Questions tagged [grammatical-gender]
For questions about the usage, role, history, and lack of grammatical gender in English.
212
questions
0
votes
0
answers
32
views
When do you skip the definite article in a ship's name? [duplicate]
Like cars and cities, ships are assumed to be female. Be good to her and she'll take care of you.
Thus, even when the name of a ship is masculine, the vessel itself is still a "she."
The USS ...
- 20.3k
0
votes
1
answer
314
views
What do we use ‘Ms.’ or ‘Mrs.’ when we write about a person whose marital status we don’t know? [duplicate]
Also, What if we have a general idea about the the marital status of a person. Especially, in the case of ‘Mrs.’, if we seem to have a good idea about the marital status of a woman, can we write ‘Mrs.’...
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Is -ist a gender-neutral ending?
A person who does mathematics is a mathematician. I assume that this is a gender-neutral term. Are words ending with "-ist" gender-neutral? (typist, type theorist, and so on) Or should I ...
- 221
0
votes
1
answer
97
views
How would you refer to a female friend? [duplicate]
I was wondering how you would introduce a female friend to a group of friends. In German, it's just
Sie ist eine Freundin von mir
Which translates to
She is a friend of mine.
But I'm a bit ...
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
54
views
Can the third person pronoun "they" be used to refer to the singular gender-neutral pronoun "one"? [duplicate]
For instance, would it be correct to say "One must be careful so that they do not lose control of the vehicle while driving in heavy snow"?
I think I have read similar phrases before but I ...
- 111
5
votes
2
answers
921
views
In English, are trains female?
In the poem Night Mail by W. H. Auden, the eponymous train is always referred to as being female:
This is the night mail crossing the Border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the ...
- 379
-1
votes
1
answer
114
views
Can the use of singular 'they' for a dog that was just called 'she' be considered correct in English?
There's a video on the internet of a dog under the covers and the owner lifts the covers as the large dog spills out and onto the floor like water. The person refers to the dog as "she".
In ...
- 17
-2
votes
0
answers
70
views
What is a gender-neutral or inclusive term for "craftsmen"? [duplicate]
I understand craftsmen may not technically be considered a gendered term, however, it has '-men' in it. So, I would rather use something else that doesn't exclude those who are maybe unfamiliar with ...
- 133
1
vote
0
answers
79
views
How to label third gender "diverse" in registration forms?
We are introducing a third-gender option in a couple of registration forms and I wonder how to label the checkbox in English. By now, it is common to use "männlich/weiblich/divers" in German ...
- 111
1
vote
0
answers
147
views
Why ships and countries are 'her' in the old texts but not 'it'?
I have read both of these two good questions and answers and I got the answer of my question, that in the modern English "it" is used more than "her" while referring to a ship or ...
user431762
1
vote
2
answers
116
views
A word between boy/girl and man/woman? [duplicate]
My problem is this; the words “boy” and “girl” denote youth (at least to me), while “man” and “woman” denote more of an adult. While I am aware of just adding “young” before “man” or “woman”, but that ...
- 65
1
vote
2
answers
1k
views
Which pronoun is used for Spirit or Ghost and is there a rule that says we must use certain pronoun for the Spirit? Is it a common gender noun?
Which pronoun is used for the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost) in Christian theology? Is there a rule that says we must use certain pronoun for the Spirit? And is it a common gender noun?
The controversy ...
- 171
1
vote
1
answer
112
views
Why is "he" twice as common than "she" in the English language
When you look at word frequency data in English such as the Corpus Of Contemporary American English (COCA) he appears on 16th place with 6500 occurrences per mil and she at 35th place with 3210 per ...
- 119
9
votes
6
answers
5k
views
What's the feminine equivalent of "your obedient servant" as a letter closing? [closed]
I'm a student learning English and recently came across the United Kingdom's declaration of war on Japan, which ends with:
I have the honour to be, with high consideration,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,...
- 2,044
0
votes
0
answers
147
views
How do unisex names come about in English?
TL;DR
How do unisex names develop amidst, or out of, gendered ones in English (and other languages)?
Detail
In English, many (most?) names have a gender assignment of male or female. However, some are ...
- 445
2
votes
0
answers
104
views
Why do we use his and him but not her and herm? [closed]
I just thought about this the other day. In the sentences below, the word "her", takes on two meanings. The words "him" and "his" are needed to convey the same two ...
- 129
1
vote
1
answer
349
views
Is there a gender-neutral version for expressions like "sister site"?
