PDF. Words that are a shorter form of another word or of a phrase retain the gender of the longer word or of the main noun in the phrase. Dictionaries always indicate the grammatical gender of a noun! 33 chapters | There's no room in that car. 1. Beto renunci a su trabajo y se mud al campo. Some examples include: These rules can help you most of the time to determine if the noun is masculine, but they won't always work. Otherwise, it would sound like laaagua. That pattern works for things too. Beto quit his job and moved to the countryside. Puedes coger lasflores naranja del jardn. Do you see those words ending with -ma? Although it is seldom possible to predict with certainty whether a given Spanish noun is of masculine or feminine gender, Spanish has numerous guidelines that can usually be followed. Jun 4, 2015 - These two charts with masculine and feminine adjectives goes along with the Spanish Adjectives Flash Cards. 1.7.2 list of feminine nouns in Spanish. Two examples are doctora (female doctor) and camisa (shirt). Nouns ending in an accented vowel are usually masculine. There are some exceptions to this rule: Some nouns are called de gnero comn (of common gender), those nouns can be used with either the masculine or the feminine article to refer to a male or . With these nouns in singular, the indefinite article (un/una) is masculine, too: un aula, un guila, etc. This is the only way to learn the gender of a noun correctly. They have different words according to gender. I hope you have enjoyed this article about masculine and feminine in Spanish! En ese vagn no hay campo. LONERS - words that end with any of the letters in LONERS are usually masculine. 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Generally, if the masculine form ends with an -o, to form the feminine you just need to replace it with an -a: El chico -> La chica 1. chico. Names of companies usually are feminine, because la compaa (company) is feminine, as are sociedad annima (corporation), corporacin (corporation), and empresa (business). In Spanish all nouns are either masculine or feminine. For example, we usually say la moto for motorcycle, which ends in an -o. I really like going to the countryside. Even if the nouns are in singular! 5. Some of the exceptions are listed below. You should look at the end of the word to see if it's a masculine or feminine one. Lesson outline 1. The word ends in an "a" so it is feminine-la comida. PDF Worksheets: Spanish Nouns PDF Worksheet 1 / PDF 2. All rights reserved. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}}, Passive Voice in Spanish: Examples & Practice, Psychological Research & Experimental Design, All Teacher Certification Test Prep Courses, What are Cognates in Spanish? Best Answer. I created these charts for those who need a little help when it comes to the gender. And if theres another word between the definite article (el/la) and the noun, we use the feminine article: La extensa rea / La imponente aula / La hermosa guila. You will notice that when adjectives modify such words, they are feminine: El agua est fra o tibia? The articles which accompany a masculine noun are el (definite) / uno (indefinite), while the feminine ones are la (definite) / una (indefinite) . This can be very confusing. $2.80. Spanish feminine refers to female qualities attributed specifically to women and girls or things considered feminine. Most Spanish masculine nouns end in "o". El ni o - the male child / la ni a - the female child. This can be confusing, especially when some words, like persona (person), can refer to a person that is man or a woman. See also How Tall Is Loki In The Comics? El escudo de armas de mi familia tiene un castillo negro en un campo rojo. gaps and mistakes. The Royal Spanish Academy and the French Academy say that when ruling on the grammatical gender of the word Coronavirus, they relied on grammatical precedents from other viral illnesses like SARS . Well map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your Nationalities Masculine Feminine Forms. Nouns that end in -ma are masculine, such as the word problema (problem), Nouns that end in -pa, like the word mapa (map), are also masculine. Then little by little you will learn the others. El telfono is masculine. 3. The real challenge is knowing which nouns are masculine and which are feminine. The gender of abbreviations and acronyms typically matches the gender of the main noun of what the shortened version stands for. It it actually masculine. Erichsen, Gerald. The Spanish word for disease, enfermedad, is feminine, and therefore makes COVID-19 grammatically feminine. However, the word persona is always a feminine word. Days and months are masculine: el lunes, el mircoles, el sbado, este abril, ese enero, etc. Nouns ending with -dez and -umbre are usually feminine, too: la solidez, la desnudez, la costumbre, la incertidumbre, etc. padrino madrina. I'm going to take the goats to the pasture so they can run around a bit. It's time to learn the Spanish Gender (Masculine and feminine)! 1. A masculine noun is used with masculine articles and adjectives (e.g. They include -cin (usually the equivalent of "-tion"), -sin, -a (usually the equivalent of "-y," although not in the diminutive sense), -za, -dad (often used like "-ty"), and -itis ("-itis"). Thus foreign nouns that end in -a sometimes become feminine, as do some words related in meaning to a Spanish feminine word. Yes, there is. Fast, easy, reliable language certification, 35,000+ worksheets, games, and lesson plans. There are no neutral nouns but careful because there is a neutral article (lo) although it can only be used with adjectives (lo . There are few rules that help us to decide what is the genre of the noun: - In general, all nouns that end in: -o, -n and -r are masculine. Me gusta mucho ir al campo. But, the word "alto" does not traditionally mean stop in Spanish. First rule (primera regla) A word that finish in "o" is :masculine. But be careful! A few nouns are said to be of "ambiguous" gender, meaning that they are sometimes treated as masculine and sometimes as feminine. She spent her whole childhood in the country. copyright 2003-2022 Study.com. The fact that inanimate objects have a gender in Spanish does not mean that things like tables and books are physically feminine or masculine. This rule is not consistently followed, however, and some well-known companies (such as Google) are referred to as either masculine or feminine. She has 20 years of experience in the medical field. We use the masculine definite article (el) in singular with feminine nouns that start with an A when the stress is put on the first syllable. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}} lessons A noun is a word referring to a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or idea (e.g. What makes a word masculine or feminine? For example, to say, 'My brother is an interesting person' in Spanish, you would say Mi hermano es una persona interesante. Masculine and feminine in Spanish for people and animals Nouns ending with -or / consonant Nouns that refer to people and animals have two forms. What are the 4 Spanish definite articles? flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? Thats why agua, a feminine noun, in singular is el agua. As established before, a Spanish noun can be classified as masculine or feminine depending on its gender. in fact it might have been a terrible idea that the roman and greek grammarians used the equivalent words for feminine and masculine in latin and greek to name two of their gramatical genders (the other one is neuter), because it has mislead and confused and prejudiced speakers of countless other languages who followed them. My family's coat of arms has a black castle on a red field. Elena tiene los ojos grises y el pelo negro. Names of companies usually are feminine, because la compaa (company) is feminine, as are sociedad annima (corporation), corporacin (corporation), and empresa (business). Here's a list of the most frequent feminine nouns with masculine articles: Spanish. Erichsen, Gerald. Exceptions: el mapa, el da, el planeta, el sof, el problema, el tema, el sistema, el idioma, el drama, etc. 2. (The colour violet is pretty. The nouns of ambiguous gender are distinguished from nouns of variable gender, whose genders vary with meaning or whether the noun refers to a male or female. Most words that end in the letter -o are masculine. What is a masculine word in Spanish? 4.9. The letters of the alphabet are feminine: la a, la be, la ce, la de, etc. Names of islands are usually feminine because la isla (island) is feminine. Since it is truly feminine, the phrase 'el agua pura ' is correct. Im going to list them one by one, and also I will teach you what the exceptions are if there are any. These key rules will make it easier for you! Months and days of the week are masculine. Copy. Colors are always masculine, even if they end with -a: el rojo, el negro, el azul, el naranja, el prpura, etc. Comida is food in spanish. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Copyright Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning All Rights Reserved. Do you want to boost your vocabulary in Spanish? Dijiste que the letters of the alphabet are masculine, pero son feminine, Muchas gracias, Ann! Spanish Nouns That Are Sometimes Masculine, Sometimes Feminine, Gender, an Inherent Characteristic of Spanish Nouns, Start Learning Spanish With Basic Lessons, 10 Things You Should Know About Gender in Spanish, Substituting El for La for Spanish Feminine Nouns, Neither Masculine nor Feminine: Using the Neuter Gender in Spanish, A Guide to Using Definite Articles in Spanish, Apocopation and the Clipping of Words in Spanish, How To Make Spanish Nouns and Adjectives Plural. Here are some of the letters that we usually see at the end of masculine words. With the exception of la plata (silver), names of the chemical elements are masculine. The answer is very simple: the noun agua is always feminine. Sometimes you cant tell if a word is masculine or feminine in Spanish only by its form. The grammatical gender is an arbitrary classification that divides nouns into two types: masculines or feminines. 2. Y con esa tarjeta roja, Snchez debe abandonar el campo. The complement to feminine is masculine. Mostcolours in Spanishare regular adjectives that agree in gender and number with the noun they accompany. Most masculine nouns end in -o, like hermano, meaning 'brother' and most feminine nouns end in -a, like hermana, meaning 'sister'. One way to remember this is that letra is feminine while nmero is masculine. But then you find out that its la foto, not el foto. A Spanish noun is a word we use to name people, things, concepts, places, and animals. More examples: rea (el rea/las reas), aula (el aula/las aulas), guila (el guila/las guilas), etc. 1.8 Gender of nouns in Spanish worksheet. Now lets see how to know if a word is masculine or feminine in Spanish when talking about people and animals. Example 1: We said all words ending in -a are feminine. Let's try to help you with some basic rules: - Most words ending in -o are masculine: el dedo (the finger), el campo (the field) - Most words ending in -a are feminine: la cara (the face), la hora . Nouns of Greek origin ending in -a, often -ma, are nearly always masculine. Words ending in -o are generally masculine, while ones ending in -a are generally feminine . There are also colours that reference a fruit (naranja)or a flower(rosa, violeta) which have just one form that ends in -a for all masculine, feminine, singular and plural, although it is also correct to use the ending -as for both masculine and feminine plurals. FRENCH Le pass compos. The L cuts that unpleasant sound: el agua. Let's look at the word persona (person) to help explain this idea. This rule is not consistently followed, however, and some well-known companies (such as Google) are referred to as either masculine or feminine. As in, the book is up high on a shelf, or the boy shouted loudly. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. Beto quit his job and moved to the countryside. Gerald Erichsen is a Spanish language expert who has created Spanish lessons for ThoughtCo since 1998. The last three of them are actually abbreviations of feminine compound words: la radiofona, la motocicleta, la fotografa. Nouns ending with -aje are usually masculine: el masaje, el garaje, el paisaje, el pasaje, el peaje, etc. ThoughtCo. El campo de golf cerca de mi casa es nuevo. (The colour yellow is perfect for the baby's room.). Feminine and masculine nouns ending in -E. Nouns ending in -e can be masculine and feminine. 1. Nouns ending with -a are usually feminine: la mesa, la cama, la casa, la palabra, etc. The general rule is that words ending with -o are masculine and words ending with -a are feminine. In those cases, if we want to specify the sex, we need to add macho (male) or hembra (female): Finally, a word can change its meaning according to its ending. You can play on Smartboards, Computers, Cellphones and Tablets. el hombre guapo, el sol amarillo). Here's what's included: SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. In some nouns masculine and feminine are not differentiated by a final vowel (desinence) or by the article that accompanies them. The same goes for nouns ending with -or: el amor, el dolor, el error, el sabor, etc. 3. casa. However, if you are wondering why we say " el agua " and not " la agua " there is a simple rule you need to keep in mind: If a feminine noun starts with a stressed "a", you need to use the masculine definite article " el ". However, there is a confusing caveat. Both signs signify for a driver to stop. b. country Pas toda su infancia en el campo.She spent her whole childhood in the country. No me di cuenta, ya lo correg , Your email address will not be published. Colours in Spanish. Words ending . Here are a few examples: yerno nuera. Voy a llevar las cabras al campo para que puedan correr un poco. Sometimes the word just breaks the rules, and we have to memorize that they are different, such as la mano (hand). The most well-known rule or guideline is that nouns ending in -o are masculine and those ending in -a are feminine, but there are numerous exceptions to this gender rule, especially for those ending in -a. Two-word nouns, which are unusual in Spanish, carry the gender of the first noun. Nouns ending in -cin, -sin, -dad, -tad and -tud are feminine: la cancin, relacin, la televisin, la expresin, la ciudad, la verdad, la libertad, la amistad, la solicitud, la juventud, etc. English. Names of rivers, oceans, and seas are always masculine: el Ro de la Plata, el Amazonas, el Misisipi, el Atlntico, el Pacfico, el Mediterrneo, etc. Category Crossword (Language IX) 4. The feminine noun begins with a or ha. Even though the brother is a man, the word persona is always feminine. Words in Spanish are masculine or feminine. Every day I post typical words and expressions from Argentina and the Hispanic world. Your email address will not be published. Masculine nouns are used with articles like el or un and have adjectives that end in -o, while female nouns use the articles la or una and have adjectives that end in -a. Learning the Spanish Feminine displayed below is vital to the language. Dont worry! We do this in order to avoid a cacophony, a mixture of unpleasant sounds to our ears. These short words keep the gender of the longer word, even if they have -ma, -pa, -ta, or LONERS at the end. And that most feminine nouns use the article "La" and most masculine nouns use "El". This product includes 24 interactive Boom