tengo una hembra de gato, puedo decir "mi gata" (con la letra "A")

Question

Very new to Spanish -- I have a female cat... can I call her "mi gata" making the masculine "el gato" feminine?

Answer 1

Yes, it is totally correct - Tú tienes una Gata

Tú tienes una gata. - epicfail, FEB 11, 2010

muchas gracias, ahora yo sé! - Neago, FEB 11, 2010

Answer 2

So.....

"I have a dog [female] = Tengo una perra

Is that right? Do you use this in normal, everyday Spanish?

In English we only make the distinction when the sex of the dog is important, for example if you breed dogs or if you take your dog to the vet.

no, in spanish you usally mention it by its gender. Tengo una perra. Tengo una gata, tengo una yegua. - juluque, FEB 11, 2010

Great - thanks Julu - patch, FEB 12, 2010

Answer 3

I would never pass up the opportunity to use the word "b*tch" in reference to a female dog, if only to "pull the chain" of some rabid feminist who doesn't really know English (as so many don't).

P.S. Even this site's software seems to be ignorant of the "proper" use of the word.

Answer 4

Something similar confused me last year. I took my dog to the vet and in the waiting room a young boy asked "¿Es un perro?". I thought it was a bit of a strange question but replied "Sí, es un perro". A little later he came back to give him another stroke and said "¿Es perro o perra?" which is when I realised he must be asking the sex of the dog!

However, it may just be an andaluz thing, they speak funny here...

no ,perro and perra is correct, may animal have both genders, chancho chancha, gallo gallina, pato pata, conejo coneja, vaca toro, caballo yegua, leon leona... etc - juluque, FEB 11, 2010

The boy asked incorrectly. "¿Es un perro?" is it a dog (what kind of animal). "¿Es perro?" (is it a male dog) - 005faa61, FEB 11, 2010

This happened nearly a year ago, he probably asked "¿Es perro?", I just don't remember exactly. - Richard-Thomas, FEB 11, 2010