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Re: The Birds and the Bees of Gender

From:FFlores <fflores@...>
Date:Wednesday, March 31, 1999, 17:45
Douglas Koller <laokou@...> wrote:

> The phenomenon extends as well, since there is a sort of "agreement" > that occurs. "Many" and "a few" go with countables; "much" and "a > little" go with uncountables (cf. "beaucoup de cafe'" AND "beaucoup de > carottes"; "mucho dinero" AND "muchos idiomas"). "A lot of" can go with > either (particularly in affirmative sentences). What I find especially > interesting is that, while I assume Romance lang speakers are inculcated > with the notion of "masculine", "feminine", and "agreement" in primary > and secondary education, we never even touched on this in high school > English (and judging from Nik's reaction, I take it my high school was > not the exception). ESL books, on the other hand, devote at *least* a > chapter to the subject.
That's true. At school we learn there's something called gender and it can be feminine or masculine, and that's all. But when we learn English, the U/C distinction is always noted, and also that "agreement" with "many, a few, how many, how much," etc. I guess most people never notice the oddities of their own language. --Pablo Flores * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. Lily Tomlin