Noun grammar
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the article (el or la) must match. Gender cannot always be predicted, but the ending of a word is a reliable first clue. Noun grammar (in the Theory section of the hub) sets out the rules, then the exceptions. It also shows how to form the plural.
How the screen works. Each section is a card that opens and closes when you tap its heading. The first card is open when you arrive. Expand all opens every card at once. The cards are labelled with their level, and Look up finds them too. Inside the cards on endings, tap a rule to show its examples. The examples come from the app's noun catalogue, most common first, with their translations. Only single-word nouns that take an article are used as examples. A rule shows six; when it has more, a line under them says how many — "42 more in Reference" — and opens every noun the rule covers as a list.
The cards, in order
- Usually masculine — ends in -o (el libro); ends in -or, -ón, -és (el color, el avión); ends in -ma of Greek origin (el problema, el tema, el sistema).
- Usually feminine — ends in -a (la casa); ends in -ción / -sión (la canción, la decisión); ends in -dad / -tad / -tud (la ciudad, la libertad, la juventud); ends in -umbre (la costumbre).
- Standard pairs — a masculine and a feminine that are two forms of the same noun, usually differing in the final vowel: el tÃo · la tÃa.
- Forming plurals — a table of the plural rules: -s after a vowel, -es after a consonant, -z → -ces. After a stressed vowel + -n or -s, the plural adds -es and the accent drops (la canción, las canciones). Words in -en gain an accent (el joven, los jóvenes). After an unstressed vowel + -s, nothing changes (el lunes, los lunes). The article goes plural too: el → los, la → las, el agua → las aguas. See Plural formation.
- Watch out — common exceptions — -o nouns that are feminine (la mano, la foto, la radio) and -a nouns that are masculine (el dÃa, el mapa, and the Greek -ma nouns such as el problema, el programa, el clima).
- Special case: el with feminine nouns — feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a- or ha- take el in the singular to avoid the clash of sounds with la: el agua → las aguas, el arma → las armas, el hacha → las hachas, el alma → las almas. They are still feminine, so adjectives agree in the feminine (el agua frÃa).
- Look-alike pairs — these are not gender pairs. They are two separate words that happen to differ only in the final vowel: el puerto (port) and la puerta (door). The -a word is not the feminine of the -o word.
- Different meaning by article — one word, two meanings, and only the article tells them apart (el capital / la capital). See Nouns whose meaning changes with the article.
- Same word, different article — nouns with one form for both genders and the same meaning, most often those ending in -ista or -nte: el / la artista, el / la estudiante.
- One article for both sexes — nouns for people with one fixed gender, whoever they refer to: la persona, la vÃctima, el personaje. A table shows each with a man and a woman, and the adjective follows the noun: Juan es una persona simpática. See One article for both sexes.
When the rule isn't enough. For nouns where the ending does not decide the gender — mainly nouns ending in -e or in a consonant (el coche, la calle, el árbol, la flor) — you have to learn the article with the word. Noun meaning always shows a noun with its article, so the gender is part of what you learn from the start.