Gender
Words in English have gender. When we speak English, we don't even think about words as having any gender at all. It is easy to think of the word “woman” as being feminine, the word “man” as masculine, and the word “book” as neuter (neuter is the Latin word for “neither”). The fact that these words really do have gender is revealed when we use pronouns to stand in for nouns.
We saw Denise at the auto parts store. We saw her at the auto parts store.
She was telling the guy what she wanted. She was telling him what she wanted.
He said he could find the part in the back. He said he could find it in the back.
We don't even think twice about “Denise” being a “she,” “the guy” being a “he,” and “the part” being an “it.” In saying those things, though, we're showing we know gender and use it in language.
In English things are pretty cut-and-dried. Words that refer to things that have male physical characteristics are masculine (e.g., Bob, guy, gentleman). If the physical characteristics are female (e.g., Emily, gal, lady), then the word is feminine. If neither applies, we consider it neuter and say it. (The only exception is for the word “ship.” We still refer to a ship as a “she.”)
Latin also has nouns that could refer to a male or a female, just as English. For example, take the words “citizen” (civis) or “dog” (canis). These words are said to have common gender. It should also be pointed out that in a mixed group — males and females — masculine is always the correct grammatical gender. A zillion women are feminine, but let one guy in and the group's gender switches to masculine.
English draws its lines for gender of nouns on purely natural criteria. In grammar, that rule for gender distinction is called natural gender. Latin also recognizes the same three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and also assigns gender to nouns based on physical characteristics. In addition, Latin uses what is called grammatical gender. Grammatical gender works much like the English word “ship.” There is no anatomical reason for a ship to be a “she.” That's just what we say. Likewise, in Latin a table (mē nsa) is a “she,” and so is a tree (arbor). Even things like trust (fidē s) and dirt (humus) are feminine. There are also objects in Latin that are grammatically masculine, like a cart (carrus). To the Roman mind, some nouns didn't fit either category. They were declared neuter: tempus (“time”) for instance.
