Spanish Nouns and Articles

Spanish Nouns

I. Masculine or Feminine Nouns

• Masculine nouns end in -o
  • el cartero - the mailman/postman
  • el niño - the child/son
  • el tío - the uncle
  • el teatro - the theater
  • el dormitorio - the bedroom
• Acronym: L.O.N.E.R.S.

1a. Masculine Nouns that Don’t End in -o

• Words that end in the following letters or letter combinations are often masculine:
  • An accented vowel (á, é, í, ó, ú)
  • el colibrí - hummingbird
  • el ají - chili pepper
  • el ñandú - rhea
  • -ma
  • A consonant other than d, z
  • el árbol - tree
  • el rumor - rumor
  • el cojín - cushion
  • e
  • el perfume - perfume
  • el estante - shelf
  • el maquillaje - makeup
• A lot of nouns that end in -ma, -pa, and -ta are masculine because they are Greek in origin.
• The following nouns are exceptions to the above rules and are feminine, not masculine.

• Feminine nouns end in -a
  • la enfermera - the nurse
  • la profesora - the teacher
  • la hija - the daughter
  • la rosa - the rose
  • la guitarra - the guitar
  • la piscina - the pool
• Acronym: DiónZA

• The following nouns are exceptions to the above rules and are masculine, not feminine.

II. Words that end in ==-ma== or ==-ta== are usually masculine.

-MA

• El problema - problem
• El tema - subject
• El drama - drama
• El sistema - system
• El dima - money
• El programa - program
• El idioma - language
• Exception: la pluma - pen
• Note: Not all words ending in -ma are masculine. Some, like forma (form) are feminine.
• There are also many common words ending in -e that are feminine, so this rule must be taken with a grain of salt.

-TA

• El planeta - planet
• El cometa - comet

III. Some nouns referring to people having only one form

• El estudiante → la estudiante (the student)
• El cantante → la cantante (the singer)
• El dentista → la dentista (the dentist)
• El policía → la policía (the police)
• Spanish nouns ==must== match the noun’s gender!
• Nouns that end in a consonant:
  • papel → papeles (paper)
• Nouns that end in ==“z”== have a spelling change in the plural
  • Luz → Lu==c==es (light)
  • Lápiz → lapi==c==es

Spanish Articles

• Definite Articles (the): el, la, los, las
• Indefinite Articles (a/an/some/a few): un, una, unos, unas
• Spanish nouns ==must== match the noun’s number! (Singular or Plural)
• Look at the noun
  • Is it singular or plural?
  • Is it masculine or feminine?
  • Does it need a definite or an indefinite article?
• Exceptions:
  • When a feminine singular noun begins with a stressed a or ha sound, the masculine (in)definite article is used instead of the feminine (in)definite article.
  • When the same noun is plural, the regular feminine article is used.
  • These examples of feminine words take the masculine singular article, el, in the singular, but the feminine plural article, las, in the plural.

• Note: WATCH OUT FOR CONTRACTIONS! When the article el appears after the prepositions a or de, the two words combine to make al and del.

Neuter Article

• In some cases, we can pair an article with an adjective to make it into a noun. The type of article we use in this case is called the neuter article because it doesn’t attach to a noun with a specific gender. Look at the following sentence:
  • A mi gato le encanta lo brillante. - My cat loves shiny things.
  • The neuter article, lo, pairs with the adjective brillante to make the rough translation of shiny things.

Sources:

1. https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/el-or-la-an-introduction-to-spanish-articles
2. https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/definite-articles-in-spanish
3. https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/indefinite-articles-in-spanish
4. https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/masculine-and-feminine-nouns