VHL chapter 1.1

Spanish Nouns

• A noun is a word used to identify people, animals, places, things, or ideas.

• Unlike English, all Spanish nouns have gender, categorized as masculine or feminine.

• Spanish nouns also have number, indicating they can be either singular or plural.

Types of Nouns

Examples of Nouns

• Masculine Nouns: el hombre (the man), el chico (the boy), el conductor (the (male) driver), el profesor (the (male) teacher), el turista (the (male) tourist)

• Feminine Nouns: la mujer (the woman), la chica (the girl), la conductora (the (female) driver), la profesora (the (female) teacher), la turista (the (female) tourist)

Gender Indicators

• Generally, nouns referring to males are masculine, while those referring to females are feminine.

• Many male nouns end in -o or -or, while their corresponding feminine forms end in -a or -ora.

• Nouns that end in -ista (like turista) can be used for both genders, distinguished only by the article used (el for masculine, la for feminine).

Noun Endings and Gender

Masculine Endings

• Common masculine noun endings: -o (el cuaderno - the notebook), -or (el conductor - the driver), -ista (el turista - the tourist).

Feminine Endings

• Common feminine noun endings: -a (la maleta - the suitcase), -ora (la profesora - the teacher), -ista (la turista - the tourist).

• Other common endings: -ción (la conversación - the conversation), -dad (la nacionalidad - the nationality).

Irregular Gender Nouns

• Some nouns do not follow the usual gender rules. For example:

  • El mapa (map) and el día (day) are masculine, despite ending in -a.

  • La mano (hand) is feminine, despite ending in -o.

Plural of Nouns

• To form plurals:

  • Add -s to nouns ending in a vowel.

  • Add -es to nouns ending in a consonant.

  • For nouns ending in -z, change the -z to -c and add -es.

• Examples:

  • el chico ➔ los chicos

  • el problema ➔ los problemas

  • el lápiz ➔ los lápices

Accent Mark on Nouns

• When a singular noun has an accent mark on the last syllable, the accent is dropped in the plural form.

  • Examples:

  • la lección ➔ las lecciones

  • el autobús ➔ los autobuses

Gender and Mixed Groups

• Use the masculine plural form to refer to a mixed group of males and females.

  • Example: 1 pasajero + 2 pasajeras = 3 pasajeros

  • Example: 2 chicos + 2 chicas = 4 chicos

Spanish Articles

• Spanish has definite (the) and indefinite (a, an) articles, which agree in gender and number with the nouns they accompany.

Definite Articles

• Four forms equivalent to the English definite article "the" in Spanish:

  • el (singular masculine)

  • la (singular feminine)

  • los (plural masculine)

  • las (plural feminine)

• Examples:

  • el diccionario (the dictionary)

  • la computadora (the computer)

Indefinite Articles

• Four forms equivalent to English indefinite articles:

  • un (singular masculine)

  • una (singular feminine)

  • unos (plural masculine)

  • unas (plural feminine)

• Examples:

  • un pasajero (a passenger)

  • unas fotografías (some photographs)