2.2.0: Gramática
In the Módulo introductorio , we saw that we use nouns ( los sustantivos ) to talk about people, animals, places, things, and ideas, and we learned that los sustantivos have gender ( género--femenino o masculino ). Of course, this does not mean that Spanish speakers believe that all things have gender. In Spanish, gender is a grammatical feature. Sometimes, the ending in a noun can tell you if it has feminine or masculine gender. For example, most nouns ending in -a are feminine, and most nouns ending in -o are masculine. When a noun is accompanied by an indefinite article ( un o una ) or by a definite article ( el o la ), the article will match the gender of the noun. Have a look at these examples.
|
Masculine Nouns |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Definite Articles |
el niño el escritorio |
the boy the desk |
|
Indefinite Articles |
un niño un escritorio |
a (one) boy a (one) desk |
Most nouns ending in -o are masculine.
|
Feminine Nouns |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Definite Articles |
la niña la puerta |
the girl the door |
|
Indefinite Articles |
una niña una puerta |
a (one) girl a (one) door |
Most nouns ending in -a are feminine.
Unfortunately, with some endings, it is difficult to determine gender (e.g., those that end in a consonant, such as lápiz , which is masculine, or in other vowels, such as clase , which is feminine).
We recommend that when you learn a new word, you also learn the definite article that accompanies it. That way, you will remember the gender of the noun, and it will also be easy to figure out what the indefinite articles is when you need it.
Let's take a closer look at the two types of articles in Spanish:
|
Definite Articles |
Indefinite Articles |
|---|---|
· el - el profesor (Masculine & Singular) · los - los profesores (Masculine & Plural) · la - la profesora (Feminine & Singular) · las - las profesoras (Feminine & Plural) |
· un – un libro (Masculine & Singular) · unos – unos libros (Masculine & Plural) · una – una pluma (Feminine & Singular) · unas – unas plumas (Feminine & Plural) |
When a noun is accompanied by an indefinite article ( un o una ) or by a definite article ( el o la ), the article will match the noun in number and gender.
- el cuaderno / un cuaderno
- la mochila / una mochila