What is the gender of $K(\pi,n)$ in French?

Question

This is a kind of silly question, but I don't know where else to ask. Suppose I wanted to say "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" but with $K(\pi,n)$ substituted for "pipe." Would the article be "un" or "une"?

In case there are additional complications in the translation: What would be the French for "This is not a $K(\pi,n)$," where "this" refers to a picture over/under/beside the text?

Maybe it is better to say "Ceci n'est pas un espace $K(\pi,n).$ — Andrew, Oct 23 '12 at 23:49
But maybe "un $K(\pi,n)$" works, suppressing "espace", which would be understood. — Andrew, Oct 23 '12 at 23:57
You should check Serre's foundational paper on the homotopy groups of spheres! (I'd imagine it's in French?) — Aaron Mazel-Gee, Oct 24 '12 at 00:30

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 24 '12 at 00:04

5

You would use the same gender that the object's name has. For example, one could say:

Ceci n'est pas un $\triangle$ beside the picture of a square, but one could say

"Voici la $\mathscr{L}(cos(t))$" besides the expression of $\cos(t)'s$ Laplace transform.

answered Oct 24 '12 at 00:04

Jean-Sébastien

4,673

So if I wanted to say "this is not a $K(\mathbb Z,1)$" beside a picture of a circle (which is, incidentally, a $K(\mathbb Z,1)$), would I use the gender for espace, cercle, or the letter K? (I guess in this case they are all the same, but I'd like to know how this works.) – Charles Staats Oct 24 '12 at 00:23
Well, you'd be correct since it's just a picture of a $K(\mathbb{Z},1)$. – Aaron Mazel-Gee Oct 24 '12 at 00:27
2

From your comment underneath your question, you say $K(Z,1)$ is a Maclane space, so in french, Un espace de Maclane. You would say Ceci n'est pas un $K(Z,1)$ – Jean-Sébastien Oct 24 '12 at 00:34

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 24 '12 at 00:00

4

Espace and K both take "un".$\quad$

edited Oct 24 '12 at 00:00

Austin Mohr

26,272

answered Oct 23 '12 at 23:57

zyx

36,077

What is the gender of $K(\pi,n)$ in French?

2 Answers2