How should one correctly say 'the tick bit' — masculine or feminine? - briefly
In Russian, the term “tick bit” is masculine, as the core noun “tick” (клещ) is masculine and governs the gender of the compound. Consequently, any modifiers must be used in the masculine form.
How should one correctly say 'the tick bit' — masculine or feminine? - in detail
The expression referring to an insect’s feeding wound does not carry grammatical gender in English. The noun “bite” is neuter; any accompanying pronoun should be “it”. When the sentence mentions the person who received the wound, the gender of that individual determines the pronoun (he/she), but the wound itself remains gender‑neutral.
In languages that assign gender to nouns, such as Russian, the word for “bite” (укус) is masculine, so the phrase would be treated as masculine. English, however, lacks such a system, so no masculine or feminine form exists. Consequently, the correct construction is simply “the tick bite”, without any gendered article or adjective.
Key points:
- English nouns are gender‑neutral unless referring to animate beings.
- “Bite” is a neuter noun; use “it” for pronouns.
- If a language requires gender, the corresponding word may be masculine, but this does not affect English usage.