The gender of nouns

Gramática: El género de los sustantivos

Recognise the gender of nouns.

This lesson covers the gender of Spanish nouns, highlighting masculine endings like -o (el libro, el perro) and -or (el profesor), feminine endings like -a (la casa, la mesa), and exceptions such as la mano and el mapa.

There are masculine and feminine nouns.
The article agrees with the gender.

Género	Terminaciones	Ejemplo
Masculino	En -o	El libro (The book) El perro (The dog)
	En -or	El profesor (The teacher) El color (The color)
Femenino	En -a	La casa (The house) La mesa (The table)
	En -ción, -sión	La canción (The song) La televisión (The television)
	En -dad, -tad, -tud	La ciudad (The city) La juventud (Youth)
Masculino y/o femenino	En -e	El coche (The care) La noche (The night)
	Terminaciones en consonante, especialmente -l, -n, -r, -s, -z	El árbol (The tree) La flor (The flower)

Exceptions!

There are nouns that have the same ending: "el estudiante" and "la estudiante".
Common exceptions: la mano, el mapa, el planeta.

Exercise 1: El género de los sustantivos

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

El, La

... mano

... lunes

... enfermera

... policía

... problema

... televisión

... cocinero

... planeta

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct solution

1. __ casa es grande y bonita.

2. __ libro está sobre la mesa.

3. Tengo __ amigos en Madrid.

4. Quiero comprar __ camisa nueva.

5. __ estudiantes llegan a tiempo a la clase.

6. Busco __ profesor de español.

The Gender of Nouns in Spanish

This lesson focuses on understanding the gender system of Spanish nouns. Spanish nouns have gender, meaning they are classified as either masculine or feminine. This feature affects articles and adjectives that agree in gender and number with the noun.

Key Patterns for Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Most masculine nouns end in -o or -or. Examples include el libro (the book), el perro (the dog), and el profesor (the teacher). Feminine nouns often end in -a, -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad, and -tud. Examples are la casa (the house), la canción (the song), and la ciudad (the city).

Nouns That Can Be Masculine or Feminine

Some nouns ending in -e or certain consonants like -l, -n, -r, -s, -z can be either masculine or feminine, depending on the word. For instance, el coche (the car) is masculine but la noche (the night) is feminine. Similarly, el árbol (the tree) is masculine and la flor (the flower) is feminine.

Agreement with Articles

The definite articles el and la correspond with masculine and feminine nouns respectively, as do the indefinite articles un (masculine) and una (feminine). Plural forms like los, las, unos, and unas also follow this agreement. For example:

La casa es grande y bonita. (The house is big and beautiful.)

El libro está sobre la mesa. (The book is on the table.)

Tengo unos amigos en Madrid. (I have some friends in Madrid.)

Quiero comprar una camisa nueva. (I want to buy a new shirt.)

Important Exceptions

Spanish has some common exceptions to typical gender rules. For example, la mano (the hand) is feminine despite ending with -o; el mapa (the map) and el planeta (the planet) are masculine even though they end in -a. These exceptions should be memorized to avoid mistakes.

Differences Between English and Spanish Gender

Unlike English, Spanish assigns gender to all nouns, which affects articles and adjectives. English articles like the do not change, but in Spanish, the article changes to el (masculine) or la (feminine) to match the noun. For instance, the table is la mesa (feminine) in Spanish, while the book is el libro (masculine). Learning to recognize noun endings and exceptions helps to predict and use the correct gender consistently.

Exercise 1: El género de los sustantivos

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice