Although words that end in -a are usually feminine, we already know that the words with -ma at the end of them are masculine. It is basically just a sign of respect. Adjectives that end with an -e or a consonant cannot be modified to express the Spanish grammatical gender. Create an account to start this course today. To put it in simple terms, if youre working with a Spanish masculine noun, you must make sure its modifiers are also masculine. Las aguas azucaradas son malas para la salud. La camisa rosa es muy grande. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Nouns ending in o are usually masculine, and nouns ending in a are usually feminine. *People, animals and occupations have their own set of rules. Dijiste que the letters of the alphabet are masculine, pero son feminine, Muchas gracias, Ann! All rights reserved. Feminine: (a, cin, dad) La chica- the girl. tony bloom starlizard. and the Spanish Civil War failed in reality to place him in a distinctly different camp from Chamberlain and . I love smoked salmon. La casa blanca es muy bonita.The white house is very pretty. up when learning new vocab because they had learned this rule of thumb. In the tables below, youll find the most common endings for feminine words in Spanish. These adjectives are derived from the name of that place. As established before, a Spanish noun can be classified as masculine or feminine depending on its gender. To keep the sentence consistent, adjectives, articles, and pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Luca tiene cualidades muy buenas. is vacation in spanish masculine or feminine. Mis perros son muy tranquilos. As a result, depending on the noun, a number can be either feminine or masculine. Most Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the accompanying noun. Her bedroom is purple. In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or 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. La juez es muy puntual. Copyright 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited. From students and tourists to doctors and soldiers whove moved and visited here over the years. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors. Como La Flor, by Selena. For these nouns, all you have to do is change the definite article to reflect whether the person in question is male or female. hand From Latin manus (" hand " ). Do you have any QUESTION or comment about Spanish language? For those interested in a little history, masculine Spanish nouns that end in-ta,-pa and-ma tend to come from Greek originally. For those who are serious about their Spanish, there is nothing like the entire Fluenz journey including our digital App, the face-to-face Online Immersion, and the six-day experiences in Mexico City, Barcelona, or Oaxaca. A lot of them are identical or almost identical to words you already know in English! However, in certain situations, changing the gender of a noun can also change its meaning, as you can see in the graphic and examples below: Mi mam tiene un cerezo. Feminine forms. But as you already know, there is no such thing as neutral nouns in Spanish. Test yourself on the gender of Spanish nouns: Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take these tests. The Verb To Need: Sometimes you Really Need it. Feminine nouns that end in -o * These words are shortened from words that do end in A: discoteca, fotografa, motocicleta, pornografa, and radiodifusin. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". Spanish gender is a complex topic. Spanish Nouns That Can Be Both Masculine And Feminine While most nouns refer to objects and concepts that don't have gender, there are also the nouns that do. Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. Me urge una vacacin! Why? To do so, youll use Spanish articles, adjectives, or pronouns. While most nouns that end with a particular consonant or vowel are generally classified as either masculine or feminine, nouns that end with z do not follow a guideline. Youre more likely to hearel gato when someone is talking about a generic cat, for example. The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. Lucia has very nice qualities. 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. Descubr lo que tu empresa podra llegar a alcanzar. Soy Daniela Sanchez, Ive taught Spanish in Mexico to a wide array of foreigners. Yet it behaves like a feminine noun. Be careful since you may fall into a trap of gender thinking. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. When working as adjectives, numbers have to agree in gender and number with the noun they are modifying. In Spanish, all nouns have a gender. Your email address will not be published. One of the first things that Spanish students learn is that most Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine and most that end in -a are feminine. This attribute allows us to classify words as either masculine or feminine. La maestra tiene dos gatitas.The teacher has two kitties. Un - unos. Uruguay is very pretty. Just think of the Spanish word for problem: el problema! Ests muy estresado; necesitas irte de vacaciones. I am going to travel to Mexico during summer vacation. On your particular example of a dropdown menu with the names of languages, you don't have to worry because there is only one name for (the language) Spanish: espaol, masculine. Yet if you are referring to a person or occupation this is what happens: LA espa = The spy (if the spy is a woman. Most Spanish masculine nouns end in "o". In English, you use a form of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) You will need to memorize rule-breaking words like la mano (hand) and el d'ia (day). Cuntas clases faltan para las vacaciones? This can be very confusing. The use of the masculine gender includes the feminine and is used only to facilitate the reading. In Spanish, the masculine form of these animals almost always takes precedence. Voy a viajar a Mxico durante las vacaciones de verano. In fact, a few masculine words also end with this vowel. Example 1: We said all words ending in -a are feminine. La botella de Suzy est vaca. 