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Pronouns for animals

של Alkanadi, 25 ביוני 2014

הודעות: 3

שפה: English

Alkanadi (הצגת פרופיל) 25 ביוני 2014, 14:24:59

"Ĝi is used principally with animals and objects".
Wikipedia

In English we refer to animals as "it" unless we know the gender. If we know the gender of an animal then it is called a "he" or a "she". Does Esperanto work the same way? Or, is it always an "it" even if we know the sex of the animal?

nornen (הצגת פרופיל) 25 ביוני 2014, 15:23:45

If I am not mistaken you use "ĝi" for animals in general, and "ŝi" or "li" for pets.
A rule of thumb could be that if the animal has a proper name (Spike, Belle, Mr. Tibbers) use "li" or "ŝi", otherwise "ĝi".

bartlett22183 (הצגת פרופיל) 25 ביוני 2014, 18:30:11

It would seem legitimate to me that if one is discussing an aggregate of non-pet animals, some of which are female and some male, then it would be acceptable to refer to individuals as "ŝi" or "li" when the sex is significant to the discussion.

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