3

the question is about the word "die Mietenden" in following sentence:

Der Druck auf die Mietenden steigt und steigt.

The sentence was found in M+W journal published by Swiss Mietverband. In particular, I was looking for a plural from der Mieter / die Mieterin, the results being as follows: die Mieter/-innen (as per standard DE rules).

However, I can't grasp why exactly die Mietende was used in here, why didn't the authors use die Mieter*innen, for example? Could this word be used because of the style of the article (i.e. a Swiss-German word)?

Improve this question
0

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

There are several different ways to apply "gender neutrality" rules to a sentence or term. The participle form ("Mietende") has been around since at least the 1990s, the *innen, _innen and :innen forms are much more recent and more blatantly advertising the cause. Different people prefer different forms, some also like variation.

Improve this answer
1
  • So it was a choice of the author. Thank you for explaining!
    – Eliina
    Commented Feb 28, 2023 at 7:51
0

die Mieter/-innen (as per standard DE rules)

There are no such "standard DE rules". In fact there are only people who want to change german grammatical rules, because German has a generisches Maskulinum: that means, i.e. "die Mechaniker" means mechanics of undefined (or various) gender and "der Mechaniker" is either a certain (male) mechanic or an abstract category (i.e. der Beruf des Mechanikers), whereas "die Mechanikerinnen" means female mechanics only.

The problem with "Mieter/-innen" and similar constructions is that many of the 349 recognized genders known up to now are excluded and only "male" and "female" is recognized.

Improve this answer
8
  • Thank you for your input. I will definitely dig into the question.
    – Eliina
    Commented Feb 28, 2023 at 7:53
  • 1
    I don't understand the downvotes for this correct answer.
    – Olafant
    Commented Mar 1, 2023 at 4:19
  • Weil es gibt ein generisches Maskulin nicht die Antwort auf die Frage, warum da Mietende steht, ist.
    – David Vogt
    Commented Mar 1, 2023 at 8:02
  • 1
    @DavidVogt: OK, dann halt auf Deutsch: es gibt ein generisches Maskulin [sic!] war auch nicht die Antwort, sondern die Erläuterung zur Antwort, die im ersten Satz mit There are no such "standard DE rules". efolgte. Davor stand das Zitat aus der Frage, auf das sich die Antwort bezog. Ich erläutere das gerne für Dich nochmal explizit: die Frage in der Form, in der sie zum Antwortzeitpunkt gestellt war (mittlerweile wurde sie geändert), ging von falschen Voraussetzungen aus, nämlich dem Vorhandensein solcher Regeln.
    – bakunin
    Commented Mar 2, 2023 at 7:52
  • 1
    This answer is incorrect in at least two details. 1. Mieter/-innen is currently the only orthographically correct contraction of Mieter und Mieterinnen, although Mieter(innen) may be valid as well. 2. The very point of stylographic forms like Mieter*innen, Mieter_innen and Mieter:innen is the inclusion of everyone in between and outside male and female designations, which Mieter/-innen lacks.
    – Crissov
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 18:32

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.