Masculine
Masculine (/mæskju:lɪn/) is a grammatical gender and noun class.
In English, a masculine noun always belongs to the personal gender, never the impersonal gender, and within the personal gender contrasts with the feminine gender. Most people who are referred to using masculine nouns are biologically male, though many are not. Masculine nouns are also often used to refer to male animals. The masculine pronouns in English are "he", "him", "his", and "himself", and all these singular, there are no plural equivalents.
Examples of masculine nouns in English[edit]
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Personal names | Andrew, Dave, James, etc, etc, etc |
| Nouns for describing people | boy, gentleman, man |
| Family-related nouns | bachelor, brother, father, fiancé, nephew, son, uncle, widower |
| Demonyms | Dutchman, Englishman, Filipino, Frenchman, Irishman, Latino, Manxman, Scotsman, Welshman, Yorkshireman |
| Gendered job titles | waiter, compounds with -man (e.g. policeman, salesman, etc) |
| Aristocratic ranks | baron, count, duke, earl, emperor, king, knight, marquess, prince, viscount |
| Male animals | bull, ram, etc. |
Gender-neutral language, which uses the common gender to cover both masculine, feminine and non-binary is preferred by many especially in formal registers of contemporary English. This is less common however in historical English.
Unlike many other languages, English does not have gender concord whereby other related words must agree with the gender of the noun.
