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
Claudia Gabel Claudia Gabel Claudia Gabel (born February 20, 1975) is the author of several young adult novels published by Scholastic Inc and HarperCollins. The "In or Out" series consists of four novels--"In or Out" (2007), "Loves Me Loves Me Not" (2007), "Sweet & Vicious" (2008), and "Friends Close, Enemies Closer" (2008). The books are set in Poughkeepsie, New York and follow best friends Nola James and Marnie Fitzpatrick through their first two months of high school. "Romeo and Juliet and Vampires" (2010) is a mash-up novelization of William Shakespeare's famous play, featuring a new version of the love story between Juliet