# Calling a ship she



## Radioh

Hi folks  I know that in English the pronoun "she" is used figuratively to refer to a ship and I have no idea why (it sounds more friendly, more romantic ? ). Sometimes we use "it" instead. But in my mother tongue, it's always "it"(nó) and never "she"(cô ấy). Calling a ship "she" sounds very awkward (though we can call an animal he/she). For example:
Our ship, she needs to be painted regularly to keep her looking pretty.

So I wonder what about other languages ? Do you call a ship "she" ?


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## apmoy70

Never in Greek, a ship is always "it":

*«Το πλοίο»* [*to* 'pli.o] (neut.) --> _The-neuter definite article ship_ < Classical neut. noun *«τὸ πλοῖον» tò ploîŏn* --> _floating vessel, ship_ < Classical v. *«πλέω» pléō* --> _to travel by sea, sail, navigate_ (PIE *pleu-, _to sail, flow_ cf Skt. प्लवते (plavate), _to sail, navigate_;  Proto-Germanic *fleutaną, _to float_ > Eng. float/flow/fleet, Is. fljóta, D. flyde, Nor. flyte, Swe. flyta, Dt. vlieten, Ger. fließen)


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## AutumnOwl

In Swedish ships/boats can be either she (_hon_), he (_han_) or it (_den _or_ det_), _hon _or _den_ are the most common. The reason for it is that when the Swedish language had for genders one of the words for ships, _(en) skuta_ was feminine while another word, _(en)_ _båt_ was masculine. That's why ships today -_ (ett) skepp_ or (ett) _fartyg_ (ship/craft/vessel) are still often a she or _det_. (Swedish have two genders today common (for the _en_ form) and neuter (for the _ett _form).

Two other words that have kept the old feminine she is the clock _(klockan)_ and the sun _(solen)_ in common speech.


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## ahmedcowon

All nouns and adjectives in Arabic must indicate gender (feminine or masculine) and it is very important to know the gender associated with each word.

The word for ship سفينة (safina) is feminine so we use she هي /hiya/ to refer to it.

Another thing in Arabic is that ALL non-human plurals are treated as "feminine singular", so we also use "she" to refer to the plural "ships".


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## arielipi

ahmedcowon said:


> All nouns and adjectives in Arabic must indicate gender (feminine or masculine) and it is very important to know the gender associated with each word.


Same in hebrew, ship is female. ספינה sfina. היא hi she


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## bibax

Czech has three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) in both numbers.

Vlak (= train) is "he", loď (= ship) is by pure chance "she", letadlo (= airplane) is "it".

However we do not use the personal pronouns in nominative too frequently.

In any case there is always agreement in the grammatical gender:

vlak masc. (= train) .... I see _him_.
prsten masc. (= ring) .... I lost _him_.
loď fem. (= ship) .... I see _her_.
kobliha fem. (= doughnut) .... I ate _her_.
etc.


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## rusita preciosa

All Russian nouns belong to one of three genders: feminine, masculine or neuter, so he/she/it depends on what word is used, for example:
*корабль* (ship) is masculine, so *he*
*яхта* (yacht) is feminine so *she*
*судно* (vessel) is neutral so *it*


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## Gavril

In English, the pronoun "she" not just used for ships, but can also be used for air vessels:

_She's in flight now!_ (referring to an airplane or space rocket)


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## ancalimon

In Turkish, there is no gender even for humans. only "o" is used and "he, she and it" both translate as "o". Actually I don't understand the logic behind giving objects a gender.


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## bibax

ancalimon said:


> Actually I don't understand the logic behind giving objects a gender.


In the case of the inanimate objects (and abstract nouns) the gender is a mere grammatical category, a redundancy that is occasionally useful.

For instance, the following English sentence is not unambiguous:

_"It is the room of the house in which family members spend a lot of time together."_

In Czech the noun room (= místnost) is feminine whereas the noun house (= dům) is masculine and there must be a formal agreement in gender (and also in number) between the noun and the relative pronoun in the beginning of the dependent attributive clause. So we know in which object (room × house) the family members spend a lot of time together. We have no need to rephrase the sentence.


