Grammatical gender and noun classes
Does a noun belong to a group that changes other words?
의미
Some languages put nouns into groups that make other words take matching forms. These groups may reflect people, animals or shapes, but a noun's group does not always follow its meaning. Some languages have several groups, while others have none or use different pronouns for male and female people without grouping ordinary nouns. Agreement is the matching of forms; Grammatical gender and noun classes is the grouping that can make that matching necessary.
알아보는 방법
Compare nouns used with the same article, adjective or pronoun, and check whether those words change because the nouns belong to different groups.
모국어에서는
Korean does not sort nouns into grammatical gender or other groups that make surrounding words take matching forms. The same adjectives and verbs are used for people of any gender and for animals and objects. Counting words group things for counting, but they do not make other words change.
남동생은 학생이에요. (Namdongsaengeun haksaengiyeyo.)
남동생 identifies a male family member through its meaning.
여동생도 학생이에요. (Yeodongsaengdo haksaengiyeyo.)
학생이에요 is unchanged for a male or female student.