1

Lesson 2 – Nouns, Articles, Gender and Number

Mi nombre es _______________ Hoy es ______________________________________

The Plural Form of Nouns

1. If a noun ends with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), make it plural by adding –s.

a. Plato (singular) = _______________ (plural)

b. Cama (sg) = _______________ (pl)

c. Baño (sg) = _______________ (pl)

2. If a noun ends with a consonant, make it plural by adding –es.

a. Reloj (sg) = __________________ (pl)

b. Pared (sg) = __________________ (pl)

c. Papel (sg) = __________________ (pl)

3. If a noun ends with –ión, add –es and drop the written accent.

a. Institución (sg) = __________________ (pl)

b. Sección (sg) = __________________ (pl)

c. Avión (sg) = __________________ (pl)

4. If a noun ends with –z, add –es and change the z to c.

a. Lápiz (sg) = _______________ (pl)

b. Voz (sg) = _______________ (pl)

c. Actriz (sg) = _______________ (pl)

NOUN, n: the name of things, places or people.

– Apple, chair, jeans, Kuala Lumpur, etc.

GENDER: feminine, f or masculine, m. ARTICLE: the qualifier of the noun.

– The, a, an. NUMBER: singular, sg or plural, pl.

– apple - apples

When there is an accent on the last syllable of the word in singular form, it will disappear in the plural form. For example:

común (sg) – comunes (pl) ratón (sg) – ratones (pl)

2

Activity: Pluralise the nouns below using the rules above.

1. Guitarra

2. Tarde

3. Hermano

4. Arroz

5. Conclusión

6. Pingüino

7. Zapato

8. Azul

9. Televisión

10. Pregunta

11. Refresco

12. Altavoz

13. Nariz

14. Ilustración

15. Queso

16. Actividad

17. Ojo

18. Goma

19. Bicicleta

20. Ordenador

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

- __________________________________

3

The Articles – Los Artículos

Each noun has an article which agrees with the gender of the object. The Definite Articles – Los Artículos Definidos (El/La/Los/Las)

The DEFINITE ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO DEFINIDO is the Spanish form of ‘THE’, which is used to refer to a

specific object.

singular plural

Masculino el los

Feminino la las

For example: (a) Book –libro. It is an object which is masculine.

Therefore, its article will be the masculine ‘el’. The book = El libro (sg.) The books = Los libros (pl.)

(b) Ruler –regla. It is a feminine object.

Therefore, the article will also be feminine. The ruler = La regla (sg.) The rulers = Las reglas (pl.)

The Indefinite Articles – Los Artículos Indefinidos (Un/Una/Unos/Unas) The INDEFINITE ARTICLE/ARTÍCULO INDEFINIDO is the Spanish form of ‘A’ or ‘AN’, which is used to refer to a non-specific object, i.e. a general object.

singular plural

Masculino un unos

Feminino una unas

For example: (a) Book –libro (m)

A book = Un libro (sg.) Some books = Unos libros (pl.)

(b) Ruler –regla (f)

A ruler = Una regla (sg.) Some rulers = Unas reglas (pl.)

4

The Gender of Nouns Nouns (people, places, things) in the Spanish language have a grammatical gender. It is only a convention. The gender of a noun NEVER CHANGES. There are 2 genders in Spanish – the masculine (masculino) and the feminine (femenino). Masculine Nouns

1. Those that end with –o.

- El queso, el pingüino, el zapato, el libro

2. Remember N O R S E L. Generally nouns that end with these letters are masculine.

- El ordenador, el puente, el papel, el cinturón

3. All the days of the week are masculine.

- El lunes, el martes, el miércoles, el jueves, el viernes, el sábado, el domingo

4. Nouns that end in –ma, pa or –ta and is of Greek origin generally are masculine.

- El clima, el idioma, el problema, el planeta, el mapa

Feminine Nouns

1. Those that end with –a.

- La guitarra, la pregunta, la goma, la bicicleta, etc.

- Exception: el día

2. Those that end with –ión, -dad, -tad, -is, -ie and –umbre.

- La conclusión, la actividad, la dificultad, la crisis, la serie, la costumbre

- Exception: el avión, el análisis, el pie

3. There are words which seem to be exceptions, but really are words which have been cut short.

La disco – la discoteca La moto – la motocicleta

La foto – la fotografía La radio – la radiodifusión

BUT! A true exception is:

La mano – las manos

5

4. Nouns that begin with an emphasised a- or ha- require the ‘el’ to maintain the sound balance of

the word. However, they maintain the feminine gender of the words.

In plural form, the feminine plural article, ‘las’ is used.

El agua clara – las aguas claras

El hacha fina – las hachas finas

Activity – Write the article for each noun below in singular (el, la) and plural (los, las) form.

Singular Form Plural Form

La manzana Las Manzanas

________ almohada ________ __________________________

________ teléfono ________ __________________________

________ dedo ________ __________________________

________ universidad ________ __________________________

________ tenedor ________ __________________________

________ ratón ________ __________________________

________ camiseta ________ __________________________

________ sábana ________ __________________________

________ día ________ __________________________

________ mes ________ __________________________

6

When we talk about nouns that refer to people, the noun ending changes according to the gender of the person.

Masculino Femenino el niño little boy la niña little girl el chico boy la chica girl el amigo friend (male) la amiga friend (female) el hijo son la hija daughter el mexicano Mexican man la mexicana Mexican woman

The same occurs when we talk about occupations. However, those that end with –ta or –ista remain the same for both genders.

El maestro

____ enfermero

La maestra ____ _____________

____ científico

____ bombero

____ _____________ ____ _____________

____ taxista

____ dentista

____ _____________ ____ _____________

Sometimes, there is a different word for the masculine noun and the feminine one.

For example:

el hombre – la mujer man – woman

el toro – la vaca bull – cow

el caballo – la yegua

stallion – mare el gallo – la gallina

rooster – hen