Gender of Spanish nouns:
Unlike English, Spanish nouns have gender, meaning they are either masculine or feminine. Masculine nouns have masculine articles: el (singular) / los (plural). Feminine nouns have feminine artilcles: la (singular) / las (plural).
Por ejemplo:
el libro – the book – masculine
la mesa – the table – feminine
There are some general rules as to which nouns are masculine and which are feminine.
Masculine noun endings | Feminine noun endings | ||
-o | el libro – the book | -a | la mesa – the table |
-ma | el poema – the poem | -ad | la oportunidad – the opportunity |
all other consonants | el reloj – the clock | -ción | la nación – the nation |
all other vowels | la clase – the class | ||
Of course there are always exceptions…
- el día – the day
- el mapa – the map
Singular and plural nouns:
To make a singular noun plural, the articles and the word endings will change.
- el > los
- la > las
To make plural nouns that end in vowels, simply add -s.
- el libro > los libros – the book > the books
- la mesa > las mesas – the table > the tables
To make plural nouns that end in consonants, add -es.
- el reloj > los relojes – the clock > the clocks
- la universidad > las universidades – the university > the universities
Spelling changes – in order to maintain proper pronunciation, nouns that end in -z change to -c in the plural.
- el lápiz > los lápices
Accent change – Spanish nouns that end in consonants with a written accent mark drop the accent in the plural.
- la lección > las lecciones