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. As a romance language, Spanish has grammatical gender whose purpose is to express whether a noun is masculine or feminine. Follow this link if you want to know WHY nouns have a gender in Spanish. 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! When describing a masculine noun like "Amigo", we must use a masculine adjective as well, such as "Honesto". Cardinal directions are masculine, too: el norte, el sur, el este, el oeste. Uruguay es muy bonito. These short words keep the gender of the longer word, even if they have -ma, -pa, -ta, or LONERS at the end. Theres a cold front in the city. * This is the only word ending in -ua that takes a masculine article. (Administration) vacancy vacances plural feminine noun holidays pluriel (Brit) holiday (Brit) vacation (USA) les grandes vacances the summer holidays (Brit) the summer vacation (USA) prendre des vacances to take a holiday (Brit) to take a vacation (USA) prendre ses vacances to take one's holidays (Brit) to take one's vacation (USA) -Tud, like in the word actitud (attitude) is also a common ending for feminine nouns. And with -(a)tra, especially in the medical field: el/la foniatra, el/la pediatra, el/la obstetra. Here are the exceptions to this rule. noun uk / veke.n/ us / veke.n/ A1 [ C or U ] US (UK holiday) a time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want, such as travel or relax vacaciones We're taking a vacation in June. La torre - the tower. Quiero un rojo ms intenso. Little by little, and loads of practice is the best remedy. See answer (1) Copy. First of all, what is a noun? Can vacaciones be singular? The word for 'the' or 'a' changes depending on the gender of the noun and whether it is singular or plural. 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. In many cases, the worst that can happen to you is that your Spanish will not sound very good: La problema es que no tengo tiempo. Janet Long has taught post-secondary Spanish and English for over 15 years. This allows us to ease the pronunciation! As youll see in a moment, most words that end in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions. El plato es blanco con rayas azules. Pink is my favorite color. Este semestre est bien pesado. And to improve your Spanish even further, book a lesson with me! If the occupation ends in -a it tends not to change. You may have come across this strange exception before where the masculine article el is used for a feminine word. Mi primo tambin es inteligente. Spanish gender can be a challenging topic for many new and advanced learners. More examples: rea (el rea/las reas), aula (el aula/las aulas), guila (el guila/las guilas), etc. Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). by Kcastonguay. If you liked this post, you can share it with someone else who might find it helpful! Yes, when speaking to someone you are familiar with it is t and the verb will end with an 's' such as t quieres. Thinking of them together might help you remember their correct gender. He studied English literature and linguistics at New York University, but spent most of his time in college working for the student paper. So, well cover those exceptions below, too. Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. The Spanish letters "a" and "o" as the final letter of a word designate a feminine or masculine word; "a" is feminine and "o" is masculine. Most masculine nouns end in -o, like hermano, meaning 'brother' and most feminine nouns end in -a, like hermana, meaning 'sister'. The grammatical gender is an arbitrary classification that divides nouns into two types: masculines or feminines. The song is too long. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and getting angry about things on. Maybe you could make up your own! Talking about people, especially family members, often includes referring to gender. You can use the word that best fits a noun to determine if it's masculine or feminine. With these types of nouns, you still have to mark the gender. ). Here we will explain the rules, and then the 3 categories of exceptions: Below are a number of words you would think should be la according to the rules above, but they are el, as they are exceptions to the el/la rules. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. The Ultimate Tip-Sheet to Articles in Spanish: El vs La, Un vs Una [2022], Puzzle Solved: Why nouns in Spanish are feminine and masculine [2022]. Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below - Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). Copyright Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning. The letters of the alphabet are feminine: la a, la be, la ce, la de, etc. Other nouns that are always feminine are those words that end with -ad or -ed. This discussion is especially alive with occupations. How do numbers and gender affect adjectives in Spanish? Exceptions to that rule are la crema and la yema, which come from French and Latin respectively. The general rule is that words ending with -o are masculine and words ending with -a are feminine. " El nio es bonito y gordo ". It's a good place to start for beginners though! Esa cantante es muy talentosa. link to Venir Conjugation 101: Conjugate Venir In Spanish, link to Probar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Probar in Spanish. The waitress doesnt work on Thursday. Why? The masculine form is the one that appears on a dictionary. It's time to Get to Grips with Spanish. Normalmente, voy de vacaciones en diciembre. Te lo has pasado bien en las vacaciones? The grammatical gender is an arbitrary classification that divides nouns into two types: masculines or feminines. Access millions of accurate translations written by our team of experienced English-Spanish translators. The kids play in the park. Because of this, most people assume that vestido is feminine, only to find out that theyre wrong. Tu casa es grande y bonita. NEWMAGICFOR THE NEWAGE Daring to challenge old stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding magical practice, New Millenni. Ese color es bonito. Your lipstick is so pretty! "Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions." When it comes to the world of animals, things can get even more complicated. La pared est recin pintada. endings to determine the gender of a word in Spanish. The Masculine and feminine 2 Whack-a-mole. Qu bonito est tu labial! When talking about people, animals and occupations things get a bit blurry. Despite the many exceptions noted above, a great majority of Spanish words that end in-a are feminine. Here is a quick overview of the topics well cover: By the end of this article, youll have a more solid understanding of how Spanish gender works. Esos cantantes son espaoles. The endings are not so obvious. But fortunately, Spanish grammatical gender does have some rules you can follow to figure out when you needel and when you needla. El DIA = THE DAY The journalist works all day. These apples are very sour. (general) a. pasar las vacaciones (United States) 3. In addition to these anomalies, there are other Spanish gender exceptions that you must keep in mind. My cousin is also smart. All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. La disco is short for la discoteca, andla foto is short forla fotografa. Even though these endings can generally help you with the gender of a noun, there are some words that do not follow these rules. Therefore, its correct to say: Tengo cien pesos. Get to Grips with Spanish: Spanish Grammar for Beginners: Masculine & Feminine, Singular & Plural (English Edition) eBook : Helliwell, Julie: Amazon.nl: Boeken A common mistake made by Spanish learners is to confuse the number one, uno, with un, which means a/an. Take Note: Do not get mixed up! Sofa es muy inteligente. Its Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. But for example to most of us the word mdicAsounds wrong- we wouldnt use it. 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. Two other endings for feminine nouns are -dad / -tad, like in felicidad (happiness) and amistad (friendship). While most nouns refer to objects and concepts that dont have gender, there are also the nouns that do. We only say "el agua" only because it's smoother to pronounce than "la aqua." Period. Sometimes, all we need is a quick and simple explanation to remove the obstacles, bringing the goal of being fluent in Spanish within grasping distance. Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. And it sounds quite logical if nouns refer to living creatures: Masculine: El hombre (The man) Feminine: La mujer (The woman) Masculine: Un caballo (A horse) Feminine: Una yegua (A mare) But what about nouns that stand for non-living things? With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". As you might have guessed, all of the tricks were going to cover use word 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. As you learned before, many Spanish masculine words end with -n. Learn and practice Spanish * Daily practice * Find your level (proficiency test) * Spanish for beginners * Travel Spanish, A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1 Find your level. This t-shirt is black. You are too stressed out; you should go on holiday. One mnemonic device for learning masculine endings is LONERS. El maquillaje de Claudia es muy bueno. Nouns in Spanish can be either feminine or masculine, and this distinction can often seem illogical to people who don't speak Spanish. The idea here is that words that end in any of the letters L-O-N-E-R-S tend to be masculine. