feminineplural

Feminine plural is a grammatical category used in languages that assign noun gender to mark a group of feminine referents in the plural. It signals that a noun (and any agreeing modifiers or determiners) refers to more than one female entity. The feminine plural form affects agreement in adjectives, determiners, and sometimes pronouns.

In Spanish, feminine plural nouns end in -as and take feminine plural articles and adjectives: las amigas bonitas. In French, feminine plural nouns and adjectives typically add an -es ending in the plural: les filles intelligentes. Italian forms feminine plural nouns with -e in many cases, and adjectives agree in gender and number as in le ragazze intelligenti. German marks feminine plural through the plural noun form and corresponding agreement: die schönen Frauen.

Across languages with grammatical gender, feminine plural forms vary in their derivation. Some use suffixes such as -as, -es, or -e; others rely on stem changes or irregular plurals. In many languages, pronouns and determiners also differentiate in the feminine plural (for example Spanish ellas; French elles), reflecting the feminine gender in the plural.

Some languages have mechanisms for inclusive or gender-neutral language to address mixed-gender groups, or to avoid gender-specific forms in certain contexts. The feminine plural, as a category, is a standard part of grammatical gender systems and appears in grammars and dictionaries as a marker of agreement and reference to multiple feminine entities.