Why can "el dependiente" become "la dependienta"?

Question

Hola,

Why does the feminine version of "el dependiente" become "la dependienta"? Shouldn't it be "la dependiente"?

¡Gracias por ayudar!

Answer 1

Politicaly correct, but grammatically incorrect is the reason why you'll find many more words like this one, a problem making distinction between gender and sex.

Edit:
To clarify and not confuse nowadays you can use a feminine form for any profession, title or human activity and as JulianChivi said "dependienta" is a profession in your example.
There are exceptions and some of these nouns use a common word for both gendre as for example "el / la - atleta, deportista, futbolista, modelo, gurú, consúl."

When I said grammatically incorrect I'am refering to a very old and long disscusion about this terms, for example "juez" works for feminine and masculine "El juez / La juez" but I always use "La jueza" and it is correct too. Some others like "la sastra, la conserja" sounds odd but anyway are correct too. The older one I know is "presidenta" (maybe are olders, I don't know) which is published in RAE since 1803.

Well, I understand the words like "deportista" only ending in "a", but I thought words that end in "e" don't change to "a". - alexkill51, Jun 16, 2013

words ending in "e" works for both gender "el / la presidente" but you can choice to say "la presidenta" both are correct. - Anormal, Jun 16, 2013

Answer 2

El hombre dependiente / la mujer dependiente is someone who depends upon something or someone. In this case the word is used as an adjective, so we change only the article. Many times words ending in e do not change for gender usage.

El dependiente / la dependienta is a clerk in a store. This word is a noun.

Answer 3

Why does the feminine version of "el dependiente" become "la dependienta"? Shouldn't it be "la dependienta"?

I don't see the difference...

Sorry, I meant "la dependiente" - alexkill51, Jun 16, 2013