Example Sentences


   This page contains some of the gems that Colleen Brice and I have found over the years that we've worked on the subject of sexist example sentences. If you're interested in reading about the topic, you might take a look at the following two papers we've coauthored:

   I should add a disclaimer here, though: these examples are just presented to give you an idea of what you might find reading through a syntax textbook or the syntax chapter of an intro textbook. I am certainly not claiming that any set displayed here is representative of a given book.

  As you read through these, ask yourself the following: which gender is identified as a parent of someone else? is identified as a spouse of someone else? shows up most often in sentences about emotional states or romantic situations? shops (and for what)? deals with (usually fixes) cars? is intelligent, maybe even a genius? works? reads? performs violent acts? is given things? is associated with food? is evaluated by the opposite gender? is evaluated on their appearance? does things? has a job? is presented as an adult?

  Enjoy. Or not!

Akmajian, Demers, Farmer, & Harnish. 1990. Linguistics: An Introduction to Lg and Communication (3rd ed). MIT Press.
The mother of the boy and girl will arrive soon; John can lift 500 pounds; You know those women; Bill is doing the dishes; John is running; Mary speaks French; You will persuade Aunt Bettina, won't you?; The woman in the photo is your mother, isn't she?; It is Mary that I want to meet; Mary stood up her date; John threw it down; Mary called him up; He belted down the drink; Mary stood near her date; She stood up all those men who had offered her diamonds; Mary told John about the woman who admired him; Mary has proved several theorems
Burling. 1992. Patterns of Language: Structure, Variation, Change. Academic Press.
Has the boy kissed the girl?; Is the girl kissing the boy?; The girl forgets the boy; Can the man have forgotten the woman?; All the men who rode their horses have come; Betsey dislikes her; Betsey dislikes herself; I see a pretty little girl; My son threw the stone at that big dog; The boy washed the dishes; The hardy axe-man chops the wood; He is breaking the door; I gave Miriam the squid; The men break the window with a hammer; Florence opened the door with a key; Benjamin wrote a letter to the Prime Minister for Joyce; We have been hearing the views of the Assistant Secretary of Defense - He was interviewed by John C. Jacobson; She hated philosophy - Linguistics, she likes; As John sauntered into the room, he looked for the princess; The man bought the chickens from the girl in the butcher shop; The student saw the woman; The woman bought the rice for the children; We presented the gift to Gladys; She resembles her mother; Twinkie asked Jonathan if he had taken out the garbage; I prevented her from making a fool of herself; The men chop the wood; What did he destroy?; the king's palace; the girl's gloves; Did he pass his exams? Yes, he did do; My mother, she has the flu; Having gone and stolen a horse, he brought it back
Finegan. 1994. Language: Its Structure and Use (2nd ed). Harcourt Brace.
Judge Wapner has a daughter; Denise will buy a new raincoat this fall; Denise bought a new coat, but she didn't wear it often; That Jack feared witches upset his wife; Sue liked Casper; Sarah bought Sam a new coat but he didn't wear it often; He sold the car to his brother in New York; He gave her his chair; The witch said Bob spilled the potion; She enjoyed talking about ___ incessantly; his return to his first wife; what she wanted to receive for her twenty-fifth birthday; The mail truck crushed the bike I gave Karen; Julia warned the cook on Monday that he must wash the celery; But she does exercise every day!; She was looking for Sigmund Freud today; I sent your book to my aunt who lives in Dublin; Witches frighten him; He's driving a truck to New Orleans; *I'm taking my little sister them; That's the witch who married the wizard; This is the woman who Harry left his wife for
Freidin. 1992. Foundations of Generative Syntax. MIT Press.
The boy read the book in the study; John knew Einstein discovered relativity theory; The boy likes the book; David mentioned the book; Mary believed the story; Mary bought a book for Bill; John is happy about his work; John annoyed the woman; John arrived in Princeton yesterday; Who did Mary insult?; Mary hit the man with a stick; Mary can't remember what she ate for dinner; Fred has forgotten which picture (of Mary) he sent to his publisher; A picture of a man who I admire tremendously is on the wall; Does Barbie read science fiction?; Barbie does not read science fiction; Max has studied physics at Princeton; John often kisses Mary; My friends all love Mary; the brother of the girl; our desire for Bernie to succeed; a clock which Bernie can take apart; *a man who for to fix the sink; John reported Rex to have finished his thesis; Ivan kissed that pretty girl; Ivan helped that pretty girl; Ivan is reading the book; The girl awaited me; They believe her to be said to be popular; It is possible for John to write a book in a month; John wants Mary to appear to be happy; John expects Mary to appear to be happy; John expects to be promoted; *Bernie wants for to take apart the computer; Roger seems to be enjoying his new job; *He appears to have become brain surgeons; John believes himself to be clever; *John's wife likes himself; Our mothers like each other's recipes; Vanja knows that an article about his own wife appeared in the paper; John's mother criticized [herself]; Mary's mother-in-law adores Mary; The women said John knew how angry at each other they were; *Which report that John was a genius did he submit?; ?Every boy's mother loves him; John was believed to be helping Mary
