femininesingular

Feminine singular is a grammatical category used in many languages to mark nouns and related words that are both feminine in gender and singular in number. In linguistic descriptions, it refers to the form a feminine noun or any word that agrees with such a noun takes when modifying or being modified by a singular feminine noun. The category interacts with determiners, adjectives, pronouns, and sometimes verbs, depending on the language’s system of agreement.

In languages with grammatical gender, determiner and adjective agreement often mirrors the gender and number of the noun. For example, in Spanish the feminine singular determiner and adjective ending align with the noun: la casa nueva (the new house). In French, feminine singular nouns and adjectives agree with forms like jolie (beautiful) or rouge in agreement with the noun, as in la fille jolie. In Italian, feminine singular forms typically end in -a and adjectives agree accordingly, as in una casa bella.

German presents a slightly different pattern, where gender is not purely a matter of noun endings but affects article forms and adjective endings in the feminine singular, for example die schöne Frau (the beautiful woman). In languages with overt case systems, the feminine singular form also carries case markings on determiners and adjectives.

Some languages extend the notion beyond a simple noun ending; for instance, in Arabic and other languages with gendered nouns, feminine singular nouns often show distinct morphological markers and require feminine agreement on adjectives and verbs.

In linguistic description and dictionaries, feminine singular helps categorize nouns and their agreeing forms. It contrasts with masculine singular, feminine plural, and other combinations of gender and number.