In most remaining parts of the Netherlands and in Suriname, the distinction between masculine and feminine nouns has disappeared, producing a common gender that uses the same inflections and pronouns as the original masculine. The pronouns "hij" and "zij" are used when the referent has a natural gender, so "hij" is used for a male person, "zij" for a female person. However, when the noun is inanimate and has no natural gender, the pronoun "hij" is used not only for traditionally masculine nouns, but for traditionally feminine nouns as well. Thus, the situation in these areas resembles that of English, although there is still a distinction among inanimate nouns between common "hij" and neuter "het" (English uses "it" for both, having lost all gender distinctions in almost all inanimate nouns, with few exceptions such as ships, aircraft, buildings and countries).