Gender / Noun Class Tag
What grammatical class does this noun belong to?
Maana
A grammatical category such as masculine/feminine/neuter or a noun class that can affect articles, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, or agreement.
Jinsi ya kuitambua
Notice whether nouns carry a class that other words must match.
Mifano
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
Mtazamo wa lugha
Katika lugha yako ya kwanza
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
Katika lugha unayojifunza
Grammatical gender is central and affects articles, adjectives, pronouns, and some participles.
el problema, la mano, una chica alta
the problem, the hand, a tall girl
Learners often assume endings always predict gender and forget irregular nouns.
New in your learning language
This block is more central in your learning language. Give it extra focus in examples and practice.