Fromkin & Rodman. 1993. An Introduction to Language (5th ed). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
The boy kissed the girl; *Girl the boy the kissed; The boy saw the man with the telescope; The girl with the feather on the ribbon on the brim; A girl laughed at the monkey; The man with the hat smiled; The teachers believe Susan is outstanding; The teachers say Susan is outstanding; The man is happy; The guy seems kind of cute; Helen said the senator wanted to hire her aide; Miss Marple asked Sherlock whether Poirot had solved the crime; The girl was kissed by the boy; He answered the professor; Terry loves his wife and so do I; That Guinevere loves Lorian is known to all my friends; This intelligent man will understand the question; These intelligent men will understand the question.
Gee. 1993. Introduction to Human Language: Fundamental Concepts in Linguistics. Prentice Hall.
The honor he received made his mother happy; His colleagues honored him with a gold watch; The old woman from the country loved the little boy from the city; John hit the man with a wrench; John hit the man with a scar; John saw Mary in the park; John saw Mary through the binoculars; John hit Mary on the head with a wrench; Mary loves John; Mary thinks that she loves John; Mary punched John in the jaw; Love is a wonderful thing; John loves Mary; The girl beat the boy with a stick; The girl beat the boy on the head; The girl beat the boy with a stick on the head; The girl beat the boy on the head with a stick; The girl kicked the boy; The girl killed the boy; The girl loved the boy; The boy cried; The boy died
Haegeman. 1994. Introduction to Government and Binding Theory (2nd ed). Blackwell.
John hit Mary; Your wife has phoned; Mummy is sleeping; John drinks; The professor and his wife were kissing; Mary is eating an apple; Mary is cooking dinner; Mary is eating too much cake; Mary is overeating; I thought it stupid that she should have gone out in the rain; John gave Mary the money; John being in hospital, his wife has signed the cheques; The detective and his wife are coming back soon; Having bought the boots, Maria left; John said he thought Mary liked him; Mohan pinched his wife; Jorgen loves his wife; Hercule Poirot likes his wife very much; She is my cook; *John longs for Mary to date himself; *The boys thought that each other's girlfriends were pretty; John killed Mary in her own house; Jon says that Maria loves him; John knew that Mary loves him; John was sleeping with Jane when Mary tried to kill him; The fact that Mary does not love him distressed John; His wife told her daughter that her father was angry; John promised Mary to behave himself; John told Mary to behave herself; Prince Charming asked Cinderella to come along; Cinderella is anxious to try the shoes; The girl/She has bought it; Three girls have bought it; Three men bought a book; Maria has looked at herself in the mirror; They got Bill to accept the job; the man who they think that when Mary marries him then everyone will be happy; Who loves his mother?; They say that women have become more independent; For which of the children did Maria buy it?; I don't know who John hit; Himself he thinks Mary loves; Him, he thinks Mary loves with all her heart; *John, he thinks Mary loves with all her heart; John arrived a wiser man; When will John fix the car?; *When did John announce a plan to steal Bill's car?; Violetta has not eaten; Violetta does not eat chocolate; He has often eaten chocolate; Janos loves Mary; *My friends love all Mary; How did Bill solve the problem?; How did you say that he repaired the car?
Langendoen. 1969. Study of Syntax. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Joe must be married to that car; The woman put her pocketbook in the front seat and her groceries in the back seat; That the president of the ladies' auxiliary is really bald comes as no surprise to many people; The man was happy to learn that he was the new father of twin boys; Margie wears clothes which are attractive to men; Margie wears clothes attractive to men; Margie wears clothes which are attractive; Margie wears attractive clothes; *Margie wears clothes attractive; *Margie wears clothes are attractive to men; Margie wears clothes that are attractive to men; That man is well; That woman is beautiful; Susie was appointed secretary to the president of the company; Peter lopped off the ear of the servant; The professor had forgotten that classes had been called off, but later he remembered it; That woman is the wife of the mayor; I first met my wife in Boston; The man who shot her believed that there was someone else who was seeing Helen; Harry watches the fights and his wife the soap operas; The Chinese, who are industrious, control the economy of Singapore; Claude is intelligent, but he hardly looks it; Mary is outspoken, which is what Martha is, too; The little girl was hurt by the bully; The general's widow is still beautiful; I know more beautiful women than Mary; The farmer dusted the crop while his wife dusted the floor; The man who took her out last week really loves the girl who despises him
