La mucca è una femmina, il maiale è un maschio.

Questions & Answers about La mucca è una femmina, il maiale è un maschio.

Why use femmina and maschio here instead of donna and uomo?
Donna (woman) and uomo (man) are only used for humans. When talking about the biological sex of animals, you must use femmina (female) and maschio (male).
Is there a masculine version of mucca, like 'mucco'?
No, mucca specifically means a female cow. To talk about a male, you use a completely different word: toro (bull).
Is the word maiale always masculine?
Grammatically, il maiale is the default masculine word for a pig. To specify a female pig (a sow), Italians use a different word entirely: la scrofa.
Why is it una femmina but un maschio?
Femmina is a feminine noun starting with a consonant, so it takes the feminine indefinite article una. Maschio is a masculine noun starting with a consonant, so it takes the masculine indefinite article un.

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