• Forester@pawb.social
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    3 days ago

    If you’re using the feminine version of the and little, why are we using the masculine version of death? Sincerely, an American who barely speaks French.

    • zaphod@sopuli.xyz
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      3 days ago

      The noun death is always la mort (le petite morte as used by the other poster is just wrong). The dead person can be le mort (masculine) or la morte (feminine). The adjective for dead is mort for masculine and morte for feminine, as in l’arbre mort (the dead tree, masc.) or la fleure morte (the dead flower, fem.).

      • stoicmaverick@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Real, but slightly meta question: who decides the gender of new things? Like, who decided if cellphones, or AI, or computers are male or female? What is the gender of a dildo?