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". Well start with the most obvious, which is that most words that end in o are going to be masculine. So how come it's "el problema" and not "la problema" since "el" should always modify a masculine noun and "la" a feminine noun. Forms of feminine and masculine nouns. El nino y el gato. Esta camisa es negra. What does the root Manus mean? Memorizing just the exceptions will be a lot easier than memorizing every single word in the Spanish language. Nouns ending with -dez and -umbre are usually feminine, too: la solidez, la desnudez, la costumbre, la incertidumbre, etc. Objectos de clase (masculine - feminine ) Group sort. You will get new updates by email, as well as a copy of my ebook, the Definitive Guide to Learn Conjugations in Spanish. Venir is an irregular verb in Spanish. (= Is the water cold or lukewarm?). For English speakers, it is hard to determine when a noun is feminine or masculine simply because nouns in English have no gender. I hope this helps. Most Spanish nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most ending in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions. We can check this by going to the plural and to its modifiers: The waters = las aguas" The water is cold = "El agua est fria." In Spanish if there is a group of people, both males and females, you use the masculine to address them all, so masculine will work in most cases. But really, the LONERS rule will work for you almost every time. Nuestros perros son pequeos. When you are starting out in Spanish knowing the gender of nouns is very difficult. Sugared water is bad for your health. Whether its a good idea to split the world into two genders is a subject for a different article, but for now well go through the various kinds of nouns that switch genders. In the sections below, youll find tables with the most common endings for masculine words in Spanish. Los peces son muy bonitos. 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). El toro es muy agresivo y la vaca muy tranquila. Browse Spanish translations from Spain, Mexico, or any other Spanish-speaking country. Learn about masculine and feminine nouns in Spanish. Add vacation to one of your lists below, or create a new one. Colors are always masculine, even if they end with -a: el rojo, el negro, el azul, el naranja, el prpura, etc. Then its time to test yourself with a quick quiz we put together. I have two hundred pesos. Instead of learning: libro = book, try committing to memory: EL libro = The book. Another example of this is la radio, which is a shorter form of the word radiodifusin. "Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions." L'immigration est + masculine que fminine : INFO ou INFOX ? They went to Europe on vacation. During the day Im a freelancer and online marketer, while at night Im here writing for students of the world wide web looking to learn Spanish. Be aware that these guidelines are not set in stone, and there are some exceptions that youll need to memorize. Well break it down into three basic groups. Boroditsky proposes that because the word for "bridge" in German die brucke is a feminine noun, and the word for "bridge" in Spanish el puente is a masculine noun, native speakers. SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. While some exceptions (like la mano) are just exceptions, many words that seemingly end in -o are actually shortenings of other words. Words ending simply in -inare often masculine, as in: el camin, el avin, etc., so bear that in mind! During the day Im a freelancer and marketer, while at night Im here writing for students of the world wide web looking to learn Spanish. Grammatical gender is a property of Spanish nouns. The ending -a is a good indicator that youre most likely dealing with a feminine Spanish word. My dogs are very quiet. When using demonstrative pronouns (esta, esa, aquella) with these words, they stay feminine. Because of this, he has really hard opinions about AP Style. Remember that nouns that end with z do not follow a default gender guideline. The truth can be painful. For example, we usually say la moto for motorcycle, which ends in an -o. You will notice that when adjectives modify such words, they are feminine: El agua est fra o tibia? If a word ends with these three letters, you can be almost certain its a feminine noun. One ending with a final -a, -ista, can be used on words for male or female people, and is both masculine and feminine. Some of the exceptions occur because of how the words were treated in other languages, such as Latin and Greek. After all, how can you know if problema and mano are feminine or masculine? But that has changed with time, and thus we end up with rules that are blurry which do not help when those starting to learn Spanish. Now lets see how to know if a word is masculine or feminine in Spanish when talking about people and animals. But it is something that even advanced students mix up once in a while. Everything weve ever written about Spanish, all in one place. We know, we know, the exceptions are very frustrating. Many people learning Spanish assume that these are neutral nouns. This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. While this is actually true for a lot of words, there are so many exceptions to this rule that it often becomes more of a problem than a solution. Our dogs are small. Spanish Survival Kit: Asking for Directions [2022]. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. Spanish Language Dictations Level Beginner #001. 1. La comida estuvo muy rica. They wish that they were in love now. Words ending in -ed (if the stress falls on this syllable). All of these expressions, as well as a number of others, have one thing in common. Nouns with other endings, such as other consonants, usually need to be memorized. 4. If you dont have one, sign up its free! and an adjective (hungry, thirsty,. There is not a single pattern, as you can see from the following examples. Miami Beach, FL 33139, All Rights Reserved, 2017-2023. