"Put her in gear."
1. 'Her' refers to a car. Can I say, "Put it/him in gear"?
2. How do you tell if an object does have gender?
Thanks,
1. 'Her' refers to a car. Can I say, "Put it/him in gear"?
2. How do you tell if an object does have gender?
Thanks,
1 2
Comments
How do you tell if an object does have gender?
Well, as you probably know, some languages have gender for objects. English doesn't. Still, sometimes we speak of an object as having gender. Sometimes it's affection or tradition. A ship can be 'it' or 'she'.
Sometimes, I think it's a way of speaking in a manner that shows familiarity or informality. Perhaps it's also a feature of a regional dialect. If a car driver starts the engine and says to the passengers, 'Well, boys, let's put her in gear', it sounds to my ear like he is from Newfoundland in Canada.
Can I say, "Put it/him in gear"? The normal thing is to say 'it'.
Off hand, I think that when we refer to objects as having gender, we say 'she' a lot more than 'he'. I'm not sure why, that's an interesting question.
Best wishes, Clive
Yes, I think there is a gender. I am quite surprised on this question because I am looking for
the same. It would be grateful if someone advie me at <e-mail removed>
When I stayed in USA, I found the below. And, there should be more......
Porsche is considered to be a female.
Ferrari is considered to be a male
I guess the shape of car makes its gender.
Duke Ahn
From Seoul, Korea
When I stayed in USA, I found the below. And, there should be more......
Porsche is considered to be a female.
Ferrari is considered to be a male
I guess the shape of car makes its gender.
I've never heard of this before. It sounds to me like someone was just trying to be funny.
If you buy a Ferrari, I advise you not to say things like 'He can do 100 kilometres per hour in 2nd. gear'.
Clive
But yes, I agree. Don't say "I left him parked a block from here." Or "her," for that matter. I don't know from boats, but I think the custom of affectionately referring to a car as "she" is rather out of date these days. It makes me think of a grizzled old mechanic, proudly saying something like, "Yep, she sure 'nough purrs like a kitten now, mister!" as he hands you the bill. A quaint image from another era.
Nevertheless, the validity of this scenario seems rather retrospective now that female drivers are as many as male drivers and it wouldn't be much fun for the ladies to ride a she (well, that too depends!).
Warfman
To say that objects do not have gender in english is not entirely true. Ships for example are female.