Other Languages

An inclusive communication is recommended in all languages. Please find below a few practical guides and instructions to adopt a gender-inclusive language in other languages.  


Français – French

Our school’s gender-inclusive language project was developed primarily in French and English. The French version is more developed as this language is more gendered. 


Deutsch – German

The EPFL community is increasingly required to write texts in German. Please find below a guide recommended by the School’s Management. This guide was created by the University of Bern in 2017. 


Italiano – Italian 

The EPFL Management does not recommend a specific guide for the Italian language. However, members of the EPFL community communicating in Italian can refer to the first 3 French principles, namely : 

1- Prefer epicene formulations 

Gli studenti becomes Il corpo studentesco 

2- When epicene formulations are not available, use the feminine-masculine paired form. 

Gli studenti becomes Le studentesse e gli studenti

3- When neither of the two first forms are possible, use the contracted forms as a last resort (it is still very uncommon in Italian, the slash / in more common) 

Gli studenti becomes Le o gli studenti·esse

Note that the guide below may contain some further suggestions :

Discover

Non-sexist Language Guide

Non-sexist language guide for Swiss universities communicating in English

Gender-inclusive Language at the UN

The resources provided here are aimed at helping United Nations staff to communicate in a gender-inclusive way in the six official languages of the Organization

Inclusive Language ENAC – EPFL

The goal of this website is to introduce and hopefully convince you, to begin to use inclusive language/communication in your daily life.