Editing Noun (section)

=== Gender ===
{{main|Grammatical gender}}

In some languages common and proper nouns have grammatical gender, typically masculine, feminine, and neuter. The gender of a noun (as well as its number and case, where applicable) will often require [[agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] in words that modify or are used along with it. In [[French language|French]] for example, the singular form of the definite article is ''le'' for masculine nouns and ''la'' for feminine; adjectives and certain verb forms also change (sometimes with the simple addition of {{nowrap|''-e''}} for feminine). Grammatical gender often correlates with the form of the noun and the inflection pattern it follows; for example, in both [[Italian language|Italian]] and [[Romanian language|Romanian]] most nouns ending in&nbsp;''-a'' are feminine. Gender can also correlate with the [[sex]] or [[social gender]] of the noun's referent, particularly in the case of nouns denoting people (and sometimes animals), though with exceptions (the feminine French noun ''personne'' can refer to a male or a female person).

In Modern English, even common nouns like ''hen'' and ''princess'' and proper nouns like ''Alicia'' do not have grammatical gender (their femininity has no relevance in syntax), though they denote persons or animals of a specific sex. The gender of a pronoun must be appropriate for the item referred to: "The ''girl'' said the ''ring'' was from ''her'' new ''boyfriend'', but ''he'' denied ''it'' was from ''him''" (three nouns; and three gendered pronouns: or four, if this ''her'' is counted as a [[English possessive#Pronouns|possessive pronoun]]).