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There are certain words (derived from Latin second-declension neuter nouns) that are masculine in the singular and feminine or masculine in the plural. Examples include: il braccio / le braccia or i bracci ('the arm(s)') l'uovo / le uova ('the egg(s)') il ginocchio / le ginocchia or i ginocchi ('the knee(s)')
In languages with only masculine and feminine genders, the dummy pronoun may be the masculine third person singular, as in the French for "it's raining": il pleut (where il means "he", or "it" when referring to masculine nouns); although some languages use the feminine, as in the equivalent Welsh sentence: mae hi'n bwrw glaw (where the dummy ...
Many Australian languages have a system of gender superclassing in which membership in one gender can mean membership in another. [15] Worrorra: Masculine, feminine, terrestrial, celestial, and collective. [16] Halegannada: Originally had 9 gender pronouns but only 3 exist in present-day Kannada. Zande: Masculine, feminine, animate, and inanimate.
Italian grammar is typical of the grammar of Romance languages in general. Cases exist for personal pronouns (nominative, oblique, accusative, dative), but not for nouns. There are two basic classes of nouns in Italian, referred to as genders, masculine and feminine.
A fitting moniker for a joyful baby with a love of song—Allegra is a feminine name of Italian origin that means “happy and lively,” as well as a tempo descriptor frequently encountered in ...
A very small number of nouns in some languages can be either masculine or feminine. [81] [82] When referring to these mixed-gender nouns, a decision has to be made, based on factors such as meaning, dialect or sometimes even personal preference, whether to use a masculine or feminine pronoun. There are no neutral or mixed-gender singular third ...
-o masculine singular-a feminine singular-i masculine plural-e feminine plural; Reflexive verbs always use essere, and their past participle agrees with the subject or with third person object pronouns, if these precede the verb. mi sono lavato/-a "I washed myself" ci siamo visti/-e "we saw each other" si è lavato le gambe "he washed his legs"
Example of gender-neutral masculine: English (5) a. If anybody comes, tell him. masculine him used to refer to a person of unknown sex b. *If anybody comes, tell her. feminine her is not used to refer to a person of unknown sex Example of collective masculine: French (6) a. Vos amis sont arrivés — Ils étaient en avance.