A system sorting nouns into classes that other words must agree with.
Also called: noun class.
In precise terms
A noun-classification system whose defining property is agreement: gender exists in a language only if some other element covaries with it. Class membership is only partly predictable from meaning.
An example
das Mädchen
the girl (grammatically neuter)
What is going on here
German 'Mädchen' is neuter despite referring to a girl, because the diminutive suffix '-chen' assigns neuter regardless of meaning. This is the clearest possible demonstration that grammatical gender is a formal system, not a claim about the world.
Why this matters when you are learning a language
Gender governs articles, adjectives and pronouns, so it has to be learned with the noun rather than looked up later. Learning the article as part of the word is the standard advice for good reason.
Across languages
Spanish and French have two genders, German three, and Bantu languages have noun-class systems with a dozen or more classes covering categories like humans, plants and abstractions. Turkish, Finnish and Mandarin have none.
Related terms
- AgreementIntermediate — When one word changes form to match another — a verb matching its subject, an adjective matching its noun.
- NounBeginner — A word for a thing, person, place, idea or quality.
- AdjectiveBeginner — A word that describes a noun — its size, colour, quality or state.
- Classifier (numeral classifier)Intermediate — A grammatical element used in counting constructions to mark a conventional class for the noun being counted.
Where to go next
- Language guides — See grammatical and lexical categories used in context.
- Terminology quiz — Test the terms on this page.