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Jose gongora Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Changes in object gender
First of all, I am not an English native speaker.
My question is: Is there some strict rules behind giving an object a feminine gender?
For example: "My cup is empty. I'm going to fill her right now."
I know it's more common with cars, trucks, or vehicles in general.
And I can see some logic behind it... I mean, there are some similitarities beween woman these kind of objects. It's too embarrasing to be more specific, sorry. So, I'm wondering if the similarities of women with some objects is the reason to assign them the feminine gender.
I'd like to know if it can happen vice versa too.
Thank you.
My question is: Is there some strict rules behind giving an object a feminine gender?
For example: "My cup is empty. I'm going to fill her right now."
I know it's more common with cars, trucks, or vehicles in general.
And I can see some logic behind it... I mean, there are some similitarities beween woman these kind of objects. It's too embarrasing to be more specific, sorry. So, I'm wondering if the similarities of women with some objects is the reason to assign them the feminine gender.
I'd like to know if it can happen vice versa too.
Thank you.
Top answer
I know of no logical reason to refer to certain items in the feminine, other than a man's propensity to refer to his possessions as he might refer to his wife. In your specific example, I believe that "fill 'er up" is more or less a fixed phrase. Other native speakers may feel differently about all this.
- I know of no logical reason to refer to certain items in the feminine, other than a man's propensity to refer to his possessions as he might refer to his wife.
- In your specific example, I believe that "fill 'er up" is more or less a fixed phrase.
- Other native speakers may feel differently about all this.
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4 Answers
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I know of no logical reason to refer to certain items in the feminine, other than a man's propensity to refer to his possessions as he might refer to his wife. In your specific example, I believe that "fill 'er up" is more or less a fixed phrase. Other native speakers may feel differently about all this.
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Thank you for your answer. That reason that hadn't come to my mind. Yes, that might be it. But, I sort of feel that there is something else behind it. Anyway, maybe you didn't see or it was just a too stupid question; can it happen vice versa: can we call an object by "him"?
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jose gongoraThank you for your answer. That reason that hadn't come to my mind. Yes, that might be it. But, I sort of feel that there is something else behind it. Anyway, maybe you didn't see or it was just a too stupid question; can it happen vice versa: can we call an object by "him"?
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In English, objects are not generally given gender assignments like in Latin languages (Spanish, French, etc.). Sometimes, casually, people will refer to their cars, boats, pets, etc., as him or her, but more often than not, you should just use the pronoun it.
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