I have recently seen "sister site" being used and I am wondering if there is a gender-neutral equivalent for it.
In my native language (Romanian) expressions like "brother X" or &...
- 554
-1
votes
1
answer
8k
views
What are existing gender-neutral words for various relatives? [closed]
In a world where gender identity notation is important, we need gender-neutral words to refer to relatives. "Spouse," "sibling," and "nibling" (niece or nephew) are the ...
-6
votes
2
answers
123
views
When talking to the child of a same sex couple, is it more standard to say "your parents" or "your fathers"/"your mothers"? [closed]
When talking about an opposite sex couple, it's standard to talk about "your parents", because it's a lot less wordy than "your mother and father". But what's more standard for a same sex couple? "...
- 18.1k
0
votes
1
answer
185
views
Is there a politically correct way to speak about reproductive health, justice, etc., which doesn't unnecessarily gender the issue?
Most cisgender women, some intersex people of different variations, most transgender men, some AFAB non-binary people, and most people who are assigned females on the whole are usually the ones who ...
-3
votes
1
answer
723
views
What is the politically correct replacement of the adjectives "female" and "male" with regard to trans* people's bodies?
I've just discovered this little forum, so I shall be giving it much use as there are lots of thing over which I need to go.
I know that there are some trans* people who are really uncomfortable ...
6
votes
2
answers
430
views
Can I use gender (she) to refer to a disease
I'm translating a novel from Spanish to English, and in the very first chapter there's a sentence that roughly translates as "we followed a strict diet, especially after She appeared". In this case, ...
- 61
1
vote
1
answer
115
views
What dictionary provides gender association for each word? [closed]
As a nonnative English speaker, I often struggle to define gender in many words. Earth is a “she”, war is “he”, for example, but what gender a word “person” belongs to? Same about thousands of other ...
- 117
68
votes
7
answers
19k
views
Was "man" a gender-neutral word in common usage at some point?
I've seen some times the claim that in the past "man" was a non-gendered word, with "wifman" referring to female individuals and "wereman" referring to male individuals. I've found some indications ...
- 741
2
votes
2
answers
171
views
How to explicitly specify non-binary support when using pronouns?
My native language uses the equivalent of he/his as the default gender-less pronoun. When using English (as a second language) most people use "he/she" or "him/her" to indicate a person of unknown/...
- 554
1
vote
0
answers
56
views
Why "him" in "For neuer resting time leads Summer on / To hidious winter and confounds him there, ..." instead of it or her?
There is a passage in William's V sonnet that confounds me :
For neuer resting time leads Summer on,
To hidious winter and confounds him there,
Sap checkt with frost and lustie leau's quite gon.
...
- 1,720
0
votes
0
answers
1k
views
What is the question tag for sentences whose subjects are "none...is" and "each...is"? [duplicate]
I know that indefinite pronouns like none and each take singular verbs, but what about their question tags?
None of the boys has passed the test, ________?
Each of the girls was given a prize, ...
- 2,714
0
votes
1
answer
272
views
Why doesn't possessive "his" have distinct forms like "her" vs. "hers"? [closed]
I'm trying to understand why there is a difference between the possessive determiner and pronoun for the female gender (her vs hers) but not for the male gender (his is used for both).
"This will be ...
1
vote
4
answers
619
views
Is there any verb for making a girl more girly?
'Feminize' is used for making a boy more girly. We can say, "She is forcibly feminizing her boyfriend." But is there a word for pushing a girl to be more feminine?
The Oxford Dictionary of English ...
1
vote
0
answers
220
views
Can "domine" be used to refer to a woman?
In my native language God is named "Dumnezeu" which comes from Latin "Domine Deus". Wiktionary indicates that "Domine" is still being used in English (or at least a dictionary contains it) meaning:
...
- 554
21
votes
11
answers
9k
views
A term for a woman complaining about things/begging in a cute/childish way
I'm trying to find a fitting translation for a Chinese term, which means that a woman is trying to be cute in front of her man in order to get what she wants. While she does this, her voice will ...
- 411
4
votes
3
answers
6k
views
"Ladies and Gentlemen" beyond binary gender classification
Hearing the usual greeting on a train, I started wondering if there is already an established alternative to "Ladies and Gentlemen" that is applicable beyond the male/female classification. (For ...
- 2,450
1
vote
0
answers
740
views
Is this sentence grammatically correct and can be used for Women's Day?
