Is the people in a city considered female?
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/31023/3994_recropped_56ddc22219e55.jpg)
Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Is the people in a city considered female?
From the C1 week 62 writing challenge, talking about a heat wave: "á Paris par exemple, elles ont atteint les 29°C vers 4h du matin". No particular group of people were mentioned in previous sentences, so why "elles"? Are the inhabitants of Paris (or perhaps of cities in general) as a group considered female?
Asked 7 years ago
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/23/aurelie-foliage_57f251f5d2e24.png)
Bonjour Joakim !
In the context of this challenge, the "elles" here referred to the temperatures :)
"une température"
Bonne journée !
In the context of this challenge, the "elles" here referred to the temperatures :)
"une température"
Bonne journée !
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/68907/Ron%204x6%20photo_5927b14442f20.jpg)
Ron T. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Joakim,
Il y a 3 or 5 mots qui sont utilisés pour «people» :
--(gen) gens mpl
--(indefinite use) people say that ... on dit que ..., les gens disent que ...
--(= individuals) personnes fpl
--(of a particular kind) old people les personnes fpl âgées
--(= citizens) peuple m
--(= nation, race) peuple m
(= ordinary people) the people le peuple
et generic, lambda
Mais, dans l'exemple donné, l'auteur parle de la température, pas des personnes.
[of air, water, place, room, oven] température f
Le mot température est au féminin dont ce requiert l'usage d'elles.
J'espère que ma réponse vous aidera.
Bonne chance!
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/31023/3994_recropped_56ddc22219e55.jpg)
Joakim R.Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Aha. In my native Swedish it wouldn't make sense to talk about temperatures in plural like this, so I assumed "elles" was the people who measured or experienced the temperatures. Merci!
![](/files/shared/_avatar-mids/user/68907/Ron%204x6%20photo_5927b14442f20.jpg)
Ron T. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Aaah, bien sûr ! Ce n'était pas une problème, je suis très ravi d'avoir vous aidé.
Bonne soirée et bonne chance dans votre études français.
Ron
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question![Kwizbot, a friendly bot](https://cdnfr.kwiziq.com/img/kwizbot/kwizbot-v2.svg)
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level