GÉNERO Y NÚMERO

repaso

GÉNERO

Spanish nouns have gender and number (singular and plural).

Some Spanish nouns end in “o”, which typically means the word

is masculine; or “a”, which typically means the word is feminine.

THERE IS AN EXCEPTION: words that end in “ma” are usually

masculine. E.g. el tema, el idioma, el programa, el problema

Some nouns end in letters other than “o” or “a”. You just have to

memorize the gender of these nouns.

GÉNERO

Masculine nouns need masculine adjectives.• El coche negro• Un hombre gordo

Feminine nouns need feminine adjectives.• La mujer bonita• Una mirada fría

NÚMEROWhen a noun is plural, all of the adjectives that

modify it have to be plural as well.

If the noun and its adjectives are masculine and end

in “o”, you add “s” to the end: los escritorios negros

If the noun and its adjectives are feminine and end in

“a”, you add “s” to the end: unas mesas antiguas

The same thing goes for any noun or adjective ending

in an unstressed vowel: los nombres grandesLa salsa

picante-> las salsas picantes

Un tema interesante->unos temas interesantes

NÚMERO

If a noun or adjective ends in a consonant, add “es”

to make it plural.

E.g. la flor azul -> las flores azules

Un programa formal-> unos programas formales

NÚMERO

When a Spanish adjective describes

two nouns, one feminine and one

masculine, the masculine plural form is

used.

La casa y el coche son rojos. The

house and the car are red.

WWW.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

EXCEPTION: nationality

adjectives.

E.g. inglés->ingleses

inglesa->inglesas

GÉNERO, NÚMERO

Remember that we show gender and number in

our article adjectives as well.

The- masculine, singular- “el”

The- masculine, plural- “los”

The- feminine, singular- “la”

The-feminine, plural- “las”

GÉNERO, NÚMERO

A- masculine, singular- “un” (this is also what we

use when we put the number “one” in front of a

noun).

A- masculine, plural- “unos”

A- feminine, singular- “una”

A-feminine, plural- “unas”

GÉNERO, NÚMERO

Another set of adjectives that are important to know:

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES:

Can touch:

This- este, esta, esto These-estos, estas,

Can’t touch:

That-ese, esa, eso Those-esos, esas

Waaaaayyyy far away:

That-aquél, aquella Those- aquellos, aquellas

GÉNERO, NÚMERO

Be careful! Many people make the mistake of using too

many modifiers before the noun.

E.g. Mi la casa

Su el carro

Another common mistake: showing possession in front of

the noun…NO! NO!

Mi abuela’s casa-DUMB

La casa de mi abuela-SMART!

WHERE DO THE ADJECTIVES GO?

Spanish adjectives normally follow the noun they are

describing:

La manzana verde the green apple

un libro dificíl a difficult book

However, Spanish adjectives can sometimes be used before a

noun, when they describe something intrinsic or given.

la blanca nieve the white snow

el primer hijo the first son/child

WHERE DO THE ADJECTIVES GO?

Be aware of the following anomalies when Spanish

adjectives are placed before the noun:

Some male singular adjectives drop the final –o:

Bueno->buen

Malo->mal

Uno-> un

Primero->primer

Tercero->tercer

WHERE DO THE ADJECTIVES GO?

Some Spanish adjectives drop the –o and add an accent:

alguno some, any - algún dinero some money

ninguno no, none - ningún dinero no money

ciento 100 drops the –o before masculine or feminine plural

nouns:

cien años 100 years

grande changes to gran before either a feminine or masculine

noun.

el gran opera the great opera

la gran mujer the great woman

AND BE CAREFUL! SOME ADJECTIVES CHANGE MEANING

DEPENDING ON WHERE THEY ARE PLACED:

http://www.learn-spanish-help.com/spanish-adjectives.html

LET’S PRACTICE

These blue eyes

A funny person

My crazy hair

The lucky dog

Some strange things

Another (nuevo) rainy day

LET’S PRACTICE

That (way over there) green frog (rana, sapo)

Her beloved (caro) boyfriend

Those poor, unfortunate souls (almas)

A pure pain

The only child

Some old friends of mine