Certain nouns in the English language indicate the gender of the person to whom it refers. If you know the gender of the person, then it is acceptable to use that form of the noun; however, if the gender is unknown, it’s more preferred to use the neutral form if possible. Animal names also often indicate the male and female biological genders, such as cock for a male chicken and hen for a female chicken.

The three genders of nouns in English are masculine (i.e. male), feminine, common (neither male nor female specified), and neuter (i.e. no gender).

Here are some examples of each:

Masculine: man, son, husband, father, policeman, temptor

Feminine: woman, daughter, wife, mother, policewoman, temptress

Common: doctor, parent, client, student, child

Neuter: computer, pen, glass, car

In other languages, every noun has a gender, but doesn’t necessarily refer to its sex. For example, in Spanish, table is feminine - la mesa, while car is masculine - el coche.

Use the following charts to see corresponding masculine/feminine nouns, and a common form if available: