Topic 2 Gender and Number of the Nouns

Género y número de los sustantivos (nombres)

A noun is a person, place, or thing. In Spanish, nouns are characterized by

  • gender and number;
  • in the case of gender, nouns, are NOT perceived by Spanish speakers as having male or female attributes;
  • it is just a grammatical feature, masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Los sustantivos singulares Singular Nouns

Masculino Masculine

MOST nouns that end in -o are masculine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are masculine.
el curso course el laboratorio laboratory el estadio stadium el horario schedule
el amigo friend el maestro teacher el baño bathroom el libro book
el teléfono telephone el teatro theater el gimnasio gym el escritorio desk

Exceptions of SOME nouns that do not follow this common rule: many nouns that do not end in -o but are masculine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are masculine, but do not end with an ‘o’.
el arte art el semestre semester el trimestre trimester el español Spanish
el reloj clock el papel paper el lápiz pencil el examen test/exam
el café coffee el autobús bus el hospital hospital el hombre man

Some nouns that end in -a or -ma that are masculine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are masculine, but end with an ‘a’, or an “ma”.
el día day el idioma language el planeta planet
el drama drama el mapa map el poema poem
el programa program el problema problem el sistema system

Femenino Feminine

MOST nouns that end in -a are feminine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are feminine.
la biblioteca library la cafetería cafeteria la librería bookstore la prueba quiz
la tarea homework la geografía geography la biología biology la música music
la física physics la pluma pen la silla chair la mesa table

Exceptions of SOME nouns that do not follow this common rule: many nouns that do not end in -a but are feminine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are feminine, but do not end with an ‘a’.
la clase class la mujer woman la luz light la noche night
la mano hand la suerte luck la radio radio la piel skin

Some nouns that end in -ción, -sión, -dad, -tud or -tad that are feminine

A table that displays examples of nouns that are feminine.
la lección lesson la conversación conversation la universidad university
la verdad truth la actitud attitude la amistad friendship
A table that displays singular nouns, followed by the plural version of the noun.
Singular Plural
la clase las clases
una clase unas clases
la lección las lecciones
una lección unas lecciones
el problema los problemas
un problema unos problemas
la luz las luces
una luz unas luces
la noche las noches
una noche unas noches
el hospital los hospitales
un hospital unos hospitales

To make a noun plural:

  • add-s if it ends in a vowel, a,e,i,o,u
    •  la clase = la clases
  • add -es if it ends in a consonant
    • el hospital = los hospitales
  • add -es if it ends in í or ú
    • el jabalí = los jabalíes
  • add -ces it it ends in -z (eliminate the -z first)
    • la luz = las luces

Remember The article must agree with the noun in number as well

 

Practícalo

 

Escríbelo…

Write your answers in a Word Doc. or on a page of notebook paper.

I. Write 8 masculine nouns that end in -o.

II. Write 8 feminine nouns that end in -a.

Úsalo…

Write your answers in a Word Doc. or on a page of notebook paper.

I. List 6 things you commonly see in a classroom

II. List 6 things you commonly have in your mochila (backpack)

 

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Spanish 001 Copyright © 2017 by Ana Ivette Serrano and Gisela Serrano-Lebrón is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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