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. La foto, can actually shed some light into one of the rules for feminine words. Your neighbor is very noisy. For instance, a table (la mesa) is feminine, while a desk (el escritorio) is masculine. Common exceptions: not feminine, masculine El mapa- the map- masculine El da- the day- masculine. thelanguagetutors Follow Advertisement Recommended Spanish Lesson - Lesson 3: Definite and Indefinite articles Swagatam Mitra 3.5k views 9 slides Probar is an O to UE stem-changing verb. These are some of the nouns whose endings cannot change. My mom has a cherry tree. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol). A few of the most common ones are: Any words that are actually a shorter form of a longer word. I need a vacation from my family after the reunion. In plain English, this book explains the Masculine & Feminine elements of Spanish, plus the rules around Singular & Plural. El telfono is masculine. One of the biggest exceptions to the LONERS rule we talked about for masculine nouns above is-in. However, with some specific nouns (especially when we talk about professions) we do replace the -e with an -a, and both forms are correct: El presidente -> La presidente / La presidenta. Reading comprehension. The two most basic rules about gender are based on the last letter of the noun: A word that ends in -o is masculine, and a word that ends in -a is feminine. Here are some key points that you should keep in mind about masculine and feminine words in Spanish: Hola! These nouns are: Mi caballo es negro y mi yegua parda. 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. And of course, they are all derived from the isms of the previous rule. This means that most Spanish adjectives will change their gender to match the noun. Words like el reloj (watch) have a gender, but it is not always easy to predict. However, the gender in Spanish language can be really tricky sometimes. Some examples are hijo (son), zapato (shoe) and mono (monkey). Get a Step-by-Step Map to Learning Spanish. La quiete - the quiet. Recuerdas aquella vez que estuvimos de vacaciones en Vermont? Lesson outline 1. The following Spanish nouns all denote living creatures. Because the gender of the noun changes the article or adjective that you can use with the noun. List of colors in Spanish 1. Take Note: The gender of a noun in Spanish affects determiners, adjectives, and some pronouns. FR8 En Ville - Location Sort - Masculine/Feminine Group sort. Hay cien sillas disponibles. Tom la decisin equivocada. If you know your endings and what gender they fall into, the onlyexception to keep in mind is when the word refers to a person, an animal or an occupation because the person or animal will determine the gender of the word. Su mano es muy pequeo.His hand is very small. Exceptions: la mano, la radio, la moto, la foto. Lingua Linkup, May. 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. *Note: la moto and la foto are a shortened version of the feminine words motocicleta and fotografa. In Spanish, some nouns use different words for the masculine and feminine forms. The bull is very aggressive, and the cow is very calm. For these types of cases, there are certain guidelines that can give you a better idea of how Spanish gender is formed. boeing 767 patriot express. Words that end in -in are feminine nouns, such as religin (religion). las vacaciones de Navidad, las vacaciones de Pascua, las vacaciones de verano. I can help you with that! The name Isaac means 'he will laugh.'. It is usually at the end of words that describe people, like artista (artist) and realista (realist). Sus zapatos son muy caros. Also see my lesson on the stressed A, which causes feminine nouns to take the masculine article. These key rules will make it easier for you! either to a group of male persons or a . Time to dive into a topic that combines grammar and etiquette. This site also participates in other affiliate programs, including CJ and other sites, and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies, but in no way increases the cost to you if you opt to make a purchase from my links. La sangre - the blood. Create your account. There is one other ending that ends in -a, -ista, that is actually both feminine and masculine. Since it can be challenging to conjugate, well Probar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Probar in Spanish. In these cases, we use. Sometimes the word just breaks the rules, and we have to memorize that they are different, such as la mano (hand). To know if a noun is masculine or feminine, you should look to see what letter(s) the word ends with. trabajador m (plural trabajadores, feminine trabajadora, feminine plural trabajadoras) worker Synonyms: currante, obrero, trabajante; Derived terms places and ideas. Because aguas is plural in the second example, the s on the end of the article las breaks up the stressed a in aguas. Not bad, huh? Names of lakes, oceans, seas, and rivers. In Spanish nationalities are expressed through origin adjectives (known as gentilicios in Spanish). Learn more in the Cambridge English-French Dictionary. Those singers are Spanish. However your friend is a hypochondriac and you need to assure him/her everything is going to be fine. Because all the nouns that end with -in are feminine words in Spanish. (m) means that a noun is masculine. Luis dog is white. Tengo una pluma extra. Here are some of the letters that we usually see at the end of masculine words. Here are the exceptions to this rule. Este restaurante es muy famoso.