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Home > Catalan grammar

1 Morphology

For general discussion of morphology (not specific to Catalan) see main article Morphology (linguistics).

1.1 Articles and nouns

In Catalan, nouns referring to inanimate objects or abstract concepts can have masculine or feminine grammatical gender: e.g. "el llibre" ("the book", masculine), "la taula" ("the table", feminine).

Some words that might seem to a non-Catalan-speaker to be the masculine and feminine form of the same word may have entirely different meanings. For example:

• "el cap" ("the head"), "la capa" ("the layer")
• "el roc" (an imaginary giant bird), "la roca" ("the rock")
• "el full" ("the paper sheet"), "la fulla" ("the leaf (of a plant)")

There are words that do not change their form when they change from masculine to feminine, such as:

• "el pols" ("the pulse"), "la pols" ("the powder/dust")
• "el llum" ("the lamp"), "la llum" ("the light (in abstract)")
• "el clau" ("the nail"), "la clau" ("the key")
• "en Pau" ("Paul", a male name), "la pau" ("the peace")
• "el nou" ("the nine"), "la nou" ("the nut")

Nouns for non-human animate beings can be divided into four classes:

• Masculine nouns that can refer to either the male or female of the species:
  • "un cocodril" ("a crocodile")
  • "un rossinyol" ("a nightingale").
• Feminine nouns that can refer to either the male or female of the species:
  • "una guilla" ("a fox"),
  • "una sargantana" (a type of lizard found in the Balearic Islands).
• Entirely different forms for male and female:
  • "un cavall" ("a stallion"), "una euga" ("a mare", similar to the English language word "ewe", meaning "a female sheep")
  • "un toro" ("a bull"), "una vaca" ("a cow")
• Related forms with irregular endings reflecting biological gender:
  • "un gos" ("a [male] dog"), "una gossa" ("a bitch")
  • "un lleó" ("a lion"), "una lleona" ("a lioness")

Nouns referring to humans can be divided into the following groups:

• Masculine nouns:
  • "un fuster" ("a carpenter/joiner")
  • "un paleta" ("a construction worker").
• Feminine nouns
  • "una pentinadora" ("A thread-braider")
• Nouns where the same word serves as both male and female:
  • "un modista" ("a [male] fashion designer"), "una modista" ("a [female] fashion designer")
  • "un dentista" ("a [male] dentist"), "una dentista" ("a [female] dentist")
• Forms with regular endings reflecting biological gender:
  • "un cuiner" ("a [male] cook"), "una cuinera " ("a [female] cook")
  • "un mestre" ("a [male] teacher"), "una mestra" ("a [female] teacher").
• Two entirely different forms:
  • "un home" ("a man"), "una dona" ("a woman")
  • "un amo" ("a master" or "a male owner"), "una mestressa" ("a mistress" or "a female owner").
• Forms with irregular endings reflecting biological gender:
  • "un actor" ("an actor"), "una actriu" ("an actress")
  • "un poeta" ("a [male] poet"), "una poetessa" ("a poetess").

1.2 Adjectives

A Catalan adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it qualifies. Adjectives can be divided into three groups:

• Those with four forms: masculine singular: "blanc" ("white"), feminine singular: "blanca", masculine plural: "blancs", feminine plural: "blanques".
• Those with three forms: tres formes: singular: "feliç" ("happy"), masculine plural: "feliços", feminine plural: "felices".
• Those with two forms: singular: "diferent" ("different"), plural: "diferents".

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Topics: Catalan Grammar Una Plural Forms **''"un Male Masculine Words...

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