Quote Originally Posted by Rawhide View Post
I suddenly thought of a good example of how to explain female (singular) as a noun.

Let's say there's a person you know with the name of... Robyn. Spelt with a y it's more commonly a female name, but it's frequently enough a male name that someone could be confused. So, if the person you're talking to asks, how could you respond?

1a) Robyn is female.
Correct. You are using female as a predicative adjective.

2a) Robyn is a female.
Incorrect. You are using female as a noun. While technically still grammatically correct, you're dehumanising Robyn and women in general.

3a) Robyn is a woman.
Correct. Woman is a noun and you are using it as such.

4a) Robyn is woman.
Incorrect. Woman is a noun but you're trying to use it as a predicative adjective. Note: There are some cases where this might actually be appropriate, but it doesn't answer the question correctly. e.g. "I am woman, hear me roar" is technically grammatically incorrect, but is totally awesome, so we should definitely give it a pass .


Now, let's imagine that Robyn is actually your cat's name.

1b) Robyn is female.
Correct. You are using female as a predicative adjective.

2b) Robyn is a female.
Correct. You are using female as a noun. This is fine here as you're talking about an animal not a human.

3b) Robyn is a woman.
Incorrect. Woman is a a noun that generally refers to humans only. Though, this can extend to humanoid creatures, or if your are anthropomorphising your cat.

4b) Robyn is woman.
Incorrect. Woman is a a noun that generally refers to humans only, but you're trying to use it as a predicative adjective for an animal.


I know it was completely a mistake and was just a missing word you corrected, but let's use your original mistake as an example (sentence modified to include Robyn).

"Robyn is my female."

That would fall under 2a), using female as a noun. It's not really appropriate... unless it is a pet name your girlfriend wants you to use. Even in such a rare instance, to people outside your circles it might seem like you're being dehumanising. Avoid.
I never realized that. Thank you again.