Colours in Spanish. Talking about people, especially family members, often includes referring to gender. The general rule states that all Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine. However, there are a few masculine nouns that end in -a. Two other endings for feminine nouns are -dad / -tad, like in felicidad (happiness) and amistad (friendship). Esta camisa es negra. Let's look at the word persona (person) to help explain this idea. Most masculine nouns end in -o, like hermano, meaning 'brother' and most feminine nouns end in -a, like hermana, meaning 'sister'. As a result, depending on the noun, a number can be either feminine or masculine. As we mention in the masculine section, many words that end in-e are masculine. El telfono is masculine. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. Here are the exceptions to this rule. This semester is really tough. Join the Tell Me In Spanish community and get a copy of my step-by-step Spanish Learners Roadmaps and tricky synonyms & vocab cheat sheets. Thinking of them together might help you remember their correct gender. Our tutors at Fluenz Spanish Immersion like to explain the noun gender in this way: Think of the article almost as part of the word. Languages are masculine: el espaol, el ingls, el portugus, el mandarn, el ruso, etc. Your neighbor is very noisy. The noun is called "de gnero comn" (common gender) when with the same termination it may . We only do this when those words start with a stressed a sound. When using adjectives to describe a person, use the gender that the person identifies with. Janet Long has taught post-secondary Spanish and English for over 15 years. Spanish Language Dictations Level Beginner #001. Browse Spanish translations from Spain, Mexico, or any other Spanish-speaking country. by Mgomezhernandez. Its the persons gender that will determine whether we use el or la. The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. The same thing in the other direction the rules say it should be el, but the word is actually la. As mentioned above, this rule comes into effect with amounts superior to two hundred. Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. Read 250 words that are the same in English and Spanish and Spanish words that are similar to English words to boost your vocabulary right away! With these nouns in singular, the indefinite article (un/una) is masculine, too: un aula, un guila, etc. 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. 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. Access millions of accurate translations written by our team of experienced English-Spanish translators. When using demonstrative pronouns (esta, esa, aquella) with these words, they stay feminine. either to a group of male persons or a . What Mono means? In the tables below, youll find the most common endings for feminine words in Spanish. Learn and practice Spanish * Daily practice * Find your level (proficiency test) * Spanish for beginners * Travel Spanish, A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 Find your level. Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. Even if the nouns are in singular! Because of this, most people assume that vestido is feminine, only to find out that theyre wrong. I've still got some vacation time left before the end of the year. Here's what's included: Get conjugations, examples, and pronunciations for millions of words and phrases in Spanish and English. Spanish also has four forms of the indefinite article that correspond to the words a/an and some/any in English. nine fem--nn 1 : of the female sex 2 : characteristic of or belonging to women : womanly 3 : of, relating to, or making up the class of words that ordinarily includes most of those referring to females a feminine noun in Latin femininely adverb feminineness noun femininity fem--nin-t- noun feminine 2 of 2 noun 1 Miami Beach, FL 33139, All Rights Reserved, 2017-2023. La serpiente - the serpent. All rights reserved. La mano (hand) is feminine, but el pie (foot) is masculine. I hope you find what youre looking for here during your journey into Espaol . hand From Latin manus (" hand " ). This restaurant is pretty famous. I have two hundred pesos. Your lipstick is so pretty! Las aguas azucaradas son malas para la salud. More often than not, the endings change according to the gender of the person or animal: Sometimes only the article changes. *People, animals and occupations have their own set of rules. I like the pink dress. As established before, a Spanish noun can be classified as masculine or feminine depending on its gender. So, well cover those exceptions below, too. Words that end in -in are feminine nouns, such as religin (religion). Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). For objects and concepts, Spanish gender is, The Spanish masculine gender can be used to talk about a, Most feminine words in Spanish end with , Singular feminine words that start with a, Certain nouns related to professions have fixed endings. vacacin ( bah - kah - syohn ) feminine noun 1. The journalist works all day. Despite the many exceptions noted above, a great majority of Spanish words that end in-a are feminine. For instance, when the word for a person or occupation ends in -e. When occupations end in -a it gets messy. 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. First of all, what is a noun? Colors are always masculine, even if they end with -a: el rojo, el negro, el azul, el naranja, el prpura, etc. Other nouns that are always feminine are those words that end with -ad or -ed. This means that every time you use a noun, you must express whether its a feminine or masculine word. Very often our students at Fluenz get genders mixed Exceptions: la mano, la radio, la moto, la foto. Nouns ending in -o, an accented vowel, -or, or -aje are usually masculine. All rights reserved. All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. In plain English, this book explains the Masculine & Feminine elements of Spanish, plus the rules around Singular & Plural. Nuestro coche est sucio. There are some nouns that end in a, but they are not feminine, but masculine: And vice versa, some nouns that end in -o are feminine: When a masculine noun ends in a consonant, its feminine form ends in a (We just have to had an a after that last consonant). The adjective ending in Spanish always depends on the noun it modifies. Therefore, vestido (dress) is actually a masculine noun. The use of the masculine gender includes the feminine and is used only to facilitate the reading. Im going to list them one by one, and also I will teach you what the exceptions are if there are any. Feminine nouns have different letters at the end of them than masculine ones. 1) For example, the days (el da), months (el mes), and years (el ao) are masculine; while letters of the alphabet (la letra) and the hours (la hora) of the day are feminine. This rule is only applicable to the following numbers: Tengo doscientos pesos. For that reason, this guide covers all the information you need to understand this topic. Venir is an irregular verb in Spanish. You are too stressed out; you should go on holiday. Feminine or masculine? Equal Opportunity Employment Program The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre hires on the basis of merit and is strongly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion within its community. There are a few exceptions to this rule (for example, la mano and el mapa ). That means you have to know when to use El or La for every single noun. Soy Daniela Sanchez, Ive taught Spanish in Mexico to a wide array of foreigners. So, you would have to establish if that friend is a male or a female to determine which article to use. 