Legal Translation of Gender in French: genre grammatical or sexe biologique?

⚠️ A phonetic false friend… and a frequent trap

The word gender is often confused orally with gendre in French, though it has absolutely nothing to do with it. It can mean:

• genre grammatical (masculine, feminine, neuter)

• sexe or identité de genre (in social, medical, or legal texts)

🧠 In grammar: genre

In linguistic or educational texts, gender translates as genre, in the grammatical sense:

• In French, all nouns have a gender
  → En français, tous les noms ont un genre

⚖️ In law, health, or politics: sexe

In legal, administrative, or social texts, gender often translates as sexe when it refers to a biological or administrative characteristic.

• The gender of the victim should not matter in this case
  → Le sexe de la victime ne devrait pas avoir d’importance dans cette affaire

• Gender discrimination is prohibited
  → La discrimination fondée sur le sexe est interdite

👥 In public policy: égalité des sexes

The expression gender equality is generally translated as égalité des sexes, which is the conventional legal and institutional formulation in French.

👉 Égalité des genres is sometimes used in activist circles, but is less common and less standardized.

• Promoting gender equality in the workplace
  → Promouvoir l’égalité des sexes sur le lieu de travail

🚫 False friend to avoid: gendre

⚠️ Gender has nothing to do with gendre (the son-in-law). Oral confusion is frequent, especially in interpretation.

✅ In summary

📌 TransLex’s Advice

Before translating gender, ask yourself:

• Is it about grammar, personal data, or equality policy?

• Should the focus be on sexe biologique, perceived gender, or equality between men and women?

• Is the audience institutional, legal, or activist?

👉 In law, gender = sexe, especially in official documents or HR policies.
👉 In grammar, gender = genre.
👉 Never translate it as gendre!