Every Spanish noun has a grammatical gender – either masculine or feminine. This affects how you use articles and adjectives with the noun. While some patterns can help predict a noun’s gender, exceptions exist.
Key Gender Rules
Masculine Nouns
- Nouns ending in -o: el libro (book), el carro (car), el perro (dog)
- Days of the week: el lunes (Monday), el martes (Tuesday)
- Months: el enero (January), el febrero (February)
- Numbers used as nouns: el uno (the one), el dos (the two)
- Most nouns ending in -ma: el problema (problem), el sistema (system)
- Languages: el español (Spanish), el inglés (English)
- Rivers and mountains: el Nilo (the Nile), el Everest
- Alcoholic drinks: el vino (wine), el tequila
- Musical notes: el do (C), el re (D)
- Cardinal directions: el norte (north), el sur (south)
Feminine Nouns
- Nouns ending in -a: la casa (house), la mesa (table)
- Most nouns ending in -ción: la canción (song), la habitación (room)
- Most nouns ending in -dad: la ciudad (city), la universidad
- Most nouns ending in -tad: la libertad (freedom), la amistad (friendship)
- Most nouns ending in -tud: la actitud (attitude), la virtud (virtue)
- Most nouns ending in -ez: la vez (time), la niñez (childhood)
- Islands: la Cuba, la Mallorca
- Letters of the alphabet: la a, la b
- Most nouns ending in -is: la crisis, la tesis
Common Exceptions
Masculine Despite Ending in -a
- el día (day)
- el mapa (map)
- el planeta (planet)
- el idioma (language)
- el tema (theme)
- el clima (climate)
- el drama (drama)
Feminine Despite Ending in -o
- la mano (hand)
- la radio (radio)
- la foto (photo)
- la moto (motorcycle)
- la disco (disco)
Gender-Variable Nouns
Some nouns change meaning based on gender:
- el capital (financial capital) vs. la capital (capital city)
- el orden (order, sequence) vs. la orden (command, order)
- el papa (pope) vs. la papa (potato)
- el cura (priest) vs. la cura (cure)
- el frente (front line) vs. la frente (forehead)
Professional Nouns
Many professional titles have both masculine and feminine forms:
- el doctor/la doctora (doctor)
- el profesor/la profesora (teacher)
- el abogado/la abogada (lawyer)
- el ingeniero/la ingeniera (engineer)
Using Articles
The definite and indefinite articles must match the noun’s gender:
Masculine:
- Definite: el (the)
- Indefinite: un (a/an)
Feminine:
- Definite: la (the)
- Indefinite: una (a/an)
Examples:
- el libro (the book) → un libro (a book)
- la casa (the house) → una casa (a house)
Remember that when a feminine noun starts with a stressed ‘a’ sound, it uses ‘el’ instead of ‘la’:
- el agua (the water)
- el águila (the eagle)
- el alma (the soul)
However, these nouns remain feminine and use feminine adjectives:
- el agua fría (the cold water)
- el águila blanca (the white eagle)
Spanish nouns require mastering both regular patterns (-o for masculine, -a for feminine) and notable exceptions. While general rules help, learning each noun’s gender individually is essential. Focus especially on high-frequency irregular nouns like “el día” and “la mano.” Remember that gender influences articles, adjectives, and overall sentence structure, making it fundamental for Spanish fluency. When in doubt, double-check a noun’s gender in a reliable dictionary.
