Which Gender Is It?

Level 4

Learn the endings -or, -io, -tas and -men, and check the dictionary for the rest.

How It Works

Ending	Usually	Examples
-or, -os, -er	masculine	amor, amoris; flos, floris; pater, patris
-io, -tas, -tudo, -tus	feminine	regio, regionis; civitas, civitatis; multitudo, multitudinis; virtus, virtutis
-men, -e, -al, -ar	neuter	nomen, nominis; mare, maris; animal, animalis; exemplar, exemplaris
-us with the genitive -oris or -eris	neuter	corpus, corporis; tempus, temporis; genus, generis

These endings are only a guide. Soror (sister), uxor (wife) and arbor (tree) end in -or and are feminine.

Gender matters because adjectives and words such as hic, haec, hoc must agree: hic amor, haec civitas, hoc corpus.

Amor magnus est.
Love is great.
Amor ends in -or and is masculine, so the adjective is magnus.
Civitas magna est.
The city is great.
Civitas ends in -tas and is feminine, so the adjective is magna.
Nomen bonum est.
The name is good.
Nomen ends in -men and is neuter, so the adjective is bonum.
Mare altum est.
The sea is deep.
Mare ends in -e and is neuter, so the adjective is altum.
Hoc est corpus meum.
This is my body.
From Matthew 26:26. Corpus is neuter, so hoc and meum are neuter.

Giving a neuter noun a masculine adjective.
Nomen bonus est.
Nomen bonum est.
Nomen ends in -men, so it is neuter, and the adjective is bonum.

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Which Gender Is It?Level 4

The ending of a third-family noun hints at its gender, so the third-family nouns, neuter ones included, come first.

-tas

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