I think it might be time to pull out of this thread, it is getting way too picky.
Firstly I am berated for a comment made by someone who I disagreed with, (definite article)
Then for 2 simple typos (should be A, and AN is etc.) Not nonsense at all.
And,
An intrusive apostrophe in the plural of vaginas. Also who cares what it means in Latin, there is no reason why the word should have a gender at all. That’s the point.
As to Persian, not knowing the language I cannot say, but I would love to know how you can go any further in not having inanimate genders than not having inanimate genders.
I find it very difficult to say “” In an hotel" or even" In an otel" but always say or write" in a hotel"
It just seems easier.Am I wrong ?
Remember working a ski season as one of the mostly English Chambermaids in a French hotel in 81 and it didn’t take us long to start saying “Have you descended the linge yet ?”
Very simple, no gender at all, whatever is being discussed, animate or not and no differentiation of pronouns etc according to gender, nor lexical marking of gender in adjectives, nor of the plural following numbers etc.
So not the indefinite article, according to you? OK…
Precisely my point, THE is applicable to all genders, no need for the foreigner to go stumbling around searching to see if some inanimate object is masculine or feminine.
Did you miss this part of my answer to your quote?
Precisely my point,
or are you being deliberately argumentative? As I’m sure you know, I disagreed with the original poster who said there was no indefinite article and agreed with you on the point.
Oh I see - I missed to what exactly you were referring when you said ‘precisely my point’ and didn’t realise you meant what I had said - so crossed wires - sorry! I should perhaps stick to reading one thing at a time
I got a bit prickly because I have always thought that pointing out typos, spelling and grammar were not netiquette, and I have in the past winced at such bad examples but held my tongue…or index fingers in this case.
So, sorry for the pricklyness.
I did notice your use of multiple quotes and wondered how you had managed it, in the light of this misunderstanding, I don’t think I will try it myself.
BTW, re the Persian. I did not know that but to my mind not having a ‘his’ or ‘her’ in relation to human beings or pets in an age when names are not always indicative of gender, is a step too far.
Not quite a Franglish topic, but Englais perhaps… the use of the definite article when the name of a French department is translated into English.
That is, why do certain place names most often get prefaced with ‘the’ when translating from the French ‘le’ or ‘la’ ? The Auvergne, the Aude, the Corrèze? The definite article is not relevant in this context.
In English you say “the Pennines” but not “the Derbyshire”.
Surely the English translation should be…
“La Dordogne” = Dordogne, not ‘the Dordogne’.
“La Bourgogne” = Burgundy, not ‘the Burgundy’ etc.
For example, ‘Le Cheshire’ = Cheshire not “the Cheshire”.
L’Écosse = Scotland not ‘the Scotland’.
This is a live political issue in Ukraine, where it is felt that the habit in English-speaking countries of calling it ‘the Ukraine’ implies that it is still not a country with the same status as (crucially for them) Russia.
Might be similar factors at work in ‘Brittany’ as opposed to ‘the Dordogne’ - Brittany was actually a separate country.
Mmmm, perhaps there is no fixed rule! I’m musing now… As Tracy says ‘the Dordogne’ is commonly used. As is ‘the Lot’, but perhaps not ‘the Ariège’, or 'the Gironde. Perhaps because they are also rivers. Old area names, like Gascony and Quercy don’t seem to have a ‘the’. The region Occitanie certainly doesn’t, neither does Brittany as Geoff says. I didn’t know that about Ukraine. Maybe there are other similar examples.
And it is the Perigord, le as opposed to la, Dordogne.
I did know about the Ukraine thing and that there was something nationalistic to it.
And the Czech republic, or Czechia. I always favoured the latter while most favoured the former. So I was delighted when I heard a Czech diplomat use it.
And what about Argentina and the Argentine?
Don’t know the reason behind the last 2.
I think you’re right Graham. Languedoc is an area, Occitanie is a region, Corrèze is a department - and none of these should have the definite article in English. So ‘the Corrèze’ is the river, the department of Corrèze is ‘Corrèze’. La Gascogne is ‘Gascony’. And, sorry Véro, but I think ‘le Quercy’ is 'Quercy! No-one is obliged to agree with me, however!
and no differentiation of pronouns etc according to gender, nor lexical marking of gender in adjectives, nor of the plural following numbers etc.
I should perhaps stick to reading one thing at a time 
