Gender of Nouns
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Transcript of Gender of Nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea In Spanish, all nouns are either
masculine or feminine. Masculine Nouns Feminine Nounsel libro la puertael escritorio la camael colegio la tarea
The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. This is because in English, living creatures often have different names depending on whether they are male or female.
Masculine Feminineboy girlgrandfather grandmother
tiger tigress uncle aunt
Certain nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and feminine form in Spanish.
Masculine Feminineel gato---- male cat la gata---- female catel abuelo--- grandfather la abuela--- grandmotherel padre-- father la madre--- motherEl chico--- boy la chica--- girl
Nouns that end in –o are usually masculine.
Nouns that end in –a are usually feminine.
Notice the word “usually.” There are exceptions to these two rules!
You can’t predict the gender of a noun, except in the case of living creatures.
Do not try to analyze the nature of an object to look for masculine or feminine qualities! IT WON’T WORK!
Dress is a masculine word in Spanish--- el vestido Necktie is a feminine word in Spanish---
la corbata
Take out your dictionary. Look up a Spanish noun that you know
for sure is masculine. Do you notice any symbols or abbreviations that tell you the noun’s gender?
Now, look up a Spanish noun that you know is feminine. Are there any symbols or abbreviations that tell you the noun’s gender?
Because you cannot predict the gender of most nouns.
Because not every noun that ends in an –o is masculine, and not every noun that ends in an –a is feminine.
Because many nouns end in letters other than –a and –o.
Because the definite article is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine.