sacredraisincakes6942

[abstract rose]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[calm hollow]

not a silly question, and the answer is actually a bit nuanced

each word only has one gender, so you never say "la cheval"
instead, the entire word changes. A female horse is actually called "une jument"
that said, most of the time the gender is unimportant, and the word for the male animal acts as default for both genders. You could be saying "le cheval" while talking about a female horse and it would be just as natural. The opposite is not true, though

"la vache" is actually already the word for the female of the species.
The male would be either "taureau" (not castrated) or "boeuf" (castrated)

(for the same reason English differentiates cow from bull or ox)

[distant ridge]

There are also animals where they are always feminine, such as "souris" or "tortue". If you absolutely need to specify, you'd specify femelle/mâle - une souris mâle/femelle