Nouns and Articles

Yellow - for the vocabulary/concepts

Blue - for the conversation(s) with the author

Pink - for note-to-self

Orange - further explanation for the vocabulary

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Nouns

Nouns - words that name people, places, things, or ideas

  • People - Names of individuals or groups (e.g., teacher, Trish, Twice)

  • Places - Locations or areas (e.g., school, Paris, park)

  • Things - Objects or items (e.g., book, car, apple)

  • Ideas - Concepts or feelings (e.g., happiness, freedom, love)

General Rules

  • In spanish, nouns have a gender:

    • Masculine nouns:

      • nouns typically end in -o

      • Nouns ending in -ma

      • Nouns that refer to male people or animals

    • Feminine nouns:

      • Nouns typically ending in -a

      • Nouns ending in -ción or -sión

      • Nouns ending in -dad, -tad, -tud

      • Nouns that refer to female people or animals

    • Commit to memory the specific gender for the following:

      • Nouns endings in -e

      • Nouns with irregular gender

    • There are exceptions to these rules

      • Compound nouns usually take the gender of the last noun

        • Compound nouns - nouns made up of two or more words

Articles

Articles - an introductory word that provides context for the noun it comes before

  • Articles provide context about the noun, helping listeners understand whether they should think of a specific item or any item of that kind

  • Articles is especially important in conversations where clarity is key

Two types of Articles

  1. Definite article - like (“the” in English and “el/la” in Spanish) is used when referring to a specific noun that is already known to the speaker and listener.

    • Think like: “I saw the dog.” (Referring to a specific dog that both the speaker and listener know about.)

  2. Indefinite article - The indefinite article (like “a” or “an” in English and “un/una” in Spanish) is used when introducing a noun for the first time or when referring to a non-specific item.

    • Think like: “I saw a dog.” (Referring to any dog, not a specific one.)

General Agreements (for Nouns and Articles)

  • Nouns and articles must agree in gender and number.

    • Example: el libro (the book), la mesa (the table), los libros (the books), las mesas (the tables)