It must be a Latin thang since Spanish likewise has feminine and masculine nouns. I've tried to teach my wife a little Spanish over the years. She gets frustrated over objects being gender specific. Sorry, that's just the nature of the beast.And I
wonder if the French are into political correctness, since all
their nouns are either masculine or feminine?
Dudgeon
Re: Dudgeon
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi
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Re: Dudgeon
I remember taking French and the prof early on saying there
were no 'neuter' nouns in the language. I was
flumoxed to the utmost. It soon became understandable,
but at first: wow!
were no 'neuter' nouns in the language. I was
flumoxed to the utmost. It soon became understandable,
but at first: wow!
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
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Re: Dudgeon
German does have neuter nouns, which only adds something else to worry about: die, den, or der?
pl
Re: Dudgeon
In Spanish there are even some words that change gender depending on whether they're singular or plural. The word "agua" (water) comes immediately to mind. The singular "el agua" (the water) uses the male "el", while the plural "las aguas" (the waters) uses the plural female "las". There are other words, but that's the first one that comes to mind. I suppose every language has its foibles.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi
- Slava
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Re: Dudgeon
To add to the confusion, Russian has a plural for one.
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Re: Dudgeon
My wife occasionally struggles with his and hers and she and he, as Swahili does not have these concepts. The possessives etc are all gender neutral - I imagine that makes life a little easier.
Iain
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Re: Dudgeon
In American PC, we authors try to avoid the generic "he" in a number of ways. Often we write with "they," meaning whoever the person is of whatever gender. Some use he or she, and others alternate he and she, either method jarring me. I often end up recasting the sentence to avoid the personal pronoun entirely.
pl
Re: Dudgeon
Here's a piece about the "he, she, or they" controversy from Oxford Dictionaries:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/he- ... ersus-they
If we were all neutered it might be easier.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/he- ... ersus-they
If we were all neutered it might be easier.
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Re: Dudgeon
It would most definitely cut down on the excess population.Here's a piece about the "he, she, or they" controversy from Oxford Dictionaries:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/he- ... ersus-they
If we were all neutered it might be easier.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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Re: Dudgeon
Yes, the surgical cure is far worse than the grammatical disease.
Just another twisted effort at humor on my part. In fact, I have developed an orthopedic condition as a result of such "twisted" efforts.
Just another twisted effort at humor on my part. In fact, I have developed an orthopedic condition as a result of such "twisted" efforts.
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Re: Dudgeon
Glasses, ie spectacles, are ochki, so you could have odni ochki.Slava, how does the plural one in Russian work? When would one use it?
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