Grammatica - loco

34
Chapter 7
Nouns
Zelfstandige naamwoorden
Gender
Geslacht
Dutch nouns belong to one of two genders, common gender and neuter.
The former is an amalgamation of what were formerly masculine and
feminine. Only in some archaic case forms is any distinction between the
two still made (see 5.2). In the south of Holland and in Belgium the difference
between masculine and feminine is still heeded in the use of pronouns
(see 8.1.2.3 (b)).
Dutch dictionaries usually indicate gender by placing an m (mannelijk),
a v (vrouwelijk) or an o (onzijdig) after the noun; thus m and v indicate
that those nouns are now common gender.
Every new Dutch noun must be learnt together with the appropriate definite
article. There are a few reasonably reliable rules for learning the gender of
nouns but there are nevertheless many words which do not fit the rules and
for which the gender simply has to be learnt by heart. The following is a list
of rules, some hard and fast, others a little vague, to assist in learning genders.
7.1
7.1.1
7.1.1.1
Rules for the gender of Dutch nouns
Common gender nouns
The names of men and women
de burgemeester ‘mayor’, de dochter ‘daughter’, de koningin
‘queen’, de moeder ‘mother’, de vader ‘father’, de verpleger
‘male nurse’, de verpleegster ‘nurse’, de zoon ‘son’