One thing I don't understand about some languages

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assassin29

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#1 assassin29
Member since 2005 • 888 Posts
Why must all words have gender in French (I don't know about other languages, but I'm 99% sureSpanish is the same way)? It seems kind of pointless. Who decided what words are masculine and which are feminine? Would an all male school in France still be considered feminine? It's not that hard to get used to, but still...
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quiglythegreat

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#2 quiglythegreat
Member since 2006 • 16886 Posts
Some things are feminine, some are masculine. We usually think that way about things subconsciously I suppose and it's far easier to recognize the difference when your language regularly forces you to, such as how we have separate words for green and blue.
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Hey_Jay

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#3 Hey_Jay
Member since 2004 • 7221 Posts
Or maybe that's the norm and English is just really dumbed down.
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Honenheim

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#4 Honenheim
Member since 2007 • 5402 Posts

Some things are feminine, some are masculine. We usually think that way about things subconsciously I suppose and it's far easier to recognize the difference when your language regularly forces you to, such as how we have separate words for green and blue.quiglythegreat

i agree; all depends on one's criteria

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CrimzonTide

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#5 CrimzonTide
Member since 2007 • 12187 Posts
Some things are feminine, some are masculine. We usually think that way about things subconsciously I suppose and it's far easier to recognize the difference when your language regularly forces you to, such as how we have separate words for green and blue.quiglythegreat
Like "Mustache" being feminine. :D
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quiglythegreat

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#6 quiglythegreat
Member since 2006 • 16886 Posts
[QUOTE="quiglythegreat"]Some things are feminine, some are masculine. We usually think that way about things subconsciously I suppose and it's far easier to recognize the difference when your language regularly forces you to, such as how we have separate words for green and blue.CrimzonTide
Like "Mustache" being feminine. :D

It's not in Spanish, but I could see that regardless. It's a trimmed beard.
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CrimzonTide

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#7 CrimzonTide
Member since 2007 • 12187 Posts
It's not in Spanish, but I could see that regardless. It's a trimmed beard. quiglythegreat
:P I know what you're trying to say. There are just some weird standouts, in French anyway.
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Tuky06

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#8 Tuky06
Member since 2007 • 5026 Posts

Because we like to be more specific in some stuff.

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TongHua

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#9 TongHua
Member since 2007 • 2929 Posts
Why does English juxtaposition the sentence punctuation at the end instead of at the start? It just makes reading it harder. Why do Americans (maybe English, never been there) write their dates month/day/year instead of day/month/year or year/month/day, as would be more logical? Because langauages are silly.
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jrhawk42

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#10 jrhawk42
Member since 2003 • 12764 Posts
it originated in latin... not sure why though. Also in latin you had neutered words. So you should consider youself lucky you have a 50-50 shot.
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TheMutableOne

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#11 TheMutableOne
Member since 2006 • 1064 Posts
I had no idea any of this existed.. I learned something today :).. I need to get out more.. :(
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USmellLikePoopy

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#12 USmellLikePoopy
Member since 2006 • 1920 Posts
I just think they do it just because. I think English is the weird language though. As most people say, English is the hardest language to learn.
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DivergeUnify

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#13 DivergeUnify
Member since 2007 • 15150 Posts
Or maybe that's the norm and English is just really dumbed down.SaugaGames
English is one of the hardest languages to learn because its non-phonetic :|
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Aquat1cF1sh

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#14 Aquat1cF1sh
Member since 2006 • 11096 Posts
Yeah, it's like that in French, Spanish, Italian, and Latin, and two other languages (I think German?).
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Hewkii

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#15 Hewkii
Member since 2006 • 26339 Posts
German has it, French has it, Spanish has it, Old English even has it, I think...
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Zagrius

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#16 Zagrius
Member since 2002 • 3820 Posts
That's actually why I like English personally. In Hebrew it can be really annoying. For instance a rock (eh'ven) is female, but it has a male-sounding plural form (avanim).
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RAFDOG

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#17 RAFDOG
Member since 2004 • 5696 Posts

theres feminem and masculine in english to..difference is with other languages they just change a letter instead of a word..

Guy, Girl = Chica, Chico

but for like objects..its diffenret...i donno with wat but it is.

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wii4panta

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#18 wii4panta
Member since 2007 • 2886 Posts

In Greek,German etc there are 3 genders...

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MichaeltheCM

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#19 MichaeltheCM
Member since 2005 • 22765 Posts
b/c thats how the french role! :roll: idk its just how the language is. nobody really knows
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SolidSnake35

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#20 SolidSnake35
Member since 2005 • 58971 Posts
I don't know. It was one of the most annoying parts of learning French... I'm glad I won't be needing to speak it anymore now that I have my qualification.
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DeeJayInphinity

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#21 DeeJayInphinity
Member since 2004 • 13415 Posts

It makes everything sound better. Let me give you an example... Let's say that you want to say "Red house"

"Casa roja" is how you would normally say it, and it sounds pretty good.

But if you don't have the gender differences, it wound sound a lot worse: "Casa rojo."

And you want change the color red to "roja" because then you have "coche roja" which sonds awful.

So changing the last letter of "rojo" makes a huge difference.

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L_burna

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#22 L_burna
Member since 2005 • 414 Posts

b/c thats how the french role! :roll: idk its just how the language is. nobody really knowsMichaeltheCM

They see me rollin
They hatin
Patrolling they tryin to catch me ridin dirty

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rubenbos007

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#23 rubenbos007
Member since 2004 • 763 Posts
Even Dutch has it... Pretty easy if you get used to it.