MONTREAL — Call it a victory for gender equality. After a lengthy research process, Quebec’s language watchdog says the word “trampoline,” which in French is most often considered a masculine noun, can also be used with the feminine definite article “la.”In a recent update on its website, the Office quebecois de la langue francaise said it had used historical analysis to conclude it is OK to jump between “le trampoline” and “la trampoline” when referring to the bouncy devices. “Even if the use of the feminine is not recorded in the main French dictionaries, there is no reason to consider it incorrect,” the organization said. The watchdog noted that most other nouns ending in “-ine” — such as “figurine,” “discipline,” and “adrenaline” — are feminine, perhaps explaining why Quebecers chose to adopt that usage. “It is up to people to choose the use that suits them and which seems to them the most adapted to the context in which the word is used,” it said.

Source: National Post May 03, 2018 19:18 UTC