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This question relates to the agreement of German personal pronouns when the gender of the noun and the sex of the referent are not aligned.?
The two sentences are given only as examples. A general answer will be appreciated. Which sentence below is correct or more usual in proper writing and speech? If there is a difference in some circumstances, please comment on the seriousness of an error.
Das Baby heißt Otto.
1) Er ist seben Monate alt.
2) Es ist seben Monate alt.
Please discus the choice of pronoun in some detail. When I ask native German speakers, most say 1) but when I consult grammar books, the answer seems to be 2).
I speak English, Russian and German. In both Russian and English, the pronoun agrees with the biological sex.
Many thanks
What is proper colloquial and formal written German for the gender of personal pronouns when the gender of the noun and sex of the referent are not aligned?
1 Answer
- dogtags40Lv 76 years agoFavorite Answer
When speaking about humans, it is acceptable and even desirable to use pronouns appropriate to the sex of the person. "das Mädchen" and "das Fräulein" are generally referred to as "sie". Sometimes this is true for domestic animals, too. This applies to both written and spoken German.
In the case of animals and babies of indeterminate biological gender, the grammatical gender may be used.