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. La maestra tiene dos gatitas.The teacher has two kitties. Sofa es muy inteligente. Got all that? Our dogs are small. Miami Beach, FL 33139, 1000 5th St, suite 200 Fortunately, even the exceptions have rules. If you have the word for friend, it refers to a person correct? El patn elctrico es muy prctico. I can help you with that! Qu bonito est tu labial! The following words are feminine when plural, but when they are singular, these words are masculine: Another exception is that the el or la can change the context of the word: Online Spanish Tutors - Native Speakers. Estamos de vacaciones en la Florida ahora mismo. Unlike the masculine, theres no fun acronym for feminine nouns. We covered o above because it really requires its own section, but this is a good general rule of thumb. Distinguishing between gender is fairly straightforward - words ending in an 'a' are usually feminine, where those ending in 'e' are masculine. Although its not really incorrect to use the feminine form, its less common. This couch is very comfortable. Luca tiene cualidades muy buenas. This name is also derived from the Hebrew name Yitzhak which means ' one who rejoices.'. Most adjectives in Spanish can be either feminine or masculine depending on the genre of the accompanying noun. I hope this helps. When describing a masculine noun like "Amigo", we must use a masculine adjective as well, such as "Honesto". 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. The mechanic works every day. No me di cuenta, ya lo correg , Your email address will not be published. Discover word endings used for feminine and masculine nouns in Spanish, explore exceptions,. (Translation of vacation from the Cambridge English-Spanish Dictionary Cambridge University Press), (Translation of vacation from the GLOBAL English-Spanish Dictionary 2020 K Dictionaries Ltd), Watch your back! The user may also prefer cheaper vacations and may have desiderata or wishes such as visiting an attraction park in each stop. We say EL agua frA (The cold water). You will get new updates by email, as well as a copy of my ebook, the Definitive Guide to Learn Conjugations in Spanish. My kitty is sick. Tell Me In Spanish (tellmeinspanish.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. -Fue un lunes, -Ha sido un septiembre hmedo -Nac en el 84 -Son las cinco y cuarto -Poner los puntos sobre las es -La hache delante de la 'a' es muda The opposite time of day, la noche (night), is feminine, so you can think of them as a pair. Yet if you are referring to a person or occupation this is what happens: LA espa = The spy (if the spy is a woman. Add vacation to one of your lists below, or create a new one. Otherwise, it would sound like laaagua. Its important to know the grammatical gender of a noun in Spanish because all of the elements referring to them (articles, adjectives, pronouns) will agree in grammatical gender, too: There are some rules that you can follow when it comes to identifying masculine and feminine in Spanish. The name is thought to have acquired this meaning as communities in the time of Sarah and Abraham thought it to be hysterical that they were to have a child at such an elderly age. There are one hundred chairs available. When they describe a NOUN, they must match its GENDER (masculine/feminine). Just think of the Spanish word for problem: el problema! Be aware that these guidelines are not set in stone, and there are some exceptions that youll need to memorize. The picture identification task consisted of a booklet (which subjects read), containing a story about two characters preparing to go on, For example, the domain order for choosing the destination of a. Although words that end in -a are usually feminine, we already know that the words with -ma at the end of them are masculine. I have an extra pen. We can include el/la cineasta within this group. As you learned before, many Spanish masculine words end with -n. 08, 2020, https://lingualinkup.com/el-la-spanish/, Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. Words ending in -o are generally masculine, while ones ending in -a are generally feminine . Yes, when speaking to someone you are familiar with it is t and the verb will end with an 's' such as t quieres. . If it is a female doctor it would be: LA doctorA (we said that only those occupations ending in -e never change endings, and most ending in -a never change the ending). Los nios juegan en el parque. El periodista trabaja todo el da. Descubr lo que tu empresa podra llegar a alcanzar. As you can see, there are adjectives that follow the regular rule for endings using -o/-as/-os/-as (rojo, amarillo, negro, blanco, morado). That pattern works for things too. Beware of exceptions! Test yourself on the gender of Spanish nouns: Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take these tests. Copyright (c) Minerva Webworks LLC All Rights Reserved. Lingua Linkup, May. The 27 Letters of the Spanish Alphabet [2022], Learn Basic Spanish: The First 10 Spanish Words You Need To Learn [2022]. The song is too long. Many people learning Spanish assume that these are neutral nouns. Search millions of Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and the internet. vacation Noun 1. " El nio es bonito y gordo ". (university) (United Kingdom) a. la vacaciones (F) to take a vacation tomarse unas vacaciones intransitive verb 2. A student learns how to identify gender in Spanish. One other common word that ends in -a but that is masculine is the word el da (day). The dressing room is occupied. For living things (such as people and animals), the grammatical gender is associated with the biological gender: El perro de Luis es blanco. Below youll find a list of words and be able to find out for yourself if it is masculine (el) or feminine (la). Just because two words look alike doesnt mean they have the same definition. Common exceptions: not feminine, masculine El mapa- the map- masculine El da- the day- masculine. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. Words like el reloj (watch) have a gender, but it is not always easy to predict. A lot of irregular forms happen among farm animals, for the same reason that English has a different word for cow and bull. The gender affects their role on the farm, so having different words comes in handy.