The historian returned to the microphone of Radio Classique on the gender of this disease and the recognition of this controversial neutral pronoun.
The dawn of a new year is always a good time to take stock. Should we say the or the Covid? In May 2020, the Académie Française decided for the feminine and thus recalled the rule of grammar: in the case of an acronym, it is the gender of the main word that is taken into account. Thus, we say the SNCF, for the “National society of French railroads“But the IOC for the”International Olympic Committee“.
However, academics had noted a double difficulty with the word Covid. First, it is an English acronym for “Coronavirus disease“, resulting in “coronavirus disease“. Hence the choice of the feminine. “We should say covid 19, since the nucleus is an equivalent of the French name feminine disease”, wrote the academicians in May 2020.
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The other difficulty is the habit of male choice. Indeed, for several months, we all spoke (and still speak) of the coronavirus and the Covid … in the male. Therefore, it is enough to walk in the streets, the shops or to listen to the radio; very rare are the adventurers of “the” Covid. You will hear it more in the masculine.
Usage rules
What do the dictionaries say? Le Larousse has chosen to put the feminine form first followed by the masculine with the inscription: “If the Academy recommends saying COVID-19, the use of the word in the masculine is common“.
Le Robert made the opposite choice, emphasizing the masculine form, thus relying on usage.
“The” or “the” Covid: how to choose then, two years after the outbreak of the virus in our lives? “The French Academy’s response is very simple, has developed this Thursday, December 30, Pascal Ory, holder of the 32nd chair, at the microphone of Radio Classique. It registers public use against the whims of individuals.“
To see, therefore, how the use of the word “covid” evolves. If all administrations, as well as the government, have adopted the feminine, the masculine is still the most common usage.
This same rule applies for the pronoun “iel», Added the academician. Its adoption last October by the dictionary The Robert in its digital columns, under cover “of a need” and “of a request“Sparked controversy. Pascal Ory remains cautious about its sustainability. “We will see in a few years, if the “iel” is for public use, in which case the Academy will record it, or if it will be a particular whim.“