Gender of nouns

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.

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