Language Files. 1994. (6th ed). Ohio State University.
She painted a portrait of her niece from Boston; The twins and their mother got sick from eating the egg salad; Tom's sister is a lawyer; My father is an artist; The relatives of my husband live in Chicago; Robin drove his car into a tree; Tonika's favorite show is about a rich family from California
O'Grady, Dobrovolsky, & Aronoff. 1993. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (2nd ed). St. Martin's Press.
He put a muffler on the car; I talked to a doctor about Sue; Which car should the man fix?; The coach wonders if the girl should stay; The man entered the building and the woman waited in the car; She made exceptional progress; Jerome is tired of his job; Maria ate the brownie; What is Joanne eating?; The reporter said that an accident injured a woman; Terry likes that girl; Kyle likes the girl who June introduced to the class
Ouhalla. 1994. Introducing Transformational Grammar. Edward Arnold.
The girl asked the boy to leave; The girl asked the boy to be allowed to leave; The boy is kicked by the girl; I think that John fixed the car with a crowbar; This boy can solve the problem; John cannot solve the problem, but this boy can; This boy will solve the problem and win the prize; This boy and that girl can solve the problem; He will solve the problem; This boy, I believe, can solve the problem; This boy can solve this problem and that puzzle; This girl can drive that car; The suspicious girl is Mary; The girl is suspicious of the boy; John quickly fixed the car; The boy relied on the girl; Mary translated *(the book); The translation (of the book) was awful; The boys put the powder on the noses of the faces of the ladies of the harem of the court of King Caractacus; Mary will solve the problem; Mary solved the problem; John knows which problem Mary solved; Mary cleverly (only) partially solved the problem; ?Which problem do you suspect the claim that John solved?; Mary does not like John, but Jane does; Mary will organize a meeting at home in the afternoon, and John will probably do so in the cafe in the evening; *How do you wonder why John fixed the car?; How did you think (that) John would fix the car?; ?Which car did you hear the rumour that John fixed?; John repeatedly viciously attacked Bill; Who was John killed by?; Who did his boss see?; Mary does not approve of John's behaviour; The car *(that) hit the boy has been found; For which of his children did Maria buy it?; John often kisses Mary
Perlmutter & Soames. 1979. Syntactic Argumentation and the Structure of English. Edward Arnold.
Herbert bought a car before he left town; John owns a car; Marge washed her own car; It is obvious that she bought something; *What is that she bought obvious?; Herbert is drunk and he will feel sick in the morning; Marcia and the man she is dating just met; Bill kissed Harriet, didn't he?; The girl that Tom loved said that it would be difficult for her to get herself ready on time; It is likely that Tom will marry Phyllis; He jilted the girl who Tom was supposed to marry; Tom believes Marie to be pregnant; Martha is likely to be intelligent; He is smart; Susan read the book on the table, which is a bestseller; That the mayor will chastise the invaders for undermining his authority is certain; Sam can do the job; Every man who owns a donkey beats it; The man who Susan thinks is trying to catch her shot a policeman; Pretty as Maggie is, I still think that Alice is prettier [there are 11 versions of this sentence!]; Sally is pretty enough to show Bob a picture of her [8 versions]; The girl who loves him thinks that the woman who divorced Larry is a fool; That she had to do her homework bothered each of the girls; Nowhere will you find a braver man.
Van Riemsdijk & Williams. 1986. Introduction to the Theory of Grammar. MIT Press.
John gave the answer; The answer was given by John; For John to win a medal is easy; He refuted the proof that you can't square an ellipse; Bill found a principle which solves the problem; *How intelligent are you looking for an au pair who is?; Intelligent though I agree that your au pair is, I still don't like him; *Intelligent though you have an au pair who is, I still would have preferred a girl; Bill is proud of his father and tired of his mother; I wonder which books Mary hates and Sam likes; You saw the president's wife's guard; John believes himself to be a genius; *John believes Mary to like himself; The boys believe each other to be geniuses; *The boys believe Mary to like each other; John read a story about himself; *John read Mary's story about himself; John wants Mary to like him; John wants him to like Mary; Which person's mother loves him?; Who does the girl that he likes miss?; Who does his mother like?; The girl that he likes misses John What did Sally whisper that she had secretly read?

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