Foreign Language - Gendered articles when noun not specified

Post date: 2018-01-12 09:40:50

If I'm talking in a language with gendered nouns about something that could be referred to with a masculine or feminine noun, does it matter which gender articles I use, and will everyone in the conversation then use the same articles?

For example if I'd like to tell my friend in French that the breakfast on the table is hers, I could refer to it as the meal (le repas), the breakfast (le petit déjeuner), the food (la nourriture), etc. So I could say "It's yours" as "C'est le tien" or "C'est la tienne". If I am thinking about the meal and say "C'est le tien", but she was about to ask whose food it was, would she then start referring to it with "le" since I did, or would she still say "la" referring to food?

Obviously if she said "thank you for the food" the article would match the noun, but how does this work in a practical sense when no one ever specifies the noun? Does it matter which one you pick, and then does everyone stick to that one?

The closest I could come up with in English is something that could be plural or singular. If I was giving (a pair of) pants to a friend I could TECHNICALLY say "this is for you" but that seems weird to me. So I would say "THESE are for you". Even though I could say "This pair of pants is for you"

Then again if it was a gift and wrapped I would say "This (gift) is for you". If I was giving a bag of hand-me-downs I think either would work. "This is for you" (bag of clothes), or "These are for you" (clothes). So is it just something you have to get a feel for in a new language? Or am I way overthinking this?

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