Question

Identify the common gender noun used in the following sentence:
The manager spoke, both to the bride and the bridegroom, in the presence of the priest.
a. Priest
b. Manager
c. Bride
d. Bridegroom

Answer 1

Hint: Gender common nouns are the ones which can be used for all genders.
The masculine and feminine form of a noun are already given in the sentence, the same are present in the options too. One can use elimination-method here.

Correct answer:
From the given words in the sentence above, Option a, priest usually refers to a man who performs religious rites in the church and the feminine of priest is priestess. Hence, option a is incorrect. Option b manager is a gender-neutral term. A manager can refer to any gender, it is not a specific term for one. Thus, option b is the correct answer. ‘Manager’ is the common gender noun in the above sentence. Bride and bridegroom are the feminine and masculine, i.e. these are gender specific words. Bride refers to a female usually and bridegroom to a male. Hence, option c and d are incorrect.

Note: One can use the terms female manager or male manager in order to differentiate but as such there is no term in the English language for them. Manager is a gender-neutral term.