Продавец - продавщица

English translation: продавец - это обобщающее понятие, и может быть как женского так и мужского рода

13:14 Apr 18, 2011
Russian to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Retail
Russian term or phrase: Продавец - продавщица
This is taken from a text about shopping experiences in upmarket Moscow boutiques. The author(s) regularly use 'nродавец' but it often later becomes clear that the shop assistants are often female (descriptions of use of make-up, use of 'la' in past tense in some instances). It seems curious that the author(s) haven't used 'продавщица' when it appears to be clear in his/her mind that the sales assistant is female.

Could a native speaker offer any thoughts on this and why someone would use the masculine in this way? I wondered if my translation was in fact a back-translation and that the original translation (from English into Russian) was sloppy but this seems unlikely given the context...

Продавец спросил, какую сумку я ищу...

Thanks for your ideas...
PoveyTrans (X)
Local time: 17:47
English translation:продавец - это обобщающее понятие, и может быть как женского так и мужского рода
Explanation:
продавщица, естественно, только женского
Selected response from:

erika rubinstein
Local time: 18:47
Grading comment
Thanks Erika
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +9продавец - это обобщающее понятие, и может быть как женского так и мужского рода
erika rubinstein


Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +9
продавец - это обобщающее понятие, и может быть как женского так и мужского рода


Explanation:
продавщица, естественно, только женского

erika rubinstein
Local time: 18:47
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in RussianRussian, Native in GermanGerman
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Thanks Erika
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks Erika - make sense, just seems odd to me that you would start using the generic masculine form to describe an interaction with a sales assistant then half way through switch to the feminine form. Perhaps it reveals the informal nature of the text...


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Alexander Onishko
39 mins
  -> thank you

agree  Anna Beniash
44 mins
  -> thank you

agree  LanaUK
1 hr
  -> thank you

agree  Jive
2 hrs
  -> thank you

agree  Yakov Tomara: changing from generic to female form may show that the narrator doesn't care much of the speech style ;)
6 hrs
  -> thank you

agree  Kiwiland Bear
7 hrs
  -> thank you

agree  MariyaN (X)
13 hrs
  -> thank you

agree  Radwan Rahman
16 hrs
  -> thank you

agree  cyhul
2 days 20 hrs
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