- A noun is a word used to identify people, animals, places, things, or ideas.
- Unlike English, all Spanish nouns, even those that refer to nonliving things, have gender. They are considered either masculine or feminine.
- As in English, nouns in Spanish also have number, meaning that they are either singular or plural.
Nouns that refer to living things
Masculine Nouns
el hombre the man
ending in –o
el chico the boy
el pasajero the (male) passenger
ending in –or
el conductor the (male) driver
el profesor the (male) professor
ending in –ista
el turista the (male) tourist
el dentista the (male) dentist
Feminine Nouns
la mujer the woman
ending in –a
la chica the girl
la pasajera the (female) passenger
ending in –ora
la conductora the (female) driver
la profesora the (female) professor
ending in –ista
la turista the (female) tourist
la dentista the (female) dentist
- Nouns that refer to males, like el hombre, are generally masculine.
- Nouns that refer to females, like la mujer, are generally feminine.
- Many nouns that refer to male beings end in–o or –or.
- Their corresponding feminine forms end in–a and –ora, respectively.
Either/Or Nouns
- The masculine and feminine forms of nouns that end in –ista, like turista, are the same, so gender is indicated by the article el (masculine) or la (feminine).
- Some other nouns have identical masculine and feminine forms.
el joven
|
la joven
|
the youth; the young man
|
the youth; the young woman
|
el estudiante
|
la estudiante
|
the (male) student
|
the (female) student
|
Nouns that refer to nonliving things
Masculine Nouns
ending in –o
el cuaderno the notebook
el diario the diary
el diccionario the dictionary
el número the number
ending in –ma
el problema the problem
el programa the program
ending in –sel autobús the bus
el país the country
Feminine Nouns
ending in –a
la cosa the thing
la escuela the school
la grabadora the tape recorder
la palabra the word
ending in –ción
la lección the lesson
la conversación the conversation
ending in –dad
la nacionalidad the nationality
la comunidad the community
- Certain noun endings are strongly associated with a specific gender, so you can use them to determine if a noun is masculine or feminine.
- Because the gender of nouns that refer to non-living things cannot be determined by foolproof rules, you should memorize the gender of each noun you learn.
- It is helpful to memorize each noun with its corresponding article, el for masculine and la for feminine.
- Another reason to memorize the gender of every noun is that there are common exceptions to the rules of gender.Masculine noun ending in –ael mapa (map)Feminine noun ending in –ola mano (hand)
Plural of nouns
Nouns that end in a vowel form the plural by adding –s.
el chico ® los chicos
el diario ® los diarios
la palabra ® las palabras
el problema ® los problemas
Nouns that end in a consonant add –es.
el país ® los países
el profesor ® los profesores
Nouns that end in –z change the –z to –c, then add –es.
el lápiz ® los lápices
- You use the masculine plural form of the noun to refer to a group that includes both males and females.1 pasajero + 2 pasajeras = 3 pasajeros
2 chicos + 2 chicas = 4 chicos
- When a singular noun has an accent mark on the last syllable, the accent is dropped from the plural form.la lección à las lecciones
el autobús à los autobuses
Spanish articles
PRIMERO- As you know, English often uses definite articles (the) and indefinite articles (a, an) before nouns.
- Spanish also has definite and indefinite articles.
- Unlike English, Spanish articles vary in form because they agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.
Definite articles
- Spanish has four forms that are equivalent to the English definite article the. You use definite articles to refer to specific nouns.
Feminine
|
Masculine
|
Singular
|
Singular
|
la computadora
|
el diccionario
|
the computer
|
the dictionary
|
Plural
|
Plural
|
las computadoras
|
los diccionarios
|
the computers
|
the dictionaries
|
Indefinite articles
Spanish has four forms that are equivalent to the English indefinite article, which according to context may mean a, an, or some. You use indefinite articles to refer to unspecified persons or things.
Feminine
|
Masculine
|
Singular
|
Singular
|
una fotografía
|
un pasajero
|
a (one) photograph
|
a (one) passenger
|
Plural
|
Plural
|
unas fotografías
|
unos pasajeros
|
some photographs
|
some passengers
|
¡HÁZLO!
Provide a definite article for each noun in the first column and an indefinite article for each noun in the second column.| ¿el, la, los o las? | ¿un, una, unos o unas? |
| _____ chico | _____ autobús |
| _____ chica | _____ escuela |
| _____ maleta | _____ computadora |
| _____ cuadernos | _____ hombre |
| _____ lápiz | _____ señoras |
| _____ mujeres | _____ lápices |
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