[quote=“Rascal”]Actually iris and myself discussed this yesterday and came to the following conclusion about usage of genders in German:
‘Das Vaterland’ (the Fatherland) / ‘das Mutterland’ (the Motherland) is neutral because of ‘das Land’.
‘Die Bundesrepublik’ (the Federal Republic) is female because of ‘Republik’.
‘Die Vereinigten Staaten’ (the US) and ‘die Niederlande’ (the Netherlands) use the female form because it’s plural (‘der’ Staat (the state) is male).
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How does this mean the States and the Netherlands are feminine? From your explanation, both are plural neuter. “Der Hund” is masculine singular. “Die Hunde” has not magically transformed into feminine – its still masculine, but plural.
