Nouns – gender
and number
*What is a noun?
*A noun is a person, place, thing, or
idea
*In Spanish, all nouns are either
masculine or feminine.
*Most nouns that end in
*el libro
*el escritorio
*el colegio
-o are usually masculine
*Most nouns that end in -a are usually feminine.
*la puerta
*la ventana
* la tarea
Exceptions: el dia = the day el problema = the problem
*Other Spanish nouns end in -e or a
consonant.
For example:
el ajedrez - chess
el marcador - marker
la clase - class
la televisión = TV
*Some can be both
masculine and feminine:
el/la estudiante - the student
*English vs. Spanish
*The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly
natural when the noun stands for a living creature. This
is because in English, living creatures often have
different names depending on whether they are male or
female.
Masculine
Feminine
boy
girl
father
mother
lion
lioness
uncle
aunt
*English vs. Spanish
*Certain nouns that denote living things have both a
masculine and feminine form in Spanish.
Masculine
Feminine
el gato = male cat
la gata = female cat
el abuelo = grandfather
la abuela = grandmother
El chico = boy
la chica = girl
REMEMBER!
You can’t predict the gender of a noun,
except in the case of living creatures.
Do not try to analyze the nature of an
object to look for masculine or feminine
qualities!
IT WON’T WORK!
Dress is a masculine word in Spanish--el vestido
Necktie is a feminine word in Spanish--la corbata
* But how can I tell if a noun is
masculine or feminine?
*When you learn a
new noun, you MUST
memorize its
definite article (el
or la).
What is “el” or “la”?
* El / la is a definite article
that means “the” as in:
the head – la cabeza
the arm – el brazo
* Singular and Plural
Plural in English is simple: generally one add
an “s” at the end
ex: the cat the cats
Exceptions:
Irreg. plural
child children, foot feet
spy  spies , knife  knives
*Plural in Spanish
Masc.
Singular
EL
Plural
LOS
Fem.
LA
LAS
Example: el chico
the boy
la chica
the girl


los chicos
the boys
las chicas
the girls
*To make nouns plural you usually add
-s to words ending in a vowel and -es to
words ending in a consonant.
*estudiante
*animal

estudiantes

animales
*Saquen los diccionarios…
*Take out your dictionary.
*Look up a Spanish noun that you know for
sure is masculine. Do you notice any
symbols or abbreviations that tell you the
noun’s gender?
*Now, look up a Spanish noun that you know
is feminine. Are there any symbols or
abbreviations that tell you the noun’s
gender?
*To remember
You cannot predict the gender of most
nouns.
Not every noun that ends in an –o is
masculine, and not every noun that ends
in an –a is feminine.
Many nouns end in letters other than –a
and –o.
The definite article is your CLUE as to
whether a noun is masculine or feminine.