On Tue, Nov 14, 2000 at 07:10:43PM +0000, David Coquil wrote: > > In french, I say "Le Hurd", as if Hurd was male. > > I thought about replying the same, but I think that apart from > "cross-language compatibility" ;-) French language is not really relevant > here : in French substantives have male or female gender whereas in German > they can be male, female or neutral (e.g.) one more to choose from! > > As for French I think 'le Hurd' makes sense since in English it's mostly > "the Hurd", and 'la Hurd' (female) just sounds too bad.
I remember talking with a friend of mine and ranting how I could never really figure out whether something was male of female in French, and after 10 years in immersion I still got them wrong sometimes. She told me a rule that her mother had taught her (Native French Speaker), in general if it has legs or you can enter it, it's probably female... -- No matter how big the bell, if you only tap it, it can give out only a faint sound. We must understand thoroughly that the weakness of the blow, not a fault of the bell makes the sound poor. - Koichi Tohei
