First Grammar Lessons: Part IV, Lesson V

Lesson V

In speaking of persons, we say:

he for a man,
she for a woman,
it if we speak of a thing.

These words show the difference in what is called gender—that is, the difference between he and she.

Nouns show this difference too, either by different words, as:

Boy.           Girl.
Cock.        Hen.
King.         Queen.

Or by a little change in the word for the she or female:

Lion.          Lioness.
Prince.     Princess.
Actor.       Actress.

All words for females are in the feminine gender—she.

Words for males are in the masculine gender—he.

Things without life are, of course, neither male nor female. So they are in the neither gender, only we use the Latin word for neither, and say neuter.

Book is in the neuter gender.

To be learnt.

Gender shows the difference between “he” and “she.”

“He,” masculine. “she,” feminine.

Exercise V

1. Put the right pronouns for the following nouns:

Boy, girl, lioness, tiger, man, table, chair, princess, tree, bird.

2. Put six nouns which may stand for each of the following pronouns:

He, she.
(George, the man, the dog).

3. Give the names of the different things and people you saw in your walk yesterday, and give the gender of each.

4. Give the pronouns which would correspond with the nouns you have used.

5. Give six nouns of each gender, and put the right pronoun against each noun.

6. Give a masculine noun, and give the feminine, with the pronoun to each.

7. Find pronouns of the two genders in a page of your reading book.

8. Class them according to gender.

9. Make sentences using as subject a masculine noun and its pronoun, with the verb “walk.” Afterwards with the feminine noun and its pronoun, and then with a neuter noun and its pronoun.