If language rules made any sense then I would write a neuter noun as das buch so as not to offend the ladies & gentlemen of nouns. ”Usage” or “convention” might be preferable to “rules”,when it comes to English. Most of the rules of English grammar, for instance, were made up by nineteenth-century academics. (Proscription of the “split infinitive” being an example.) German has oddities too. “Das Maedchen und das Kind.” Bob _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/