Editing Grammatical gender (section)

==== Contextual determination of gender ====
There are certain situations where the assignment of gender to a noun, pronoun or noun phrase may not be straightforward. This includes in particular:
* groups of mixed gender;
* references to people or things of unknown or unspecified gender.

In languages with masculine and feminine gender, the masculine is usually employed by default to refer to persons of unknown gender and to groups of people of mixed gender. Thus, in French the feminine plural pronoun {{lang|fr|elles}} always designates an all-female group of people (or stands for a group of nouns all of feminine gender), but the masculine equivalent {{lang|fr|ils}} may refer to a group of males or masculine nouns, to a mixed group, or to a group of people of unknown genders. In such cases, one says that the feminine gender is [[markedness|semantically marked]], whereas the masculine gender is unmarked.

In English, the problem of gender determination does not arise in the plural, because gender in that language is reflected only in pronouns, and the plural pronoun ''they'' does not have gendered forms. In the singular, however, the issue frequently arises when a person of unspecified or unknown gender is being referred to. In this case it the [[Singular they|Singular ''they'']] has been traditional. 
Since the 18th century it has been prescribed to use the masculine (''he''), but other solutions are now often preferred{{crossreference|&nbsp;(see [[Gender-neutral language]])}}.

In languages with a neuter gender, such as [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] and [[Germanic languages]], the neuter is often used for indeterminate gender reference, particularly when the things referred to are not people. In some cases this may even apply when referring to people, particularly children. For example, in English, one may use ''it'' to refer to a child, particularly when speaking generically rather than about a particular child of known sex.

In [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] (which preserves a masculine–feminine–neuter distinction in both singular and plural), the neuter plural can be used for groups of people of mixed gender, when specific people are meant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kramer |first=Ruth |title=The Morphosyntax of Gender |url={{GBurl|TZOCgAAQBAJ |p=144}} |page=144 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Grönberg |first=Anna Gunnarsdotter |contribution=Masculine generics in current Icelandic |editor1-last=Hellinger |editor1-first=Marlis |editor2-last=Bußmann |editor2-first=Hamumod |title=Gender Across Languages |volume=2 |location=Amsterdam/Philadelphia |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing]] |date=2002 |pages=163–186 |isbn=90-272-1842-0}}</ref> For example:
* {{lang|is|þau ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) höfðu hist í skóginum þegar kerlingin ({{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}) var ung stúlka og keisarinn ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}) óbreyttur prins.}} 'They ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) had met in the forest when the old woman ({{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}) was a young girl and the emperor ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}) was only a prince.'
However, when referring to previously unmentioned groups of people or when referring to people in a generic way, especially when using an indefinite pronoun like 'some' or 'all', the masculine plural is used. For example:
* {{lang|is|Sumir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) hafa þann sið að tala við sjálfa ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) sig.}} 'Some people have the habit of talking to themselves.'
An example contrasting the two ways to refer to groups is the following, taken from advertisements of Christian congregations announcing their meetings:
* {{lang|is|Allir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}}) velkomnir ({{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|PL}})}} 'All welcome' is understood to be more general whereas {{lang|is|Öll ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}}) velkomin ({{gcl|N}}.{{gcl|PL}})}} is more specific and emphasises the individuality of the group members.
That the masculine is seen in Icelandic as the most generic or 'unmarked' of the three genders can also be seen in the fact that the nouns for most professions are masculine. Even feminine job descriptions historically filled by women, like {{lang|is|hjúkrunarkona}} 'nurse' and {{lang|is|fóstra}} 'nursery school teacher' (both {{gcl|F}}.{{gcl|SG}}), have been replaced with masculine ones as men have started becoming more represented in these professions: {{lang|is|hjúkrunarfræðingur}} 'nurse' and {{lang|is|leikskólakennari}} 'nursery school teacher' (both {{gcl|M}}.{{gcl|SG}}).

In [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (which has an overall common–neuter gender system), masculinity may be argued to be a marked feature, because in the [[Swedish grammar#Weak inflection|weak adjectival declension]] there is a distinct ending ({{lang|sv|-e}}) for naturally masculine nouns (as in {{lang|sv|min lill'''e'''bror}}, "my little brother"). In spite of this, the third-person singular masculine pronoun {{lang|sv|han}} would normally be the default for a person of unknown gender, although in practice the indefinite pronoun {{lang|sv|man}} and the reflexive {{lang|sv|sig}} or its possessive forms {{lang|sv|sin/sitt/sina}} usually make this unnecessary.

In [[Polish language|Polish]], where a gender-like distinction is made in the plural between "masculine personal" and all other cases {{crossreference|(see [[#Slavic languages|below]])|printworthy=y}}, a group is treated as masculine personal if it contains at least one male person.

In languages which preserve a three-way gender division in the plural, the rules for determining the gender (and sometimes number) of a [[coordination (linguistics)|coordinated]] noun phrase ("... and ...") may be quite complex. [[Czech language|Czech]] is an example of such a language, with a division (in the plural) between masculine animate, masculine inanimate, feminine, and neuter. The rules<ref>{{cite web |url= http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/?id=601 |title=Shoda přísudku s podmětem několikanásobným |language=cs |trans-title=Agreement of the predicate with a multiple subject |work=[[Institute of the Czech Language]] of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic}}</ref> for gender and number of coordinated phrases in that language are summarized at {{slink|Czech declension|Gender and number of compound phrases}}.