Most animal names have a female and a male form, but not all do. This is why despite how difficult it is to learn Spanish, we are confident there is a realistic and achievable path to fluency. The waitress doesnt work on Thursday. If you have the word for friend, it refers to a person correct? In the tables below, youll find the most common endings for feminine words in Spanish. Now lets check out the tricks for masculine nouns in Spanish. The word espaol was supposedly imported from Provence by a medieval chronicler (it was originally introduced by pilgrims in Santiago) because there was no existing translation of the earlier Roman word Hispani when writing a chronicle of Spanish history, but this was the word Provenal speakers used to refer to the Christian kingdoms of what Therefore, you simply need to memorize the gender of words that end with z. El maquillaje de Claudia es muy bueno. While most nouns refer to objects and concepts that dont have gender, there are also the nouns that do. And it sounds quite logical if nouns refer to living creatures: Masculine: El hombre (The man) Feminine: La mujer (The woman) Masculine: Un caballo (A horse) Feminine: Una yegua (A mare) But what about nouns that stand for non-living things? Nuestro coche est sucio. El vestidor est ocupado. Our car is dirty. man, dog, house). So, well cover those exceptions below, too. We only do this when those words start with a stressed a sound. La cancin es muy larga. But, as youll see in the examples below, some popular words are the exception to this rule. One might phrase it like thisand I am sincerely sorry if the address here is too masculine, but there is no help for it. Cuntas clases faltan para las vacaciones? Is vacation feminine or masculine in Spanish? Our dogs are small. That color is pretty. Dolphins are adorable. This power point explains how Spanish nouns, articles and adjectives have gender and number. With these types of nouns, you still have to mark the gender. -A, -in, -dad, -tad and -tud are all endings for feminine words. So, if you put a . As a result, depending on the noun, a number can be either feminine or masculine. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. My mom has a cherry tree. Check these examples of sentences with colors in Spanish: El rosa es mi color preferido. While some exceptions (like la mano) are just exceptions, many words that seemingly end in -o are actually shortenings of other words. So, you would have to establish if that friend is a male or a female to determine which article to use. In these cases, we use. What gender is the sea in your mind? So how come it's "el problema" and not "la problema" since "el" should always modify a masculine noun and "la" a feminine noun. The truth can be painful. (m) means that a noun is masculine. The idea here is that words that end in any of the letters L-O-N-E-R-S tend to be masculine. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". Feminine or masculine? As you can see, there are adjectives that follow the regular rule for endings using -o/-as/-os/-as (rojo, amarillo, negro, blanco, morado). We can include el/la cineasta within this group. We know that a person can be a man or a woman. I have two hundred pesos. Follow this link if you want to know WHY nouns have a gender in Spanish. Below youll find a list of words and be able to find out for yourself if it is masculine (el) or feminine (la). Larry fue a Londres un par de das durante las vacaciones, El ao pasado pasamos unas vacaciones maravillosas en Mallorca. El periodista trabaja todo el da. My students are already speaking Spanish and using it in their everyday lives. The same thing in the other direction the rules say it should be el, but the word is actually la. The noun is called "de gnero comn" (common gender) when with the same termination it may . Lessons for Adults & Kids. SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. ). All of these expressions, as well as a number of others, have one thing in common. Words that end in -in are feminine nouns, such as religin (religion). Gender in Spanish: How to know when a noun is feminine or masculine [2022]. Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). See answer (1) Copy. But as you already know, there is no such thing as neutral nouns in Spanish. Distinguishing between gender is fairly straightforward - words ending in an 'a' are usually feminine, where those ending in 'e' are masculine. All of these rules use the ending of a word as a trick to determine its gender. Sofia is very smart. "Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions." When using adjectives to describe a person, use the gender that the person identifies with. Hay un frente fro en la ciudad. La sangre - the blood. A lot of irregular forms happen among farm animals, for the same reason that English has a different word for cow and bull. The gender affects their role on the farm, so having different words comes in handy. It's the person's gender that will determine whether we use el or la. I know we said we would only be giving you rules that didnt have any exceptions, the rules above are full proof- its when you get to people and occupations where you need to put your thinking cap on. In those cases, you can always look it up on a dictionary, such as the Diccionario de la Lengua Espaola. Here are two articles that help shed some light on the subject: Puzzle Solved: Why nouns in Spanish are feminine and masculine, The Ultimate Tip-Sheet to Articles in Spanish: (El vs. La, Un vs. Una), Your email address will not be published. is vacation in spanish masculine or feminine. Given that this may be a new concept for new learners, many people wonder what grammatical gender in Spanish is. But be careful! One ending with a final -a, -ista, can be used on words for male or female people, and is both masculine and feminine. However, in certain situations, changing the gender of a noun can also change its meaning, as you can see in the graphic and examples below: Mi mam tiene un cerezo. That pattern works for things too. This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. There is one other ending that ends in -a, -ista, that is actually both feminine and masculine. 