# poustevník - feminine



## artimedoros49

Ahoj,

_Poustevník_ – Is there a feminine form of this noun, or is it always masculine, even if the subject is feminine?
For example: Nechtěla bych žit jako _poustevník_? – I would not want to live like a hermit.

Thank you


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## Mori.cze

Hi,

there is a feminine form, _poustevnice._ 
The masculine can, however, be used as a generic term, so your sentence _Nechtěla bych žít jako poustevník_. is fine. 
I strongly advise to avoid using this generic when closely connected to clearly female grammar forms, as in _V lese žila stará poustevník, která léčila zvířata., _that sounds wrong.


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## hypoch

Ahoj,

I agree with Mori. I would just add that even a woman could compare herself to a _poustevník_ (i.e. male hermit). On the other hand, _poustevnice_ is the obvious female form, even though I can't recall hearing it (I have never heard of female hermits but may have missed some history lessons . And because the female form is so obvious, it sounds fine to me even if a little unusual.


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## artimedoros49

Thanks to you both.


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## bibax

artimedoros49 said:


> For example: Nechtěla bych žít jako _poustevník_? – I would not want to live like a hermit.


The example is not suitable. Instead of _poustevník_ we could use any noun of any gender.

Nechtěl bych žít jako tento herec. = ... like this actor.
Nechtěla bych žít jako tento herec. = ... like this actor.
Nechtěl bych žít jako tato herečka. = ... like this actress.
Nechtěla bych žít jako tato herečka. = ... like this actress.
Nechtěl (nechtěla) bych žít jako zvíře. = ... like an animal.

In principle there is no agreement in gender.

On the other side:

She refused several suitors' offers of marriage and became a hermitess on the banks of the Severn River in Somersetshire.

Odmítla několik nabídek k sňatku a stala se *poustevnicí* ....

poustevnice = hermitess;


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## SirJacobus

Maybe just one thought - the expression "poustevnice" sounds very unusual to me and it is kind a weird a bit  - but grammaticaly it is definitely right... in the context above (posted by bibax - "Odmítla několik sňatků a stala se poustevníci"...) I would rather use a synonym... for example "sammotářka" ("samotářkou" in the proper case according to the context) ("samotář" = masculine) 

Both words are different but in some cases they could be substitued (in my opinion) - especially if you want to avoid using unusual, less-frequent words like "poustevnice" 

However, "samotář" is more common word and sounds less, let´s say, "educated"  

Maybe I am wrong but this is how I understand it...


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## bibax

_Poustevnice_ is something else than _samotářka_.

The cited sentence "She refused ..." is about a real poustevnice (hermitess). St. Keyna founded numerous churches in South Wales, Cornwall, ... Her feast day is October 8.


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## ilocas2

There is at least one context where only masculine form poustevník is used

*rak poustevníček* (or *poustevník* unofficialy) - hermit crab
Rak poustevníček

female of this crustacean is not referred as poustevnička or poustevnice, it's possible only jokingly with tongue-in-cheek


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