Ma tortue s'appelle Caroline

Emma C.B1Kwiziq community member

Ma tortue s'appelle Caroline

What if the turtle pet is male, and its name is Marc. Would it be "Mon tortue s'appelle Marc"

Same goes to cow, the word "vache" is feminine, if we want to say a male cow, would it be "un vache"?

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Emma, 

It would be -

Ma tortue s'appelle Marc

There is a problem in French in that we only give gender/sex names to larger animals.

All names will have a gender so - 

une araignée = a spider (whether male or female)

une fourmi = an ant (male or female)

Une chauve-souris = a bat  (male or female) 

Same for birds 

Un hibou , une chouette 

although one is feminine and the other masculine, both translate as owls but they are not the same species.

Barn animals, wild animals and pets will have a female and male version,.

The male of la vache is, le bœuf.

Hope this helps!

 

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Some animals only have either a male or female version. Some have both. La tortue is available only as female.

More information here: https://www.colanguage.com/animal-names-french-horse-dog-cat

Emma C.B1Kwiziq community member

so if my turtle is male and his name is Marc, which version is correct?

A) Ma tortue s'appelle Marc

B) Mon tortue s'appelle Marc

A or B?

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

It would be ma tortue s'appelle Marc. But most turtles are named Caroline anyway. Who would name his turtle Marc? ;)

Ma tortue s'appelle Caroline

What if the turtle pet is male, and its name is Marc. Would it be "Mon tortue s'appelle Marc"

Same goes to cow, the word "vache" is feminine, if we want to say a male cow, would it be "un vache"?

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