LESSON 80.
NOUNS AND PRONOUNS.—GENDER.
+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—The lion was caged. The lioness was caged. In the first sentence, something was said about a male lion; and in the second, something was said about a female lion. Modifications of the noun to denote the sex of the object, we call +Gender+. Knowing the sex of the object, you know the gender of its name. The word lion, denoting a male animal, is in the +Masculine Gender;+ and lioness, denoting a female lion, is in the +Feminine Gender+.
The names of things without sex are in the +Neuter Gender+.
Such words as cousin, child, friend, neighbor, may be either masculine or feminine.