Let women rise and use their strength to contribute to the world.
I need to use this sentence for a Women's Day social media design. But there are two doubts:
Should it be women or woman?
Let women ...
- 287
1
vote
2
answers
3k
views
Gender Neutral Salutation /Honorific
In the context of addressing an unknown individual in an email/letter, how does one include persons belonging to the broad gender spectrum?
For instance, in binary terms Dear Mam/Sir was the norm for ...
- 113
-2
votes
2
answers
222
views
Can the epicene personal pronoun “they’ be used regardless of semantic gender of the word?
Can the epicene personal pronoun they be used regardless of semantic gender of the word?
In other words, for any word with semantic gender (i.e. lion, lioness, boy, girl, man, woman, cow, bull) ...
- 1,280
0
votes
2
answers
141
views
Can "old man" be used by females to address unrelated older men?
I'm a fan-translator, translating from Oriental languages to English, and I've been told to translate "uncle" to "old man", since a direct translation would imply a familial relation where there was ...
- 41
1
vote
1
answer
2k
views
Feminine form of “son” when used as term of endearment [duplicate]
It seems natural and appropriate for an older man to call a non-relative boy/young man “son” to convey endearment. Although I’m not sure, I think it’s unofficially reserved for men’s use only (the ...
- 1,566
0
votes
1
answer
206
views
He, she, it with animals [closed]
When I want to write the story about little puppy, I have found on the street, should I use it or other gender?
- 111
0
votes
1
answer
58
views
how to ignore gender nicely in english? can i make the sentence plural? [duplicate]
why is this possible to replace:
someone removed his/her with someone removed their
can I also change:
The user clicks on the button. He/She then sees.. with
The user clicks on the button. They ...
- 103
15
votes
9
answers
5k
views
Why does English use singular they instead of making up a new word for this?
Why does English use singular they instead of making up a new word for this?
In my native language there’s a word dia which has the same meaning as he/she, but it doesn’t give information about the ...
- 307
11
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Debutante in a sporting context?
The Collins English Dictionary defines a "debutant" as
"a person who is making a first appearance in a particular capacity, such as a sportsperson playing in a first game for a team"
As the ...
- 113
1
vote
2
answers
821
views
What causes the predominantly female gendering of objects?
In English, objects are not generally gendered, as we have neutral pronouns used specifically for that purpose. I've noticed that when gendered pronouns are used for non-gendered objects, though, ...
- 111
14
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Specifying Pronouns as He/Him;She/Her;They/Them
It is becoming more common for people to explicitly state the pronouns to be used in addressing themselves: he/him, she/her, or they/them. For example, a name tag for a conference might read:
Cory ...
- 2,411
-1
votes
1
answer
573
views
How to say “unisex for children” in english language (without sounding weird) [closed]
I'm trying to find the professional wording that describes "unisex" (male + female) in the children fashion industry. It seems that most fashion shops simply name this "children" or "kids", avoiding ...
- 99
5
votes
1
answer
12k
views
How is the gender of cities/countries determined in English? [closed]
In my native language there are gender markers so depending on how a word ends, its gender becomes male, female or neuter. Since English has no gender markers, how are the pronouns of cities (such as ...
- 151
0
votes
1
answer
236
views
Gender of word "Unity"
I'm writing an article in Polish about game engine named "Unity". I constructed the following sentence:
Unity jest bardzo jednolita, jeśli chodzi o encje i komponenty.
This translates more or less ...
- 253
9
votes
4
answers
7k
views
Does the term "Brotherhood" imply that all members are males?
I'm writing a story that has a secret society or gang called "The Brotherhood", and I want to know if this term implies that all members are males (because of the term "Brother").
Would this name ...
- 213
1
vote
3
answers
8k
views
Is it correct to apply "Housewife" term for an unmarried woman who does house-chores?
I would like to know what is the appropriate label to describe a young woman/girl who is unmarried, stays in her parents' home, does the house chores, and has no income. She is not also looking for a ...
- 131
54
votes
9
answers
41k
views
How do you say "Come on, man" to a woman?
I've heard people saying phrases like down below.
"That's not cool, man"
"Dude, look at this"
"Hey, calm down, bro"
But these words are supposed to be said to a male ...
- 659
4
votes
2
answers
11k
views
When did the word "guys" become popular as a gender-neutral word?
It's normal nowadays to walk into a room (men and women, boys and girls etc) and go, "Hey guys!". Has this always been the case, or what?
- 41