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## DearPrudence

rusita preciosa said:


> All Russian nouns belong to one of three genders: feminine, masculine or neuter, so he/she/it depends on what word is used, for example:
> *корабль* (ship) is masculine, so *he*
> *яхта* (yacht) is feminine so *she*
> *судно* (vessel) is neutral so *it*


In *French*, same as other languages mentioned.
"*bateau*" is *masculine*, as well as "*navire*".


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## bibax

DearPrudence said:


> In *French*, same as other languages mentioned.
> "*bateau*" is *masculine*, as well as "*navire*".


In Latin, *navis* is feminine.


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## Rallino

bibax said:


> In the case of the inanimate objects (and abstract nouns) the gender is a mere grammatical category, a redundancy that is occasionally useful.
> 
> For instance, the following English sentence is not unambiguous:
> 
> _"It is the room of the house in which family members spend a lot of time together."_
> 
> In Czech the noun room (= místnost) is feminine whereas the noun house (= dům) is masculine and there must be a formal agreement in gender (and also in number) between the noun and the relative pronoun in the beginning of the dependent attributive clause. So we know in which object (room × house) the family members spend a lot of time together. We have no need to rephrase the sentence.



What if it were _the room of the school in which_? I believe _school_ is feminine in Czech, then wouldn't you face the same ambiguity as in English?


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## bibax

Yes, you are right. C'est la vie!


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## apmoy70

Gavril said:


> In English, the pronoun "she" not just used for ships, but can also be used for air vessels:
> 
> _She's in flight now!_ (referring to an airplane or space rocket)


I've heard it also for guns! Is it an AmE feature or is it common in BrE too?


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## Gavril

apmoy70 said:


> I've heard it also for guns! Is it an AmE feature or is it common in BrE too?



I don't remember ever hearing this, but I'm not much of a gun enthusiast, so it's quite possible people say it here too.


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## Nino83

bibax said:


> In Latin, *navis* is feminine.



It's the same in Italian ("*la* nave").


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## Radioh

apmoy70 said:


> I've heard it also for guns! Is it an AmE feature or is it common in BrE too?



Maybe the owner has a certain emotion for the guns...? I can say "My bike is very pretty and she is my everything" (xe đạp tôi rất đẹp và cô ấy là tất cả của tôi) since I love my bike.
Ps: I've seen "she" used to refer to a country as well.


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## Radioh

ahmedcowon said:


> ...
> Another thing in Arabic is that ALL non-human plurals are treated as "[/COLOR]feminine singular", so we also use "she" to refer to the plural "ships".



Non-human ? So what about animals, ahmed ? She's a male lion, huh ?


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## apmoy70

The problem I think is with languages that don't have grammatical gender; it's completely natural in Greek to assign the neuter definite article or the neuter pronoun when referring to a ship, because ship is a neuter noun; equally in Arabic and Italian it's natural to use the feminine pronoun and article when referring to a ship, for ship is a feminine noun in both languages. 
On the other hand, English does not divide nouns into genders and yet English speakers use the feminine pronoun "she" to refer to a ship (or aiplane, as Gavril has posted, or gun, as I have posted).
Weird isn't it? Is there a technical term for this phenomenon?


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## ahmedcowon

Radioh said:


> Non-human ? So what about animals, ahmed ? She's a male lion, huh ?



The plural *"lions"* is treated as "feminine singular" not the singular *lion*

one male lion -> he's a lion
a group of male lions -> she's lions

one tree -> she's a tree
a group of trees -> she's trees


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## Radioh

apmoy70 said:


> The problem I think is with languages that don't have grammatical gender; it's completely natural in Greek to assign the neuter definite article or the neuter pronoun when referring to a ship, because ship is a neuter noun; equally in Arabic and Italian it's natural to use the feminine pronoun and article when referring to a ship, for ship is a feminine noun in both languages.
> On the other hand, English does not divide nouns into genders and yet English speakers use the feminine pronoun "she" to refer to a ship (or aiplane, as Gavril has posted, or gun, as I have posted).
> Weird isn't it? Is there a technical term for this phenomenon?



Good point Mr apmoy. And yes, I find it weird that people hunamise ship for no specific reason, too.


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## mataripis

Tagalog has no gender but the equivalent for she/he/it is single Siya-sya-sha.


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