Spanish 101

The Basics of Spanish

Gender of Nouns

The general rule

If a word ends in "o" it is usually masculine. If a word ends in "a" it is usually feminine.

"the" = "el" for masculine, "la" for feminine.

"a" = "un" in masculine, "una" is feminine

• el mundo = world
• el chico = boy
• el colegio = school
• el coche = car
• el miedo = fear

• la chica = girl
• la piscina = swimming pool
• la mesa = table
• la libertad = liberty

Masculine to Feminine

No general rule.

• el gato => la gata (cat)
• el perro => la perra (dog)
• el chico (boy) => la chica (girl)
• el hermano (brother) => la hermana (sister)

Note. Words that have feminine meanings or connotations tend to be a feminine word. Exceptions:

• el vestido (dress)
• la corbata (tie)

More examples:

• el doctor => la doctora (doctor)
• el profesor => la profesora (teacher)

Exceptional Examples. In some cases, the actual noun does not change, but the article does in accordance to whom it is referring to.

• el estudiante => la estudiante (student)
• el artista => la artista (artist)

Exceptional masculine nouns ending in "a"

• el problema (problem)
• el mapa (map)
• el tema (issue)
• el sistema (system)

Exceptional feminine nouns ending in "o"

• la mano (hand)
• la radio (radio)

More Feminine Noun rules

Nouns ending in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.

• la televisión (TV)
• la decisión (decision)
• la conversación (conversation)
• la ciudad (city)
• la actitud (attitude)
• la libertad (liberty)
• la certidumbre (certainty)