How to Tell the Grammatical Gender of Latin Words

Article by John Garger
Edited & published by Rebecca Scudder on Sep 25, 2010

Latin nouns, pronouns, and adjectives all have a gender. Knowing the gender of a Latin word is key to properly understanding Latin grammar. Learn why Latin words have gender and how to recognize whether Latin words are masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Unlike English, the gender of a Latin word is necessary to apply the various grammatical rules. In Latin, parts of speech with gender include nouns, pronouns, and adjectives which may be masculine, feminine, or neuter. While the gender of some of these parts of speech is obvious, others are not. This fact has two effects. First, it gives native-English speakers a difficult time because they are not used to thinking of inanimate objects as having a gender. Second, failure to memorize the gender of words from the beginning proves disastrous later in intermediate and advanced Latin courses of study.

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