1.5 Gender and Number of the Nouns
Germàn Gutiérrez
Género y número de los sustantivos (nombres)
Noun
A noun is a person, place, or thing.
In Spanish, nouns are characterized by gender and number; in the case of gender, nouns, are NOT perceived by Spanish speakers as having male or female attributes; it is just a grammatical feature, masculine or feminine, singular or plural.
Los sustantivos singulares Singular Nouns
Masculino Masculine
- MOST nouns that end in -o are masculine
| el curso course | el laboratorio laboratory | el estadio stadium | el horario schedule |
| el amigo friend | el maestro teacher | el baño bathroom | el libro book |
| el teléfono telephone | el teatro theater | el gimnasio gym | el escritorio desk |
- Exceptions of SOME nouns that do not follow this common rule: many nouns that do not end in -o but are masculine
| el arte art | el semestre semester | el trimestre trimester | el español Spanish |
| el reloj clock | el papel paper | el lápiz pencil | el examen test/exam |
| el café coffee | el autobús bus | el hospital hospital | el hombre man |
- Some nouns that end in -a or -ma that are masculine
| el día day | el idioma language | el mapa map | el planeta planet |
| el drama drama | el poema poem | el problema problem | el sistema system |
| el programa program |
Femenino Feminine
- MOST nouns that end in -a are feminine
| la biblioteca library | la cafetería cafeteria | la librearía bookstore | la prueba quiz |
| la tarea homework | la geografía geography | la biología biology | la música music |
| la física physics | la pluma pen | la silla chair | la mesa table |
- Exceptions of SOME nouns that do not follow this common rule: many nouns that do not end in -a but are feminine
| la clase class | la mujer woman | la luz light | la noche night |
| la mano hand | la suerte luck | la radio radio | la piel skin |
- Some nouns that end in -ción, -sión, -dad, -tud or -tad that are feminine
| la lección lesson | la conversación conversation | la universidad university |
| la verdad truth | la actitud attitude | la amistad friendship |
To make a noun plural
| la clase | las clases |
| una clase | unas clases |
| la lección | las lecciónes |
| una lección | unas lecciónes |
| el problema | los problemas |
| un problema | unos problemas |
| la luz | las luces |
| una luz | unas luces |
| la noche | las noches |
| una noche | unas noches |
| el hospital | los hospitales |
| un hospital | unos hospitales |
- add-s if it ends in a vowel
- add -es if it ends in a consonant
- If it ends in -z eliminate the -z and add -ces
Remember:
The article must agree with the noun in number as well
Practícalo…
1. Definite articles
2. Indefinite articles
3. Singular to plural
Additional Practice
- Write 8 masculine nouns that end in -o.
- Write 8 feminine nouns that end in -a.
- List 6 things you commonly see in a classroom.
- List 6 things you commonly have in your mochila (backpack).
Attribution
“Topic 2 Gender and Number of the Nouns” in Spanish 001 PSU New Kensington by Ana Ivette Serrano is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
