masculine

«masculine» in Mova's school dictionary: Having qualities that people traditionally think of as… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (masculine); noun (the masculine – grammar)

meaning for a pupil

1) Having qualities that people traditionally think of as typical of men or boys, such as a deep voice. tree →

2) Belonging to or suitable for men. tree →

3) (grammar) In languages like French, Spanish, German or Ukrainian, describing nouns and words of a class called «masculine»; in English, words like «he», «king», «actor» are masculine forms. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in English and language lessons: in French «le livre» is masculine, «la table» feminine; in English, pairs like king/queen, prince/princess, actor/actress. In everyday talk «masculine» describes styles and qualities, but ideas of what is masculine change between cultures and times; boys and girls can like any colour or hobby. Opposite: «feminine». Phrases: «masculine noun», «masculine form».

examples

• In French, «le soleil» is a masculine noun. tree →
• «Prince» is the masculine form of «princess». tree →
• His voice became deeper and more masculine as he grew up. tree →
• The room was decorated in a masculine style with dark wood. tree →
• In Spanish, most masculine nouns end in -o. tree →
• Some people think pink isn't masculine, but anyone can wear pink. tree →
• «He» and «him» are masculine pronouns. tree →

note

Opposite: «feminine». Neutral: «neuter» (grammar). Grammatical gender is not about real men or women: in German the word for a girl («Mädchen») is neuter. Careful with stereotypes: what counts as masculine is partly custom, not fact.

In the corpora

• noir is the masculine and noire the feminine; both sound "NWAR": un chien noir, une souris noire.
• After an amount French uses de: un kilo de pommes, une bouteille d'eau, un paquet de chips; kilo is masculine.
• Une personne is feminine even for a man, and un bébé is masculine even for a baby girl.
• Before a vowel or a silent h, le and la become l': l'eau (feminine), l'arbre (masculine).
• Most -age words are masculine, but la plage, la page, la cage and l'image are feminine exceptions.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «masculine» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.