Question

Identify the ‘feminine gender noun’ in the following sentence:
It was the Empress who taught her subjects a lesson in humility.

a)Empress
b)Subjects
c)Lesson
d)None of these

Answer 1

Hint: Feminine gender nouns refer to women, girls, and female animals. Example- Lady, mother, ewe, etc

Complete answer:

We know that there are 4 types of gender nouns, let’s look at their usage-
1)Feminine gender noun- It is used to indicate girls, women, and female animals.
Example- Goddess, maiden, lioness, etc.
2)Masculine gender noun- It is used to indicate boys, men, and male animals.
Example- God, maid-servant, lion, etc.
3)Common gender noun- It is used to indicate nouns that can either be female or male.
Example- Cook, doctor, teacher, etc.
4)Neuter gender noun- It is used to indicate nouns that are neither female nor male.
Example- Book, chair, car, etc.

There are three nouns in the above question; Empress, subjects, and humility.
Now, let’s look at the given options-

a)Empress- It is the feminine gender noun of the emperor. Hence, it is the correct option.
b)Subjects- It is a collective noun because it includes the collection of citizens of an empire as a whole. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
c)Lesson- It is a neutral gender noun because it denotes a gender-less concept. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
The correct answer is Option ‘a’.

Note: It is important to understand the functions and usage of the different types of gender nouns.