Gender in Spanish language.Masculine and feminine nouns.

Nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. Gender is grammatical: it is determined partly by a noun's form and partly by its meaning, and it affects articles and adjectives. Learning a noun together with its article is useful.

• Masculine nouns often end in -o: el libro — the book and el perro — the dog.
• Feminine nouns often end in -a: la mesa — the table and la casa — the house.

These are general patterns, not absolute rules:

• Some masculine nouns end in -a: el día — the day.
• Some feminine nouns end in -o: la mano — the hand.
• Nouns ending in -e or a consonant may be masculine or feminine: el coche — the car and la noche — the night.

Noun gender determines the form of articles such as el and la, and it affects adjectives that describe the noun. For example:

• El chico alto — The tall boy.
• La chica alta — The tall girl.

Articles and adjectives must agree with the noun's gender and number.

Many masculine nouns follow common ending patterns, although no ending rule is without exceptions.

Common endings

• -o: Most nouns ending in -o are masculine: el libro — the book and el perro — the dog.
• -ma: Many nouns ending in -ma, especially words of Greek origin, are masculine: el problema — the problem and el tema — the topic.
• -or: Nouns ending in -or are commonly masculine: el amor — love and el calor — heat.
• -aje: Nouns ending in -aje are generally masculine: el garaje — the garage and el paisaje — the landscape.
• -án and -ambre: Nouns with these endings tend to be masculine: el refrán — the saying and el hambre — hunger.

Common exceptions and special cases

• Some nouns ending in -a are masculine: el día — the day and el mapa — the map.
• Many Greek-origin nouns ending in -ma, -ta, or -pa are masculine: el clima — the climate, el planeta — the planet, and el mapa — the map.
• Some nouns must simply be learned individually. For example, el águila — the eagle is feminine despite taking el in the singular before its stressed initial a; el sistema — the system is masculine.

Recognizing these patterns can help you identify masculine nouns, but checking the article in a dictionary is sometimes necessary.

Feminine nouns often follow these ending patterns, although they also have exceptions.

• -a: Most nouns ending in -a are feminine: la casa — the house and la manzana — the apple.
• -ción and -sión: Nouns ending in these suffixes are typically feminine: la nación — the nation and la televisión — television.
• -dad: Nouns ending in -dad are generally feminine: la ciudad — the city and la universidad — the university.

Some common exceptions include masculine nouns ending in -a and especially Greek-origin nouns ending in -ma:

• el día — the day and el mapa — the map.
• el tema — the topic and el problema — the problem.

Some nouns do not follow the most common ending patterns and must be learned with their articles.

• La mano — the hand. Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, but mano is feminine.
• El día — the day. Most nouns ending in -a are feminine, but día is masculine.
• El mapa — the map. This masculine noun also ends in -a.
• La radio — the radio. This feminine noun ends in -o. In some contexts, radio can also refer to the radius and be masculine: el radio — the radius.

Some nouns change gender when their meaning changes:

These examples show why a noun's article and meaning should be learned together.

Articles and adjectives must agree with the gender and number of the nouns they modify.

• Masculine singular: El libro rojo — The red book. and Un coche rápido — A fast car.
• Feminine singular: La casa blanca — The white house. and Una flor bonita — A pretty flower.
• Masculine plural: Los libros rojos — The red books. and Unos coches rápidos — Some fast cars.
• Feminine plural: Las casas blancas — The white houses. and Unas flores bonitas — Some pretty flowers.

Definite articles are el and los for masculine singular and plural nouns, and la and las for feminine singular and plural nouns. Indefinite articles are un and unos for masculine nouns, and una and unas for feminine nouns.

Adjectives that have different masculine and feminine forms commonly change -o to -a, and add -s in the plural. Other adjectives, such as those ending in -e, may have the same form for both genders but still agree in number.

Invariable nouns have the same form when they refer to a male or a female person. The article and any variable adjectives show the person's gender.

• el cantante / la cantante — the male singer / the female singer
• el artista / la artista — the male artist / the female artist
• el estudiante / la estudiante — the male student / the female student

Use el or la according to the person's gender, while the noun itself remains unchanged.

• El cantante es muy talentoso. — The male singer is very talented.
• La cantante es muy talentosa. — The female singer is very talented.

In these sentences, cantante keeps the same form, while the article and the adjective ending indicate gender.

Plural formation depends mainly on the noun's final sound, while the articles and adjectives also agree in gender and number.

Nouns ending in an unstressed vowel generally add -s:

• el libro → los libros — the book → the books
• la casa → las casas — the house → the houses

Nouns ending in a consonant generally add -es:

• el papel → los papeles — the paper → the papers
• la universidad → las universidades — the university → the universities

Nouns ending in -z change -z to -c and add -es:

• el lápiz → los lápices — the pencil → the pencils
• la luz → las luces — the light → the lights

In the plural, el becomes los, la becomes las, un becomes unos, and una becomes unas.

A mixed-gender group is conventionally described with the masculine plural:

• Dos gatos y dos gatas son cuatro gatos. — Two male cats and two female cats are four cats.

Compound nouns combine two or more words to create a new noun. Their gender is often determined by the main word or by established usage, so it is best to learn each compound noun with its article.

• El abrelatas — the can opener
• El sacapuntas — the pencil sharpener
• El paraguas — the umbrella
• El lavaplatos — the dishwasher

Some compounds have a gender that is not obvious from the words that form them. Other compounds can take either article when they refer to a person whose gender is being specified:

Remembering the article with each compound noun helps prevent errors, because its gender is not always predictable from its component words.