Spanish Grammar: Nouns – Masculine and Feminine

Spanish Grammar: Nouns - Masculine and Feminine

Creative Commons Image via The LEAF Project

Identify

Spanish Grammar: Nouns – Masculine and Feminine
la gramática española: los sustantivos – masculinos y femeninos

  • Indicate the gender of nouns in a statement.
  • Identify grammatical gender (masculine or feminine).

Connect

60-Second Spanish Grammar Lesson

Study

In Spanish, nouns can be singular or plural AND they can be either masculine (masculino) or feminine (femenino).

If you’re talking about people, masculine and feminine nouns will follow the sex of the person that you’re talking about.

El niño : The male child

La niña : The female child

El hombre : The man

La mujer : The woman

For objects, there might not be ANY clear reason why some nouns are masculine and some are feminine.

La manoThe hand (fem.)

El mapaThe map (masc.)

La sillaThe chair (fem.)

El carroThe car (masc.)

GENDER OF NOUNS : (los sustantivos y el género)

Masculine Nouns:

Often ends with [-o] (but not all the time!) :

el bolígrafo : pen
el libro : book
el cuaderno : notebook

Refers to a man :

el maestro : teacher
el mesero : waiter
el estudiante : male student

Feminine Nouns:

Often ends with [-a] (but not all the time!) :

la mochila : backpack
la ventana : window
la mesa : table

Refers to a woman :

la maestra : teacher
la mesera : waitress
la estudiante : female student

There are a few exceptions to these rules:

Masculine Nouns:

el clima : weather
el día : day
el poema : poem
el problema : problem

Feminine Nouns:

la mano : hand
la foto : photograph
la moto : motorcycle

and MANY MORE exceptions that can not be listed here!

Engage

Explore

Quizlet Activity

  • Nouns – Basics
  • Direct Link: [https://quizlet.com/_5okn1p]
  • Click on the top right-hand corner for Options.
  • Click on the bottom right-hand corner to change Study Mode.

Quizlet Activity

  • Nouns – Masculine and Feminine – Examples
  • Direct Link: [https://quizlet.com/_8c8iul]
  • Click on the top right-hand corner for Options.
  • Click on the bottom right-hand corner to change Study Mode.