male and female vs. men and women

Male and female are basically adjectives, not nouns. They can be used as nouns, but in general, it is better not to do so when you are referring to people. I think it is because we often use male and female as nouns when we are talking about animals. Sentence (a) below sounds like a sentence about animals. If you are talking about people, it is better to use man and woman (or men and women) so sentence (b) sounds better than (a) in this case. However, if you need an adjective, it is better to use male and female because men and women are nouns; sentence (d) sounds better than sentence (c).

1. Males are thought to be physically stronger t than females.
2. Men are thought to be physically stronger than women.
3. This company treats the women employees the same as the men employees.
4. This company treats the female employees the same as the male employees.

Back to Vicky's Main Page.