LinguaEvery noun has a gender
In Spanish every noun is either masculine or feminine, people and things alike: el libro (the book) is masculine, la mesa (the table) is feminine. The gender says nothing about the object; it is simply the class the word belongs to, and the article in front announces it. So never learn a noun alone: learn el libro, la mesa, article included.
| Ending | Gender | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -o | masculine | el libro, el amigo, el médico |
| -a | feminine | la mesa, la casa, la amiga |
| -ción | feminine | la canción, la lección |
| -dad | feminine | la ciudad, la universidad |
The exceptions you meet on day one
| Word | Gender | Why |
|---|---|---|
| el día | masculine | ends in -a but is masculine, like el mapa |
| la mano | feminine | ends in -o but is feminine |
| el problema | masculine | words in -ma from Greek are masculine: el problema, el idioma |
| la foto | feminine | short for la fotografía, so it keeps la |
These four are frequent enough to meet in your first week, so learn them as a set: el día, la mano, el problema, la foto. There is no trick to spot them; the article you memorised with the word is the only clue. That is why the article is part of the word.
Four little words: el, la, un, una
| Gender | the (something known) | a, an (something new) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | el | un |
| feminine | la | una |
El and la point to something known or specific: el libro is the book we are talking about. Un and una introduce something new or just one of many: un libro stands for any book at all. The pair obeys the same gender: un día, una mano, un problema, una foto. First mention takes un/una; from then on, el/la: "Es una canción. La canción es de España."
El profesor tiene un problema.The teacher has a problem.
Es una foto de la ciudad.It is a photo of the city.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| el libro | book | El libro es interesante. The book is interesting. |
| la mesa | table | La mesa es muy grande. The table is very big. |
| el día | day | Buenos días, ¿qué día es hoy? Good morning, what day is it today? |
| la mano | hand | Tengo un libro en la mano. I have a book in my hand. |
| el problema | problem | No es un problema. It is not a problem. |
| la ciudad | city | Madrid es una ciudad de España. Madrid is a city in Spain. |
| la canción | song | La canción es muy bonita. The song is very pretty. |
| la foto | photo | Es una foto de mi amiga. It is a photo of my friend. |
| un | a, an (before a masculine noun) | Tengo un amigo en Madrid. I have a friend in Madrid. |
| una | a, an (before a feminine noun) | Es una canción de amor. It is a love song. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which of these nouns is feminine?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.