> Please give some examples.
here are examples:
the noun "autre" can be "un autre" or "une autre" - depending on the
context.
the noun "amour" can be "un amour" or "une amour" depending on the
context.
to make matter even more interesting, some words are masculin when in
the singular, and become feminin when plural, e.g. "délice".
if you want more examples (there are many more just in french), i
suggest you find a good french grammar book!
of, and in some cases, the gender changes because the same word can
mean two different things (depending on the context), and one version
of the word is masculin, while the other is feminin. e/g/ "une mode"
vs :un mode" - the two words mean completely fifferent things. e.g.
une mode (a fashion) vs un mode (a mode). - un pendule ( a pendulum)
vs une pendule (a clock). un mémoire (a thesis or an autobiography) vs
une mémoire (a memory e.g. a memory chip) vs la memoire (memory).
all those words are commonly used in everyday language in french...
so this makes good automatic translation impossible unless the machine
has an understanding of the context.
On Nov 29, 7:28 am, Mike Duffy wrote:
> Use the indefinite article.
>
> (i.e "an arch" instead of "the arch".
> This should give you "une arche".)
>
> > to complicate the matter, some words can be masculin or feminin
> > depending on the context!
>
> Please give some examples. Do you mean natural gender? By this I mean
> using a different word for male and female instances of an animal,
> such as the use of the word "drake" in english for a male, and the
> word "duck" for a female or indeterminate instance of the animal.
>
> Many of these distinctions are no longer commonly used in english.
> Farmers and vets have their own terms for animals of various sexes
> (male, female, neutered).
