1.5 Gender and Number of the Nouns

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 theatre 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 las 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

  1. Write 8 masculine nouns that end in -o.
  2. Write 8 feminine nouns that end in -a.
  3. List 6 things you commonly see in a classroom.
  4. 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.

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Basic Spanish Language & Culture Copyright © 2022 by Germàn Gutiérrez is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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