Lucía es una jefa o Lucía es un jefe o Lucía es una jefe??

Question

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also

Lily es una dependiente .o Lily es un dependiente o Lily es una dependienta?

Answer 1

Words ending in -e are normally common to both genders, so "el jefe" and "la jefe" are both correct, and the same goes for "el dependiente" and "la dependiente", or "el cliente" and "la cliente". However, people tend to say "la dependienta" a lot more than "le dependiente" in most cases, even among well educated speakers and in formal writing, so regardless of the traditional rules, common usage has to override the old ones. "La jefa" is also much more common, followed by "la clienta" in terms of frequency. Even the RAE accepts the majoritary uses as perfect, but they don't dismiss the traditional ones either.

With many other words in -e, like "contable", it is very rare to hear "la contabla", which is felt wrong in general. The same goes to "aborigen", "acompañante", "comandanta",... and many others. The real rule is given by consensus among speakers, and their usages could vary slightly depending on the region, so they have to be learnt individually.

Además, la tendencia actual en España está siendo la de "feminizar" todas las palabras: jueza, dependienta, ingeniera, médica... muchas suenan mal y no las recoge la RAE, pero su uso es cada vez más común. Great, Lazarus. - miselfyo, Jan 26, 2011

The RAE has gone as far as saying that that "la médico" should be avoided. - lazarus1907, Jan 26, 2011

Answer 2

But can´t find jefa and dependienta in dictionary.

They say "jefe, a" - jeezzle, Jan 26, 2011

Answer 3

• Lucía es una jefa
• Lily es una dependienta