Daft Doctor Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 HiI am writing a reply email to a school head teacher (female) and want to start by thanking her for the information contained in her email to me. I am confused as to whether to use informations or renseignements. I know informations is feminine and renseignements is masculine, but what does that refer to, the giver of the information, what it's about or any other factor? Aside from the sex of the noun, is there any other difference in their use, or do the two words mean exactly the same thing? Most grateful for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 In any case they are both plural as opposed to the English; so you would write "je vous remercie pour ces informations/renseignements"depending on which you choose.I tend to feel that 'informations ' is more freely available than 'renseignements' which I think has the feel of something asked for specifically ( after all les Renseignements Généraux are the Spies!)but I leave the nuances to the native speakers.Just slightly of topic, a useful rule of thumb is that all words in French ending in 'tion' are feminine.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou2 Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 NB I'm not a native speaker (I'm sure one will be along soon), but ...Les renseignements is almost certainly what you want. My understanding is that, if not hard and fast (and it gets muddy in the middle with something like "for your information") 'renseignements' for most cases of ENG 'information', while 'informations' would be The News or maybe a public information broadcast, that sort of thing.The sex of the noun refers to nothing more or less than the noun itself. That's why I (male) have "ma femme" and she has "mon mari" (or "son mari" if it's someone other than her speaking) and not "mon femme" and "ma mari" which feel right to many/most native English speakers (you could think of it as going forward to the object rather than backwards to the subject).[edit: NormanH posted while I was typing]PS. It has just occurred to me that, subsequent to certain changes in the law, "mon mari" could also be said by some males in some countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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