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People who speak English as a second language: how confusing is it that nouns are not gendered? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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It's a rare example of English being simpler than other languages, so I'm curious if it's hard for a new speaker to keep the nouns straight without the extra clues.

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[–] 7 points 2 years ago (1 child)

There used to be Doctor/Doctrix, actor/actress, etc but it has gone by the by in the last few decades. There’s still dog/bitch, ram/ewe, cow/bull etc.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I still use actress, does that make me sound weird? Same for masseuse/masseur, waiter/waitress, hostess/steward (on a plane) and I can't think of anything else right now.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Not a single word on that list would even ping on my radar if you said it near me, except for "Masseur." If you said "Masseur" near me, I would think "oh, fancy." -Native English speaker from SE USA

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    Weird? Certainly not. To me it makes very little difference - although I understand the idea behind eliminating the male/female dichotomy. Stick with whatever you’re used to. As long as I understand what you say I don’t lose sleep over the words used. One more for the list: prostitute / gigalo.

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