Noun Gender
Most English nouns have no gender. A few people and animal words do.
In Sinhala, we change a lot of words for male and female (ගුරුවරයා / ගුරුවරිය). English does this much less. A teacher, a doctor or a friend can be a man or a woman.
ඉංග්රීසියේ ගොඩක් nouns වලට ස්ත්රී පුරුෂ භේදයක් නෑ. teacher කියන්නේ ගුරුවරයාටත් ගුරුවරියටත් දෙකටම. පුද්ගලයින් සහ සතුන් ගැන කියන සමහර වචනවල විතරයි වෙනම රූප තියෙන්නේ.
Words with a male and a female form
| Male | Female | Either |
|---|---|---|
| man | woman | person |
| father | mother | parent |
| son | daughter | child |
| boy | girl | child, kid |
| brother | sister | sibling |
| uncle | aunt | — |
| nephew | niece | — |
| husband | wife | spouse, partner |
| king | queen | ruler |
| actor | actress | actor |
| waiter | waitress | server |
| bull | cow | cattle |
| cock (rooster) | hen | chicken |
Today, many people use the "either" word for jobs: She's a famous actor. Words like waitress and air hostess are slowly being replaced by server and flight attendant.
Words for both
Most job and relationship words work for anyone: teacher, doctor, nurse, lawyer, engineer, student, friend, cousin, neighbour, boss.
Same word, man or woman
- Nimali is my friend. She's a doctor.
- Ruwan is my cousin. He's a doctor too.
- Our English teacher is very kind. She always helps us.
If you need to make it clear, add male or female:
male / female
- He's not my boyfriend. He's just a male friend.
- I have three female cousins.
he, she or it?
Use he for a man or boy, she for a woman or girl, and it for things and most animals. For a pet you love, he or she is fine.
Quick check
Tap an answer. Nothing is saved.
My brother's daughter is my .
Amma is a nurse. works at the General Hospital.
My phone is old, but still works.
Finished this one? Tick it off. It is saved on this device only.