Gender / Noun Class Tag
What grammatical class does this noun belong to?
Meaning
A grammatical category such as masculine/feminine/neuter or a noun class that can affect articles, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, or agreement.
How to spot it
Notice whether nouns carry a class that other words must match.
Examples
masculine|feminine|neuter|class noun
la casa roja|der Mann|une table
The adjective changes to match the noun.
Visual guide
Noun has a class tag: casa [feminine] Matching words copy it: la casa roja la = feminine article roja = feminine adjective Class → agreement
Class systems vary: No class: no tag to match Gender: masc/fem/neut der Mann, une table Many classes: class 1/2/... Agreement may affect: article adjective pronoun verb
Language View
In your language
English has natural gender in many pronouns and some words, but nouns do not belong to a broad grammatical gender class system.
The actor said he was ready.
he = natural gender reference
In learning language
Arabic has pervasive masculine/feminine gender affecting nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs and demonstratives.
هذه الطالبة مجتهدة.
This female student is hardworking.
Learners may ignore feminine agreement or treat gender as only lexical.
New in your learning language
This block is more central in your learning language. Give it extra focus in examples and practice.