grammar, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!
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Kevin
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December 13, 2021
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Common Questions
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What is gender grammar?
According to Grammar Monster, there are many different words in the English language that are gender specific to male and females, or the masculine gender and feminine gender in the grammatical gender system which also includes pronouns. In English, there is also the neuter gender which is used for many inanimate English nouns. These are terms like policeman and policewoman, actor and actress, fireman, salesman, mankind, businessman, stewardess and steward, postman and postwoman, waiter and waitress, or using “dear sir or madam” at the beginning of a letter. Gender is not the same thing as sexuality, nor gender assignment at birth, necessarily. However, it is usually far better to opt for gender-inclusive language or gender neutral language to refer to people.
Instead of gender specific language for a profession or type of person, opt for gender-neutral language like chairperson, neighbours, servers, letter carrier, firefighter, police officer, postal worker, flight attendant, sibling, humankind, or spouse. Specific languages like French in France or German have all of their nouns have a gender, along with other Germanic languages and Indo-European languages. Some view not using gender-neutral words and using gender-specific language to be sexist language that is dated. Try to avoid using specifically masculine nouns or feminine nouns unless you are positive about the group you are speaking to, and opt for gender-neutral terms instead.
Many different languages also use different words that mean gender. This list of translations of gender comes via Word Sense, but you can also find translations via other online dictionaries.
- Persian: جنس (jens)
- Thai: ลิงค์
- Uzbek: rod
- Walloon: djinre (masc.)
- Turkish: cins, cinsiyet
- Tajik: ҷинс
- Gujarati: લિંગ
- Russian: род (masc.)
- Malay: gender
- Czech: rod (masc.)
- Italian: genere
- Asturian: xéneru (masc.)
- Ukrainian: рід (masc.)
- Norwegian: kjønn (neut.)
- Polish: rodzaj (masc.)
- Catalan: gènere (masc.)
- Scottish Gaelic: gnè (fem.)
- Galician: xénero (masc.)
- Roman: rod (masc.)
- Greek: γένος (neut.)
- German: Geschlecht (neut.)
- Korean: 성 (性)
- Hindi: लिंग (masc.)
- Volapük: gen
- Albanian: gjini
- Slovene: spol (masc.)
- Dutch: geslacht (neut.), genus (neut.), woordgeslacht (neut.)
- Pashto: جنس
- Sanskrit: लिंग
- Spanish: género (masc.)
- Macedonian: род (masc.)
- Icelandic: kyn (neut.)
- Latvian: dzimte (fem.)
- Georgian: სქესი, გენდერი
- Slovak: rod (masc.)
- Maltese: sess (masc.)
- Cyrillic: род (masc.)
- Mandarin: 性別, 性别 (xìngbié)
- Belarusian: род (masc.)
- Burmese: လိင်
- Irish: inscne (fem.)
- Bulgarian: род (masc.)
- Chechen: род
- Tatar: җенес
- Afrikaans: geslag
- Romanian: gen (neut.)
- French: genre (masc.)
- Kazakh: род (masc.), тек
- Estonian: sugu
- Kyrgyz: род
- Portuguese: género (masc.) (Portugal), gênero (masc.) (Brazil)
- Oriya: ଲିଙ୍ଗ
- Turkmen: rod.
- Lithuanian: lytis (masc.)
- Arabic: جِنْس (masc.)
- Esperanto: genro
- Hebrew: מִין
- Japanese: 性 (せい, sei)
- Faroese: kyn (neut.)
- Indonesian: jenis
- Urdu: لنگ
- Armenian: սեռ
- Norman: genre (masc.)
- Bengali: লিঙ্গ
- Swedish: genus (neut.)
- Latin: genus (neut.)
- Vietnamese: giống
- Ido: genro
- Danish: køn (neut.)
- Hungarian: nem
- Marathi: लिंग
- Khmer: លិង្គ (lɨng)
- Finnish: suku
- Azeri: cins
What are examples of gender specific words?
A gender specific word can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! The following sentences are examples of gender specific words from Grammar Monster and UNC that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term gender specific words today or notice when someone else is using a gender specific word.
- The boy’s mother was a stewardess who wanted to meet Queen Elizabeth.
- Don’t call me “chairman” because I’m a woman. Don’t call me “chairwoman” because my sex is irrelevant. Don’t call me “chairperson” because that term is trying too hard not to be sexist. Call me “chair.”
- A student who loses too much sleep may have trouble focusing during [his/her] exams.
- The waiter places down a knife, spoon and fork.
- When the winner has been selected, she or he will be advanced to the next round of the competition.
- Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes. (Actor Jim Carrey)
- The waitresses wanted to move to New York and England on a great ship.
- I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her. (Comedian Rodney Dangerfield)
- The policeman needed to go to the station and he stopped for donuts along the way to bring to the other policemen.
- My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it. (Writer Mark Twain)
- Our agreement is that the first person who picks up his or her cell phone must treat the rest of the group to dinner.
- Respond as a reader, explaining what you were thinking as you read his text so that he can discover where a reader might struggle with his writing.
- Ask her to describe her purpose and audience and show how she has taken them into account in her writing.
- She got her looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon. (Comedian Groucho Marx)
- The postwoman carried her heavy bag of letters down the street and delivered them to all of the houses on the block.
- The actresses were all gathered in the front of the theater waiting for the cast list to be posted.
Overall, the grammatical gender refers to the gender for males and females in English.
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