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)

Plural Forms of Nouns

Definite Articles in the Plural Form

• "el" becomes "los"
• "la" becomes "las"

Vowel Ending

If a noun ends in a vowel, then it becomes plural by adding the letter "s".

• casa (house) => casas
• el libro (book) => los libros
• la pluma (pen) => las plumas
• el chico (boy) => los chicos
• la señora (women referred to older women) => las señoras

Consonant Ending

If a noun ends in a consonant, it becomes plural by adding "es".

• país (country) => países
• el borrador (draft) => los borradores
• la universidad (university) => las universidades
• el profesor (teacher) => los profesores
• la ciudad (city) => las ciudades

"-ión" Ending

If a noun ends in "-ión", add "-es" and drop the written accent.

• el avión (aeroplane) => los aviones (Note. this is masculine, exception of the above rule.)
• la conversación (conversation) => las conversaciones
• la sección (section) => las secciones
• la televisión (TV) => las televisiones

"-z" Ending

Noun ends in "-z", add "-es" and change the "z" to "c".

• el lápiz => los lápices
• la voz (voice) => las voces
• el tapiz (wallpaper) => los tapices
• la actriz (actress) => la actrices

Maschuline and Feminine Plural Nouns Combined

When the plural refers to two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural is used.

• 1 camello (camel) + 4 camellas = 5 camellos

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are always masculine, therefor in the plural form the definite article changes from "el" to "los".

• abre (open) + latas (cans) = abrelatas (can opener)
  • el abrelatas => los abrelatas