Grammatical gender and noun classes
Does a noun belong to a group that changes other words?
Significado
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.
Como identificar
Compare nouns used with the same article, adjective or pronoun, and check whether those words change because the nouns belong to different groups.
Na tua língua materna
Every Portuguese noun has grammatical gender, a masculine or feminine grouping that controls forms of articles, adjectives and some pronouns. This grouping does not depend simply on whether something is male, female or neither. Nouns ending in -o are often masculine and those ending in -a often feminine, but there are many exceptions and other endings.
O problema é sério.
Problema is masculine despite ending in -a.
A mão da Ana está fria.
Mão is feminine, so the article and adjective are feminine.
A criança está cansada.
Criança is feminine whether the child is a girl or a boy.
Na tua língua de aprendizagem
English nouns do not belong to masculine, feminine or neuter groups that make articles or adjectives change form. English distinguishes gender mainly in pronouns: he and she usually refer to people, while it usually refers to things and often to animals. They can also refer to one person whose gender is unknown or not relevant.
My aunt says she is ready.
She refers to the aunt; the adjective ready has no feminine form.
The door is open. Please close it.
It refers to the door, regardless of whether the word for door has gender in another language.
A customer called, but they didn't leave a name.
They refers to one customer without specifying gender.
Learners whose language groups ordinary nouns by gender may assign he or she to things that English normally calls it. Learners whose language uses the same pronoun for male and female people may confuse he and she.