Every Spanish noun has a gender
In English, a table is just "a table". In Spanish, every noun is either masculine or feminine - even objects with no biological gender. This affects which articles, adjectives, and pronouns you use with it. Getting gender right is one of the most important habits to build early.
How to tell if a noun is masculine or feminine
There are reliable patterns, though some exceptions exist:
Usually masculine
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Ends in -o | el libro (book), el gato (cat), el vaso (glass) |
| Ends in -or | el color (colour), el calor (heat), el amor (love) |
| Ends in -aje | el viaje (trip), el mensaje (message), el paisaje (landscape) |
| Days, months, languages | el lunes, el español, el enero |
Usually feminine
| Pattern | Examples |
|---|---|
| Ends in -a | la casa (house), la mesa (table), la silla (chair) |
| Ends in -ción / -sión | la canción (song), la televisión (television) |
| Ends in -dad / -tad | la ciudad (city), la libertad (freedom) |
| Ends in -ez | la vez (time/occasion), la vejez (old age) |
Common exceptions to memorise
| Looks feminine, but masculine | Looks masculine, but feminine |
|---|---|
| el día (day) | la mano (hand) |
| el problema (problem) | la foto (photo) |
| el mapa (map) | la moto (motorbike) |
| el tema (topic) | la radio (radio) |
| el sistema (system) | |
| el programa (programme) |
Tip: Words ending in -ma that come from Greek are often masculine: el problema, el sistema, el programa, el tema, el idioma.
Definite articles: the
English has one word for "the". Spanish has four:
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | el | los |
| Feminine | la | las |
- el libro - the book / los libros - the books
- la casa - the house / las casas - the houses
Special rule: Feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a- or ha- use el in the singular (for sound reasons), but las in the plural: el agua (water), but las aguas.
Indefinite articles: a, an, some
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | un | unos |
| Feminine | una | unas |
- un perro - a dog / unos perros - some dogs
- una mesa - a table / unas mesas - some tables
When to skip the article: Don't use an article with professions after ser: Soy profesor. (I'm a teacher.) - no "un" needed.
Making nouns plural
The rules are straightforward:
| If the noun ends in... | Add... | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a vowel | -s | casa → casas, libro → libros |
| a consonant | -es | ciudad → ciudades, color → colores |
| -z | change to -ces | vez → veces, lápiz → lápices |
Accent note: Some words gain or lose an accent mark when pluralised to maintain the same stress: canción → canciones (accent dropped), joven → jóvenes (accent added).
Practice
Add the correct definite article (el, la, los, las) to each noun:
- _____ agua
- _____ problemas
- _____ canciones
- _____ día
- _____ mano
- _____ ciudades
- _____ viaje
- _____ televisión
Answers
- el agua (feminine but stressed a-)
- los problemas (masculine, -ma from Greek)
- las canciones (feminine, -ción)
- el día (exception - masculine despite ending in -a)
- la mano (exception - feminine despite ending in -o)
- las ciudades (feminine, -dad)
- el viaje (masculine, -aje)
- la televisión (feminine, -sión)
Key takeaways
- Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine - learn the gender together with the word.
- Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine; nouns ending in -a are usually feminine. Learn the exceptions.
- Spanish has four definite articles (el, la, los, las) and four indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas).
- Plurals: add -s after a vowel, -es after a consonant, change -z to -ces.
- Skip the article with professions after ser.