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DainPig
Gondor
Sep 28 2015, 10:06pm
Post #1 of 16
(627 views)
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I hate to create this thread, because it is just above Brethil's sad news thread and I really sorry about her loss... but, anyway, this forum needs to run, so, moving on!
So, I live in Brazil, and here we speak portuguese, just like Portugal, but with a accent. In portuguese, EVERYTHING has a gender. Every noun is "male" or "female".
For example, mesa (table) is female, but carro (car) is male!! In english, this does not exist. The english guys never says "my shirt, where is he?" they say " my shirt, where's it?". English use "it" for non persons...
I've a question then:
If my dog can speak, he is must be called it or not? And what about and alien? He is not a human, but is a person...
Thank you for replies!
How aaaaaaaaaaaaaare you all???
Hey guys, my blog is: dainpigblog.blogspot.com
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Greenwood Hobbit
Valinor
Sep 28 2015, 10:17pm
Post #2 of 16
(591 views)
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so I would use 'he' or 'she'. I wouldn't dream of calling the family dog 'it'. I imagine the same would apply to an alien, unless he/she/it was an hermaphrodite.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Sep 28 2015, 10:22pm
Post #3 of 16
(586 views)
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Should not a male dog be "he" and a female a "she"? That seems pretty straightforward, at least if we are discussing pronouns.. If you don't know then go with what is called for by your language.
An extraterrestrial might have very complicated gender-issues or might even only have one gender.
There are exceptions to using gender-neutral terms in English. There is the tradition, for example, of speaking of ships as female.
"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock
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zarabia
Tol Eressea
Sep 28 2015, 10:27pm
Post #4 of 16
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When the gender is known, that's the one you use. I would never call my dogs, who are like family, it. But generally, if it's not known if a dog or cat is male or female, it's referred to as it. It doesn't seem right, though  Some people think of all cats as female and all dogs as male unless they know otherwise. So if they are talking about a cat whose gender is unknown, they'll call the cat she.
By the way, you are right to follow the wise Maciliel's advice to continue posting and keep the boards moving. 
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round
~Do You Realize?, The Flaming Lips
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dormouse
Half-elven
Sep 28 2015, 10:42pm
Post #5 of 16
(580 views)
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In British English I think we always tend to use a gender....
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...with a pet dog or cat or other creature when we know the gender we'd always say 'he' or 'she'
With anything sentient - be it animal or alien - we tend to use a gender even if we don't know which gender is correct, because to say 'it' sounds very cold and dismissive. I think we're more likely to say 'he or she' rather than 'it'.
A table is it, or a stone, or a pencil, but something alive, or something that feels as if it has a character - like a ship, or a car - is always more likely to be called 'he' or 'she'.
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Sep 28 2015, 11:06pm
Post #6 of 16
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I think the only time I refer to animals as "it"
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is when it's a strange animal and I do not know or cannot tell the gender. If I know the gender, I use it, but if I don't I will use the gender-neutral "it". People randomly choosing a gender when they don't know kind of bugs me, so I try to avoid doing that myself.
Silverlode
Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known.
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Kilidoescartwheels
Valinor
Sep 29 2015, 8:34pm
Post #8 of 16
(506 views)
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If it is alive, it most likely has a gender, but if it's something like a table or shirt, then no gender is assigned and the objects are either called "it" or what they are - a table and a shirt. What really gets complicated is when you have a crowd of people, or if the gender of the person is unknown. You would NEVER call a person "it," that's just rude. So a crowd becomes "them." If you are sending a letter to someone, say, for a job interview, and you don't know their gender, then you'd say "Dear Sir or Madam"; likewise, when describing people you don't know in a report you'd say "he or she." Lately people have been saying "them" or "their" instead of "he" or "she", and it's becoming more acceptable as the English language is pushing to be even more gender-neutral than ever. I probably just gave you a headache, sorry 'bout that, sometimes it gives me a headache, too.
Proud member of the BOFA Denial Association
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Darkstone
Immortal
Sep 29 2015, 8:47pm
Post #9 of 16
(505 views)
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Sometimes "hesheitthey".
******************************************
"Mister Frodo, hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good frying pan at your side. I’ve been from one side of this garden to the other, I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful Providence controlling everything. There's no Music of the Ainur that controls my destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."
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DainPig
Gondor
Sep 29 2015, 9:35pm
Post #10 of 16
(484 views)
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It's a matter of gender, then! Great.
How aaaaaaaaaaaaaare you all???
Hey guys, my blog is: dainpigblog.blogspot.com
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Sep 30 2015, 1:23am
Post #11 of 16
(470 views)
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Then there's the problem with indefinite pronouns....
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Animals are easy, as others note, because they do have gender. Where English speakers have a problem that remains unresolved is with indefinite pronouns, such as "everyone" or "someone":
"Everyone should state his or her name on entering" is clunky. A common solution is, "Everyone should state their name..." but that is incorrect, since "everyone" is singular and "their" is plural. The best approach is to try to re-word the sentence to avoid the awkwardness, such as:
"People should state their name..." (ok because both "People" and "their" are plural) or:
"Please state your name..." (made to be 2nd person instead of 3rd)
(This post was edited by Elizabeth on Sep 30 2015, 1:25am)
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Annael
Immortal
Oct 1 2015, 3:57pm
Post #12 of 16
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actually "they" as a single noun is acceptable and has been for centuries
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The American Copy Editors Society ruled it was okay at their annual conference this year. The editors at the Oxford Dictionaries agree (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/...e-or-she-versus-they), as do the editors of The Wall Street Journal and The Economist, which makes the point that "they" is particularly useful in these days when not everyone identifies with a gender.
Shakespeare used it. Jane Austen used it. Even Fowler, the most rigid of the English language usage guides, says it's okay.
And we must remember that technically, "you" is also a plural pronoun, but we all accept it when used as a singular pronoun these days.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
(This post was edited by Annael on Oct 1 2015, 3:58pm)
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Elizabeth
Half-elven
Oct 1 2015, 11:24pm
Post #13 of 16
(404 views)
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...where the plural of "you" is "you all".
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Meneldor
Valinor
Oct 1 2015, 11:27pm
Post #14 of 16
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And if it's a really big group,
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"all y'all."
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Oct 2 2015, 12:53am
Post #15 of 16
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Which is like nails on a blackboard to me.
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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Starling
Half-elven
Oct 2 2015, 1:18am
Post #16 of 16
(393 views)
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I'd rather hear youse than 'peeps'. *vomits slightly*
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