German grammar with the natural gender of what is described. However, since the diminutive forms ending in "-chen" or "-lein" are grammatically neuter, there exist several notable counterexamples such as "das Mädchen" ("girl") and "das Fräulein" ("miss"). Thus these are not illogical, whereas "das Weib" (old, regional or anthropological: woman; a cognate of the English "wife") is really an exception. Furthermore, in German, the gender of nouns without natural gender is not predictable. For example, the three common pieces of cutlery all have different genders: "das Messer" ("knife") is neuter, "die Gabel" ("fork") is feminine, and "der Löffel" ("spoon") is masculine. Students
David Messer cartoons and illustrations to numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Spectator in the UK, and the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, and the Bulletin in Australia. Messer has been reviewing books for the Sydney Morning Herald since at least 2006. David Messer David Messer is an Australian cartoonist. He is best known for his comic book adaptations of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "The Tempest", both published in Australia by Random House in late 2005. Each book features the full text, complete with footnotes, and close to 1,000 illustrated panels per book. He has produced a full-colour version of "Romeo and Juliet".