A word that says a person is both female and your friend

It's often confusing for me to talk about my friends, especially my female friends. This is because in Dutch there are words for both male ("vriend") and female ("vriendin") friends. In English however, there's as far as I know only the word friend, which can mean both a male or a female friend.

For this reason I was wondering if there is a word to say a person is both female and a friend.

Solution 1:

Personally I typically use "guy friends" and "lady friends" to avoid the relationship connotation.

Solution 2:

That is quite true: there is no such word. In English we have to use several words to express the precise nature of the kind of relationship you describe. The words girlfriend and boyfriend usually indicate that the people concerned are rather more than friends, although I believe ladies will sometimes refer to their female friends as girlfriends with no such implication.

There’s a wider question here, which goes beyond language. It is about the extent to which men and women can be friends with each other in the absence of any kind of romantic attachment.

Solution 3:

I have heard the phrase "gal pal" used in this way.