Ask a Question

(Create a thread)
Go Back   Spanish language learning forums > Spanish & English Languages > Grammar


Male vs female names of animals, birds and insects in Spanish

 

This is the place for questions about conjugations, verb tenses, adverbs, adjectives, word order, syntax and other grammar questions for English or Spanish.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old August 29, 2010, 05:57 AM
vita32's Avatar
vita32 vita32 is offline
Emerald
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 522
Native Language: Bicol/Tagalog; English = second language
vita32 is on a distinguished road
Question Male vs female names of animals, birds and insects in Spanish

Hello,

I'm not very sure about the male and female names of animals, birds and insects in Spanish. I know that the gender of some animal names in spanish is easily identified by switching the terminal letter "a" to "o" for male and vice versa. This rule does not apply in so many names. Consulting Google translate, I found out that "hembra" is added to the name of bird, animal or insect to identify its gender and "macho" is added for male. I just need more clarifications on this subject.

Thank you
vita32
Reply With Quote
   
Get rid of these ads by registering for a free Tomísimo account.
  #2  
Old August 29, 2010, 06:41 AM
Perikles's Avatar
Perikles Perikles is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Tenerife
Posts: 4,814
Native Language: Inglés
Perikles is on a distinguished road
From wiki:
Quote:
Often, the masculine/feminine classification is only followed carefully for human beings. For animals, the relation between real and grammatical gender tends to be more arbitrary. In Spanish, for instance, a cheetah is always un guepardo (masculine) and a zebra is always una cebra (feminine), regardless of their biological sex. If it becomes necessary to specify the sex of the animal, an adjective is added, as in un guepardo hembra (a female cheetah), or una cebra macho (a male zebra). Different names for the male and the female of a species are more frequent for common pets or farm animals, e.g. English cow and bull, Spanish vaca "cow" and toro "bull".
In English, it is common to refer to animals, especially house pets, for which the natural gender is known as "he" and "she", accordingly, and to animals of unknown gender as "it". Individual speakers may refer to animals of unknown sex by a gender, depending on species — for instance, some speakers may tend to refer to dogs as "he" and to cats as "she".
If a name of an animal applies to the species, it is known as an epicene name, for example el perro = dog, but la perra specifically for a bitch.
In addition, you have to be a bit careful when using a feminine form to indicate a female of a species. For example, el zorro = the fox, and el lagarto = lizard, but the female forms zorra and lagarta (as far as I know) have taken on other meanings (as has bitch in English).

Other than that, you just have the learn the genders, I'm afraid.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old August 29, 2010, 11:01 AM
chileno's Avatar
chileno chileno is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Posts: 7,863
Native Language: Castellano
chileno is on a distinguished road
Interesting!

What's the name of a/how do you call a female cheetah?
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old August 29, 2010, 11:03 AM
Perikles's Avatar
Perikles Perikles is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Tenerife
Posts: 4,814
Native Language: Inglés
Perikles is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno View Post
Interesting!

What's the name of a/how do you call a female cheetah?
Um - un guepardo hembra (a female cheetah) ?
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old August 29, 2010, 11:09 AM
chileno's Avatar
chileno chileno is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Posts: 7,863
Native Language: Castellano
chileno is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles View Post
Um - un guepardo hembra (a female cheetah) ?
Sorry. In English
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old August 29, 2010, 11:20 AM
Perikles's Avatar
Perikles Perikles is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Tenerife
Posts: 4,814
Native Language: Inglés
Perikles is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by chileno View Post
Sorry. In English
That makes a bit more sense. As far as I know, there isn't a word. Normally, you can make a feminine derivative from an English noun by adding -ess. Some stupid sexists sometimes object to this, so that for some reason, and actress is now an actor. But you still have waiter - waitress. You also have lion - lioness, but because cheetah is not an English word (It's Hindi for spotted, I think) the ending doesn't work, so not *cheetahess.

So it's a female cheetah.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old August 29, 2010, 11:33 AM
chileno's Avatar
chileno chileno is offline
Diamond
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Las Vegas, USA
Posts: 7,863
Native Language: Castellano
chileno is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles View Post
That makes a bit more sense. As far as I know, there isn't a word. Normally, you can make a feminine derivative from an English noun by adding -ess. Some stupid sexists sometimes object to this, so that for some reason, and actress is now an actor. But you still have waiter - waitress. You also have lion - lioness, but because cheetah is not an English word (It's Hindi for spotted, I think) the ending doesn't work, so not *cheetahess.

So it's a female cheetah.
So, it isn't much differenfe in English from Spanish.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
animals, birds, insects, names

 

Link to this thread
URL: 
HTML Link: 
BB Code: 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Site Rules

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sounds of animals irmamar Vocabulary 11 April 15, 2010 02:45 PM
Pet names in Spanish Chris General Chat 27 August 19, 2009 08:58 AM
Do you like insects? Jessica General Chat 8 September 27, 2008 06:13 AM


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:31 AM.

Forum powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

X