Is saying cousin sister or cousin brother correct english?
2006-10-09 22:38:38 · 15 answers · asked by robin 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
In the english language, there is not a gender related to the word "cousin".
2006-10-09 22:41:00 · answer #1 · answered by firerookie 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, cousin is a word that can mean either male or female. After that, you could say she or he. Example. My cousin went with me to the concert. She liked the concert very much. If you said cousin sister or cousin brother it would sound like you would have a very mixed up family. Cousin is both male and female.
2006-10-10 05:43:00 · answer #2 · answered by queenmaeve172000 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In many languages, there is either an extra letter at the end showing gender, or a special word to show the gender of a cousin or other family member. In French, for example, a male cousin is called 'cousin', but because there are genders in French language, a female cousin is called 'cousine', which tells the other person their sex.
English does not have either of those. A person who is the child to your aunt or uncle is simply called cousin, and if you need to show that they are male or female, you say male cousin or female cousin. You can also say "Cousin Tom" which shows that he is male, or "Cousin Jane" which shows that she is female.
We do have special words for some family relationships which show the sex of the person (brother or sister, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece), but we don't have one for cousins.
2006-10-10 06:14:56 · answer #3 · answered by Bronwen 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, sister or brother isn't correct. Neither is niece or nephew. We don't have any way of specifying gender of cousin. You can say the name though - "My cousin Melissa" or "My cousin Jason" for example.
2006-10-10 05:42:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
No. Cousin is not gender specific in English. If my mother's sister has a son and a daughter, they are BOTH my matrilateral ortho cousins.
2006-10-10 05:41:52 · answer #5 · answered by Philo 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No.
Cousin has no specific gender. It just tells you that it is one of your parents siblings children. If you add their name to Cousin it would tell you if it is male or female. Cousin Mary. Cousin Bob.
by the way, lubz 001 that answered the question is an idiot.
2006-10-10 05:41:29 · answer #6 · answered by Trollhair 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, cousin is for either sex.
Niece or Nephew would be your Father/Mother's Sibilings children(they would call them that), or you could say 1st, 2nd 3rd cousin (from closest in relation to you)
2006-10-10 05:48:37 · answer #7 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I always just say my "boy" cousin or "girl" cousin if I'm talking to someone who wouldn't know.
2006-10-10 05:51:56 · answer #8 · answered by Barbara W 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no, you just say female cousin or a male cousing, no brothers or sisters involved..
2006-10-10 05:48:17 · answer #9 · answered by Mari 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no, just male cousin and female cousin.
like when you tell about a friend, you also say male friend and female friend.
have fun!
2006-10-10 05:57:27 · answer #10 · answered by Zuoi bu 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