A Slip of the Tongue and a Grammar Lesson

The 2024 Presidential campaign in Mexico began last Friday with a massive rally on the Zócalo for Claudia Sheinbaum, the candidate for the ruling Morena party.

(image taken from the internet)

What has drawn the most media attention about her speech was a slip of the tongue.  Instead of saying "que siga la transformación" (may the transformation continue), she said "que siga la corrupción" (may the corruption continue).  Critics of the Morena party say that it was not just a slip of the tongue... it was a Freudian slip.  They say that, in spite of the Morena's stance of moral superiority, it is a party rife with corruption.

Sheinbaum is expected to win the election.  The opposition candidate, Xóchitl Gálvez, is also a woman.  So, regardless of the outcome, Mexico is going to have its first female President.  The media, and even the candidates themselves, use the word "Presidenta" to refer to a woman President.  We were talking about this choice of words the other day, and Alejandro pointed out that it is grammatically incorrect.

In the Spanish language, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, and many nouns change to reflect the gender.  For example, "maestro" is a male teacher, "maestra" is a female teacher... "abogado" a male lawyer, "abogada" a female lawyer.

However, words that end in "nte" do not change their spelling in the feminine form.  "Estudiante" is the same whether you are talking about a male student or a female student; "cantante" is the same whether the singer is a man or a woman.  Thus, "Presidente" does not change to "Presidenta" when referring to a woman President.  However, I doubt if anyone is going to pay any attention to that point of grammar.