Why do we say 'Un seul M' and not 'Une seule M' even though M is a “consonne”
when spelling names, for example 'Bram'.
to precise that there's only one M at the end I hear french people 'Avec un seul M a la fin'.
but 'M est une consonne' therefore 'un nom feminin'.
so why is that ?
grammaire
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
when spelling names, for example 'Bram'.
to precise that there's only one M at the end I hear french people 'Avec un seul M a la fin'.
but 'M est une consonne' therefore 'un nom feminin'.
so why is that ?
grammaire
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago
add a comment |
when spelling names, for example 'Bram'.
to precise that there's only one M at the end I hear french people 'Avec un seul M a la fin'.
but 'M est une consonne' therefore 'un nom feminin'.
so why is that ?
grammaire
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
when spelling names, for example 'Bram'.
to precise that there's only one M at the end I hear french people 'Avec un seul M a la fin'.
but 'M est une consonne' therefore 'un nom feminin'.
so why is that ?
grammaire
grammaire
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
edited 28 mins ago
qoba
5,168516
5,168516
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
asked 3 hours ago
rapidracimrapidracim
1062
1062
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
rapidracim is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
2
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago
add a comment |
2
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago
2
2
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The gender of letters is masculine nowadays but that wasn't always the case for some consonants, including m.
Rem. Les noms désignant les lettres f, h, l, m, n, r, s sont traditionnellement féminins (il s'agit des noms en -e : effe, ache, elle, emme, enne, erre, esse, d'apr. la transcr. orth. ds Lar. 20e). On commence par attribuer le genre masc. à la désignation de la lettre par la valeur : un fe, effe restant lui fém. (Ac. jusque Ac. 1878, Littré, DG). Ac. 1932 admet pour effe les 2 genres; v. aussi Rob. La 1re attribution du genre masc. à effe ds Nouv. Lar. ill. 1897.
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
add a comment |
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "299"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
rapidracim is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2ffrench.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f34553%2fwhy-do-we-say-un-seul-m-and-not-une-seule-m-even-though-m-is-a-consonne%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The gender of letters is masculine nowadays but that wasn't always the case for some consonants, including m.
Rem. Les noms désignant les lettres f, h, l, m, n, r, s sont traditionnellement féminins (il s'agit des noms en -e : effe, ache, elle, emme, enne, erre, esse, d'apr. la transcr. orth. ds Lar. 20e). On commence par attribuer le genre masc. à la désignation de la lettre par la valeur : un fe, effe restant lui fém. (Ac. jusque Ac. 1878, Littré, DG). Ac. 1932 admet pour effe les 2 genres; v. aussi Rob. La 1re attribution du genre masc. à effe ds Nouv. Lar. ill. 1897.
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
add a comment |
The gender of letters is masculine nowadays but that wasn't always the case for some consonants, including m.
Rem. Les noms désignant les lettres f, h, l, m, n, r, s sont traditionnellement féminins (il s'agit des noms en -e : effe, ache, elle, emme, enne, erre, esse, d'apr. la transcr. orth. ds Lar. 20e). On commence par attribuer le genre masc. à la désignation de la lettre par la valeur : un fe, effe restant lui fém. (Ac. jusque Ac. 1878, Littré, DG). Ac. 1932 admet pour effe les 2 genres; v. aussi Rob. La 1re attribution du genre masc. à effe ds Nouv. Lar. ill. 1897.
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
add a comment |
The gender of letters is masculine nowadays but that wasn't always the case for some consonants, including m.
Rem. Les noms désignant les lettres f, h, l, m, n, r, s sont traditionnellement féminins (il s'agit des noms en -e : effe, ache, elle, emme, enne, erre, esse, d'apr. la transcr. orth. ds Lar. 20e). On commence par attribuer le genre masc. à la désignation de la lettre par la valeur : un fe, effe restant lui fém. (Ac. jusque Ac. 1878, Littré, DG). Ac. 1932 admet pour effe les 2 genres; v. aussi Rob. La 1re attribution du genre masc. à effe ds Nouv. Lar. ill. 1897.
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
The gender of letters is masculine nowadays but that wasn't always the case for some consonants, including m.
Rem. Les noms désignant les lettres f, h, l, m, n, r, s sont traditionnellement féminins (il s'agit des noms en -e : effe, ache, elle, emme, enne, erre, esse, d'apr. la transcr. orth. ds Lar. 20e). On commence par attribuer le genre masc. à la désignation de la lettre par la valeur : un fe, effe restant lui fém. (Ac. jusque Ac. 1878, Littré, DG). Ac. 1932 admet pour effe les 2 genres; v. aussi Rob. La 1re attribution du genre masc. à effe ds Nouv. Lar. ill. 1897.
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
answered 3 hours ago
jlliagrejlliagre
66.2k244103
66.2k244103
add a comment |
add a comment |
rapidracim is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
rapidracim is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
rapidracim is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
rapidracim is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to French Language Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2ffrench.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f34553%2fwhy-do-we-say-un-seul-m-and-not-une-seule-m-even-though-m-is-a-consonne%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
2
M is une consonne.
– jlliagre
3 hours ago
La question est excellente.
– Survenant9r7
27 mins ago