In Spanish, all nouns, including those denoting non-living things
and abstract concepts, are either masculine or feminine and singular or plural.
Therefore,
the articles and adjectives change according to the grammatical gender and agree
in number with the
nouns they modify.
GENDER
The
following are some rules to determine the gender; however, the gender of some
nouns must be learned by memorization.
The
gender of living beings, such as people or animals, determines their grammatical
gender.
A
noun that refers to a male is masculine; a noun that refers to a female is
feminine.
FEMININE
NOUNS
1.
Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.
EXAMPLES:
·
la cara/
the face
·
la cabeza/
the head
EXCEPTIONS:
The following words end in a; however, they are
masculine:
·
el día/ the day
·
el sofá/ the sofa
·
el mañana/ the
tomorrow, the future (Note that la mañana means morning.)
2.
Many female nouns that end in -a have a corresponding male form
that end in -o.
Gender
|
gato/ cat
|
perro/ dog
|
Masculine
|
el gato
|
el perro
|
Feminine
|
la gata
|
la perra
|
3.
Nouns that end in -ista may be masculine or
feminine. In these instances, the
article determines the gender of the person.
Gender
|
dentista/ dentist
|
electricista/
electrician
|
Masculine
|
el dentista
|
el electricista
|
Feminine
|
la dentista
|
la electricista
|
4.
Nouns ending in -ión, -d, -ez, and -umbre are generally feminine.
EXAMPLES:
·
La televisión/
TV
·
la comunicación/
communication
·
la oportunidad/
opportunity
·
la aptitud
/ aptitude
·
la vejez/
old age
·
la costumbre/
custom
5.
The letters of the alphabet are feminine.
EXAMPLES:
·
la l/
l
·
la a/
a
6.
The following are nouns that can only refer to females despite of the ending:
·
la actriz/ actress
·
la mujer/ woman
7.
The following nouns refer to females when the article is feminine:
·
la bebé/ female baby
·
la cliente/ female
client
·
la psiquiatra/ female
psychiatric
·
la columnista/ female
columnist
8.
Nouns of Greek origin that end in -ma, -pa, and -ta are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
·
el programa/
program
·
el mapa/
map
·
el poeta/
poet
·
el planeta/
planet
·
el idioma/
language
·
el sistema/
system
·
el telegrama/
telegram
·
el problema/
problem
·
el clima/
climate
·
el drama/
drama
·
el cometa/
comet
·
el diploma/
diploma
·
el tema/
theme
MASCULINE
NOUNS
1.Most
of the masculine nouns end in -o.
EXAMPLES:
·
el libro/
book
·
el sombrero/
hat
EXCEPTIONS:
Some nouns that end in a are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
·
la mano/
hand
·
la foto/
photo
2.
Colors, numbers, and days of the week are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
·
el verde/ green
·
el rojo/ red
·
el uno/ one
·
el cien/ hundred
·
el lunes/ Monday
·
el martes/ Tuesday
3. The following are nouns that refer to males, regardless of the ending:
·
el hombre/ man
·
el profesor/ male
professor
·
el juez/ male judge
·
el policía/ male
police officer
·
el doctor/ male
doctor
4.
Compound nouns are always masculine
and plural.
EXAMPLES:
·
el abrelatas/ can
opener
·
el sacacorchos/
bottle opener
 |
NUMBER
Number
identifies words as singular or plural. To make a noun, plural follow the rules
below:
1.
Add -s
to a noun ending in a vowel, as in huevo/ egg and uva/ grape.
Gender
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
Masculine
|
el huevo
|
los huevos
|
Feminine
|
la uva
|
las uvas
|
2.
Add -es
to a noun ending in a consonant.
Word
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
cereal
|
el cereal
|
los cereales
|
examen
|
el examen
|
los exámenes
|
NOTE: At times,
it is necessary to add or drop a written
accent when a word is made plural because the stress of their singular
form is maintained in their plural form.
Word
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
water
melon
|
el melón
|
los melones
|
exam
|
el examen
|
los exámenes
|
3.
For the nouns that end in -z, change the z to ces.
Word
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
rice
|
el arroz
|
los arroces
|
walnut
|
la nuez
|
las nueces
|
4.
Nouns ending in -es and -is do NOT change in the plural.
Word
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
Monday
|
el lunes
|
los lunes
|
crisis
|
la crisis
|
las crisis
|
5.
Compound nouns have the same form in the singular and plural forms.
Word
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
can
opener
|
el abrelatas
|
los abrelatas
|
bottle
opener
|
el
sacacorchos
|
los
sacacorchos
|
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