Question

: Choose the feminine form of the given masculine noun.
Lad
a. Lass
b. Ladess
c. Lady
d. Laden

Answer 1

Hint: In countries like Ireland and Wales, little boys and girls are referred to as lads and lasses.

Complete step-by-step answer:

 Every noun has a gender. There are three types of genders in the English Language. They are Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter. If a person or animal is male, his gender is masculine. Similarly, if a person or animal is female, her gender is feminine. Objects are neither masculine nor feminine. The gender of such objects is neuter.
 Let us look at some examples.
She goes to school.
Here, she stands for a girl. Female persons are feminine in gender.
Steve plays hockey well.
Here, Steve is a boy. Male persons are masculine in gender.
When it comes to nouns like persons and animals, they can be of either gender. As per the instructions given, we can change a masculine noun into a feminine noun and vice versa. One of the methods of making a masculine noun feminine is by adding the suffix “ess” at its end.
E.g. Emperor – Empress.

Some nouns have their own specific female counterparts. They cannot be formed by changing the masculine form of the word. E.g. The feminine of the father is the mother while the feminine of man is a woman.
Let us consider the question given above. We must find out the feminine form of the common noun lad. The feminine form of lad is lass. Therefore, option ‘a’ is the correct answer.

Note: The other options are distractors. Ladess is a non-existent word. Lady is the feminine of the gentleman. Laden is the past participle of ‘lay’.