Study Spanish - Nouns and Gender

Nouns and Gender

Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a.

el profesor
la profesora

el doctor
la doctora

el señor
la señora

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Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la).

el estudiante
la estudiante

el pianista
la pianista

el artista
la artista

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Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.

la televisión
la decisión
la conversación
la habitación
la ciudad
la universidad
la dificultad
la libertad
la actitud
la gratitud
la certidumbre
la muchedumbre

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Some nouns that end in -a are masculine.

el problema
el telegrama
el programa
el mapa
el sistema
el poema
el día
el tema
el clima
el idioma
el sofá
el planeta

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Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine. Notice that eight of the twelve nouns listed above end in -ma.

el telegrama
el programa
el problema
el sistema
el poema
el idioma
el clima
el tema
Note: A few nouns that end in -ma are feminine, such as la cama and la pluma.

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Four of the nouns that end in -a are simply exceptions and must be memorized.

el día
el mapa
el planeta
el sofá

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A few nouns that end in -o are feminine.

la mano
la radio

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Review of the rules learned

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Many nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and a feminine form.

Most nouns that end in -o are masculine.

Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.

Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a.

Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la).

Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.

Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine.

A few nouns that end in -o are feminine

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You now know most of the rules for determining the gender of a noun. There are just a few more things to know, but they won't be covered until later. Remember, whenever you learn a new noun, learn it complete with its definite article (el, la). Definite articles are the subject of an upcoming lesson.