Nouns and Articles

  • ALL Spanish nouns have gender (masculine or feminine)

    • many nouns referring to males end in “-o” or “-or”

    • nouns referring to females end in “-a” or “-ora”

  • Some nouns are GENDER NEUTRAL and can only be identified as masculine or feminine based on their article

    • ex: “el turista” / “la turista” (the [male/female] tourist)

    • ex: “el joven” / “la joven” (the young [man/woman])

    • ex: “el estudiante” / “la estudiante” (the [male/female] student)

  • For SOME nouns that refer to non-living things, there are some endings associated with EACH gender

    • nouns ending in “-o,” “-ma,” or “-s” are usually masculine

      • ex: “el cuaderno” (the notebook)

      • ex: “el diario” (the diary)

      • ex: “el diccionario” (the dictionary)

      • ex: “el número”

      • ex: “el video”

      • ex: “el problema” / “el programa”

      • ex: “el autobús” (the bus)

      • ex: “el país” (the country)

    • nouns ending in “-a,” “-ción,” or “-dad” are usually feminine

      • ex: “la computadora” (the computer)

      • ex: “la cosa” (the thing)

      • ex: “la escuela” (the school)

      • ex: “la maleta” (the suitcase)

      • ex: “la palabra” (the word)

      • ex: “la lección” (the lesson) / “la conversación” (the conversation)

      • ex: “la nacionalidad” (the nationality) / la comunidad (the community)

  • There are exceptions to the rules established above

    • ex: “el mapa” (the map) / “el día” (the day)

      • although they end in “-a,” they are masculine

    • ex: “la mano” (the hand)

      • although they end in “-o,” they are feminine

  • To make a noun (that ends with a VOWEL) plural, add an “-s” to the end of it

    • ex: el chico → los chicos

    • ex: el diario → los diarios

    • ex: el problema → los problemas

  • For nouns (that end with a CONSTANTENT), add “-es”

    • ex: la nacionalidad → las nacionalidades

    • ex: el país → los países

  • For nouns (that end with “Z”), replace the “Z” with “-ces”

    • ex: el lápiz (pencil) → los lápices (pencils)

  • Generally, singular nouns that have an ACCENT will have that accent dropped in the plural forms

    • ex: la lección → las lecciones

    • ex: el autobús → los autobuses

The Four Spanish Indefinite Articles

  • Used for unspecified people or things

    • ex: “un pasajero” (a [one] passenger)

    • ex: “unos pasajeros” (some passengers)

    • ex: “una fotografía” (a [one] photograph)

    • ex: “unas fatagrafías” (some photographs)