Cards in Spanish about Feminine and Masculine Nouns. (piece of land) a. field We'll have to wait for the next train. You can usually tell it is a feminine because of the at the end of the word! Bundle. In Spanish, the word alto commonly serves as a descriptive word meaning "high" or "loud.". Advertisement. There are also adjectiveswherethe singular masculine form ends in-e or a consonant, and it keeps the same form in the feminine singular (verde, azul, gris, marrn) and both gender plurals end with-es (not -os/-as). This is a feminine word because it is a short form of the longer word, la motocicleta. For living things (such as people and animals), the grammatical gender is associated with the biological gender: El perro de Luis es blanc o . Why is it important to know if a noun is feminine or masculine? The general rule states that all Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine. This means that every word for a person, place, thing or idea is either masculine or feminine. Do you want to learn more Spanish? Feminine Nouns Feminine nouns have different letters at. macho hembra. Two other endings for feminine nouns are -dad / -tad, like in felicidad (happiness) and amistad (friendship). There are also adjectives where the singular masculine form ends in -e or a consonant, and it keeps the same form in the feminine singular ( verde, azul, gris, marrn) and both gender . That first a is the stressed vowel of the noun. Because the gender of the noun changes the article or adjective that you can use with the noun. Answer (1 of 2): I suspect you're asking if there's a hard-and-fast rule for knowing the gender of a noun, so you can use properly-gendered articles and adjectives. The first thing to realise is that in Spanish (and French, and German and Italian, and all the other languages which have grammatical gender), words are not "male and female" but "masculine and feminine"; grammatical gender has nothing to do with biological sex. All Spanish nouns have lexical gender, either masculine or feminine, and most nouns referring to male humans or animals are grammatically masculine, while most referring to females are feminine. Here it might help to connect it with a feminine word that is opposite, so you can remember the words in pairs. ), Yellow is perfect for the baby's room. Forms of feminine and masculine nouns. Erichsen, Gerald. As a matter of fact, about 55% of all Spanish nouns in our dictionary are masculine. Masculine or Feminine (Spanish) ending in -o ending in -ma ending in -s masculine masculine masculine 66 Terms MerilynTse Spanish masculine or feminine El amigo El banco El bao The friend The bank The bathroom 20 Terms taliahicks33 Spanish- Masculine or Feminine woman video professor la mujer el video la profesora 18 Terms swotring17 Create an account to start this course today. Generally, if the masculine form ends with an -o, to form the feminine you just need to replace it with an -a: If the masculine form ends witn a consonant, to form the feminine we just add an -a: They usually have the same form for masculine and feminine: el/la estudiante, el/la cantante, el/la agente, el/la paciente, etc. Yet if you are referring to a person or occupation this is what happens: EL espa = The spy (if the spy is a man) LA espa = The spy (if the spy is a woman. When using demonstrative pronouns (esta, esa, aquella) with these words, they stay feminine. The scenery is incredible. Comment *document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a52d0b9aa4ccfee9a0f337c057a8d401" );document.getElementById("a465f5e1c1").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The same thing occurs in Spanish. The opposite time of day, la noche (night), is feminine, so you can think of them as a pair. An exception is la flor (flower). Here there are some examples: El cuento (tale) La cuenta (account, sum). You will need to memorize rule-breaking words like la mano (hand) and el d'ia (day). They have a master's degrees in English from Southeast Missouri State University and a master's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Missouri Columbia. Exceptions to that rule are la crema and la yema, which come from French and Latin respectively. Here are some examples: Notice the structure of the Feminine in Spanish. Most of these words have English cognates. man, dog, house). 2. abuelo. The army camp was full of tents and tanks. From here, you can see the corn fields of my uncle's farm. And with that red card, Snchez must leave the pitch. Making educational experiences better for everyone. ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/noun-masculine-or-feminine-spanish-3079270. Because you are getting the gender out of Habitacin (which is femenine) not from nmero For instance using cuarto (room), which is masculine the same phrase would read mi cuarto es el nmero cinco. Although in English there is no need to think about whether a pencil is a masculine or a feminine noun, it is important in Spanish because the adjectives (i. e. pretty, ugly, small, big) and articles (the equivalents of "the" in Spanish, such as: el, la, los and las) of a sentence must match the gender and number of nouns. 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