Dic_06

I. THE NOUN The gender of nouns 1. Spanish nouns may be masculine or feminine. Those denoting men or male animals or occupations are masculine and take the article el : el albañil (the bricklayer). Those that designate women or female animals or occupations are feminine and take the article la : la madre (the mother). 2. In general, nouns ending in n , o , r , e or l are masculine: el balón (the ball); el perro (the dog); el temor (the fear); el puente (the bridge). However, there are some exceptions: la fuente (the source); la imagen (the image); la clase (the class). 3. Nouns ending in ma , pa or ta that have a Greek origin are generally masculine: el clima (the weather); el mapa (the map); el planeta (the planet). Some exceptions are: la cima (the peak); la trama (the plot). 4. All days of the week are masculine: el lunes (Monday); el domingo (Sunday). 5. Compound nouns are usually masculine. In addition, their plural form does not change: el paracaídas , los paracaídas (the parachute, the parachutes). 6. In general, nouns ending in a are feminine and require the article la : la casa (the house); la cama (the bed). However, there are some exceptions: el tema (the topic); el día (the day). 7. Most nouns ending in umbre , ie , ión , dad , tad or is are feminine: la especie (the species); la costumbre (the habit); la educación (the education); la ciudad (the city); la facultad (the faculty). However, there are some exceptions: el pie (the foot); el avión (the plane); el análisis (the analysis); el camión (the truck). 8. If a noun begins with a or ha and its first syllable is stressed, it requires the article el , although it keeps its feminine gender. Thus, in its plural form the feminine article las is used: el águila , las águilas (the eagle, the eagles); el hacha , las hachas (the axe, the axes). 9. Some nouns change their meaning according to their gender: el policía (the police officer); la policía (the police); el guía (the guide, person); la guía (the guide or the manual). Masculine and feminine endings 1. For masculine nouns ending in o , change the o to a to form the feminine: niño , niña (boy, girl). 2. For masculine nouns ending in r , add a to form the feminine: señor (gentleman); señora (lady). 3. Some nouns do not change the ending to indicate gender: el periodista , la periodista (the journalist); el artista , la artista (the artist). 4. Some nouns have completely different forms: hombre (man); mujer (woman); toro (bull); vaca (cow). The plural of nouns The plural is formed from the singular by adding s or es : 1. Words ending in an unaccented vowel add s : llave , llaves (key, keys); tribu , tribus (tribe, tribes); libro , libros (book, books). 2. Words ending in an accented vowel other than e add es : rubí , rubíes (ruby, rubies); tabú , tabúes . 3. Words ending in accented e add only s : pie , pies (foot, feet); café , cafés (coffee, coffees). 4. Words ending in a consonant add es : mes , meses (month, months); cárcel , cárceles (jail, jails); pared , paredes (wall, walls). If they end in z , replace z by c and add es : pez , peces SPANISH GRAMMAR