The correct sentence

[Star Pupil]

Hi teachers!
I'm going to teach my children the difference between feminine gender and masculine gender.
I've made two columns, in column "A" I wrote some masculine genders and , in column "B" I wrote feminine genders. How should I tell children to match (do this activity like mare for horse etc)? I've written something like that;
Match the feminine with their masculine. Is my sentence correct, or do you have better sentence for this situation?
Please help!
Thanks a million
Star Pupil

[markofcain]

In your example you seem to be using the word "feminine" as a noun which is entirely possible while it is mostly used as an adjective.

I would argue that the use of word "feminine" as a noun can be done so only by an ellipsis in the sentence. If you follow that, then what you are actually saying is:

Match the feminine [words] with their masculine [words].

With an understanding of the ellipsis your statement is correct. However, I believe that most folks would supply the singular noun "word" which would make your statement incorrect.

Wouldn't you just say:

Match each feminine word with its masculine counterpart.

or

Match the feminine words with their masculine counterparts.

By explicitly stating the noun you remove the subjective filter which might cause the reader to render your statement awkward at best or incorrect in the worse case.

But what do I know? I'm just a pest control technician who likes language.

[NearThere]

But what do I know? I'm just a pest control technician who likes language.

I admire that kind of passion that's not hindered by day-to-day mundane.

NT

[markofcain]

I admire that kind of passion that's not hindered by day-to-day mundane.

NT

Thank you for the kind words which are taken as an encouragement. I view the mundane not as a hindrance to the passions of life but rather a gateway to the greater virtues.

While my hands stay busy in a work that is not mentally taxing, I am free to probe and ponder the likes of languages, philosophy, rhetoric, logic, the Holy Scriptures and areas that are more germane to my work such as biology, entomology and chemistry. I have had a career where the mental demands required that I learn more and more about a single, narrowly defined discipline. While my current vocation is far less glamorous to those looking in, I am free to pursue these greater endeavors.

When the door swings open to a customer's home and they announce, "The bug guy's here," little do they know that I am usually exploring something like the use of the waw-consecutive in the retelling of 14th century BC narratives in Semitic Languages. I just smile and say, "Yep, I'm the bug guy."

Mark

[NearThere]

You don't talk to your customers like you do here, do you? I could only imagine their reaction: "huh? we just have a bug problem.....", I'm just teasing, welcome to the board!

Interesting people are everywhere in every line of work if one pays enough attention.

NT