A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea In Spanish, all nouns are either

masculine or feminine. Masculine Nouns Feminine Nounsel libro la puertael escritorio la camael colegio la tarea

The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. This is because in English, living creatures often have different names depending on whether they are male or female.

Masculine Feminineboy girlgrandfather grandmother

tiger tigress uncle aunt

Certain nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and feminine form in Spanish.

Masculine Feminineel gato---- male cat la gata---- female catel abuelo--- grandfather la abuela--- grandmotherel padre-- father la madre--- motherEl chico--- boy la chica--- girl

El gato El abuelo El cuaderno El libro El carro El armario

What does “el” mean?

La abuela La puerta La calculadora La ventana La tarea La chica

What does “la” mean?

Nouns that end in –o are usually masculine.

Nouns that end in –a are usually feminine.

Notice the word “usually.” There are exceptions to these two rules!

You can’t predict the gender of a noun, except in the case of living creatures.

Do not try to analyze the nature of an object to look for masculine or feminine qualities! IT WON’T WORK!

Dress is a masculine word in Spanish--- el vestido Necktie is a feminine word in Spanish---

la corbata

When you learn a new noun, you MUST memorize its definite article (el or la).

Take out your dictionary. Look up a Spanish noun that you know

for sure is masculine. Do you notice any symbols or abbreviations that tell you the noun’s gender?

Now, look up a Spanish noun that you know is feminine. Are there any symbols or abbreviations that tell you the noun’s gender?

Because you cannot predict the gender of most nouns.

Because not every noun that ends in an –o is masculine, and not every noun that ends in an –a is feminine.

Because many nouns end in letters other than –a and –o.

Because the definite article is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine.

Good question! As you will see in upcoming lessons,

Spanish grammar places a great deal of emphasis on gender.

Let’s take a look at a particular case right now where the gender of nouns effects other words in the sentence.› Libro de texto p. 58