1. Required fields are marked *. While this is actually true for a lot of words, there are so many exceptions to this rule that it often becomes more of a problem than a solution. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. Why is it important to know if a noun is feminine or masculine? Spanish also has four forms of the indefinite article that correspond to the words a/an and some/any in English. Shopping! nine fem--nn 1 : of the female sex 2 : characteristic of or belonging to women : womanly 3 : of, relating to, or making up the class of words that ordinarily includes most of those referring to females a feminine noun in Latin femininely adverb feminineness noun femininity fem--nin-t- noun feminine 2 of 2 noun 1 Some examples include: These rules can help you most of the time to determine if the noun is masculine, but they won't always work. Before a stressed A vowel sound, use EL instead of LA even if the noun is feminine. So with people you may not know well, perhaps someone older, or people of authority/higher status than oneself such as a college professor. Words ending in -ed (if the stress falls on this syllable). Because coming from English you dont have any reference to hold on to, sometimes our memory can only recall so much and we mix up the gender. Animals With Irregular Masculine And Feminine Forms. If the noun is plural and feminine, then use the plural, feminine ending (usually - las ). This site also participates in other affiliate programs, including CJ and other sites, and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies, but in no way increases the cost to you if you opt to make a purchase from my links. Sugared water is bad for your health. is vacation in spanish masculine or feminine. In Spanish, the word "tea" is used for a wide variety of beverages from coffee to cold brew to water to iced tea to tea bags and more. Feminine nouns have different letters at the end of them than masculine ones. Cardinal directions are masculine, too: el norte, el sur, el este, el oeste. This is the only noun ending that does not have a guideline gender classification. Probar is an O to UE stem-changing verb. If the occupation ends in -a it tends not to change. Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. Spanish gender is a complex topic. The Spanish letters "a" and "o" as the final letter of a word designate a feminine or masculine word; "a" is feminine and "o" is masculine. Example 1: We said all words ending in -a are feminine. Adjectives describing, agua are feminine. Venir is an irregular verb in Spanish. This is because in English, living creatures often have different names, depending upon whether they are male or female. FR8 En Ville - Location Sort - Masculine/Feminine Group sort. Just because two words look alike doesnt mean they have the same definition. Talking about people, especially family members, often includes referring to gender. El DIA = THE DAY Uncle and aunt, for example, are el to andla ta. *People, animals and occupations have their own set of rules. It is basically just a sign of respect. Because the gender of the noun changes the article or adjective that you can use with the noun. These short words keep the gender of the longer word, even if they have -ma, -pa, -ta, or LONERS at the end. The journalist works all day. el gato male cat Spanish gender can be a challenging topic for many new and advanced learners. La disco is short for la discoteca, andla foto is short forla fotografa. Here it might help to connect it with a feminine word that is opposite, so you can remember the words in pairs. For these nouns, all you have to do is change the definite article to reflect whether the person in question is male or female. Spanish Survival Kit: Asking for Directions [2022]. Soy Daniela Sanchez, Ive taught Spanish in Mexico to a wide array of foreigners. This can be very confusing. The following words are feminine when plural, but when they are singular, these words are masculine: Another exception is that the el or la can change the context of the word: Online Spanish Tutors - Native Speakers. "Favourite" is "favorito" in Spanish. Sometimes we have a different word for each sex: Just the same as what happens with people, sometimes we have different words for each sex: Many words have an only form, masculine or feminine: El tiburn, el cocodrilo, el dinosaurio, el pulpo, etc. las vacaciones and la estaci'on. My dogs are very quiet. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol). Tu voz es muy chillona. Su mano es muy pequeo.His hand is very small. We know that all people have gender, but in Spanish all nouns have gender. Most masculine nouns end in -o, like hermano, meaning 'brother' and most feminine nouns end in -a, like hermana, meaning 'sister'. All rights reserved. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and getting angry about things on. Grammatical gender is a property of Spanish nouns. However, this doesnt mean that all words that end with an -a are feminine. These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. La botella de Suzy est vaca. You will get new updates by email, as well as a copy of my ebook, the Definitive Guide to Learn Conjugations in Spanish. The name is thought to have acquired this meaning as communities in the time of Sarah and Abraham thought it to be hysterical that they were to have a child at such an elderly age. Because of this, most people assume that vestido is feminine, only to find out that theyre wrong. Privacy | Terms of Use. The adjective for Italia is italiano. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". In Spanish if there is a group of people, both males and females, you use the masculine to address them all, so masculine will work in most cases. Then little by little you will learn the others. We said all words ending in -a are feminine. * This is the only word ending in -ua that takes a masculine article. However, the gender in Spanish language can be really tricky sometimes. For English speakers, it is hard to determine when a noun is feminine or masculine simply because nouns in English have no gender. #RAEconsultas Although vacaciones is the majority use, the singular vacacin is also correct: la vacacin veraniega (P. Lan Entralgo). Even though the brother is a man, the word persona is always feminine. 33 chapters | His shoes are very expensive. Most adjectives in Spanish can be either feminine or masculine depending on the genre of the accompanying noun. by Classroom52. El ni o - the male child / la ni a - the female child. Memorizing just the exceptions will be a lot easier than memorizing every single word in the Spanish language. This semester is really tough. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. Otherwise, it would sound like laaagua. Masculine nouns are used with articles like el or un and have adjectives that end in -o, while female nouns use the articles la or una and have adjectives that end in -a. Suzys bottle is empty. And since we are here, this is one of my favorite songs in Spanish! Can vacaciones be singular? I feel like its a lifeline. noun uk / veke.n/ us / veke.n/ A1 [ C or U ] US (UK holiday) a time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want, such as travel or relax vacaciones We're taking a vacation in June. las vacaciones de Navidad, las vacaciones de Pascua, las vacaciones de verano. Im always glad to reach and help more people around the world. Its the persons gender that will determine whether we use el or la. I hope you find what youre looking for here during your journey into Espaol . The general rule is that Spanish nouns that end in -a are feminine. Im going to list them one by one, and also I will teach you what the exceptions are if there are any. Most Spanish nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most ending in -a are feminine, but there are exceptions. This semester is really tough. In fact, a few masculine words also end with this vowel. One warning, though: the S in LONERS refers to nouns that are singular, like el mes. I need a vacation from my family after the reunion. Sometimes the word just breaks the rules, and we have to memorize that they are different, such as la mano (hand). With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". For example, to say, 'My brother is an interesting person' in Spanish, you would say Mi hermano es una persona interesante. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. 4. That said, we need to get something out of the way before diving into the rules for gender in Spanish. Create an account to start this course today. Copyright Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning All Rights Reserved. by Mgomezhernandez. If you liked this post, you can share it with someone else who might find it helpful! Fortunately, even the exceptions have rules. These noun endings can tip you off that a noun is probably feminine. Estamos de vacaciones en la Florida ahora mismo. La mano (hand) is feminine, but el pie (foot) is masculine. Let's look at the word persona (person) to help explain this idea. All of the nouns ending with -o are usually masculine: el bolgrafo, el dinero, el edificio, el vaso, etc. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. Un - unos. Animals With A Regular Masculine And Feminine Form. Well start with the most obvious, which is that most words that end in o are going to be masculine. Why? If a color is working as a Spanish adjective, it will need to change its gender to agree with the noun unless such a color ends with a consonant or -e. Be careful since you may fall into a trap of gender thinking. So far, youve learned some of the most common endings used to form feminine and masculine words in Spanish and their exceptions. On your particular example of a dropdown menu with the names of languages, you don't have to worry because there is only one name for (the language) Spanish: espaol, masculine. Regardless of the rules we stated above, if the word is referring to an animal or a person, then the article must correspond to the gender of the animal or person. As you might have guessed, all of the tricks were going to cover use word Thats why agua, a feminine noun, in singular is el agua. Luis dog is white. Take Note: To pluralize these Spanish words, you must change the -z for the ending -ces. I like the red bag more. Necesito un respiro de mi familia despus de la reunin. These key rules will make it easier for you! You know that people and animals are masculine or feminine, but did you know that nouns in Spanish have gender? vacation Noun 1. Have you tried it yet? Our tutors at Fluenz Spanish Immersion like to explain the noun gender in this way: Think of the article almost as part of the word. However, things start getting tricky when determining the gender of objects and concepts. I hope you have enjoyed this article about masculine and feminine in Spanish! Therefore, vestido (dress) is actually a masculine noun. As you learned before, many Spanish masculine words end with -n. In this lesson, we'll look at the differences between masculine and feminine nouns and learn some tips to remember them. Words ending in -ismo are simply the Spanish counterparts to the English isms because they share the same Latin root. We say EL agua frA (The cold water). As established before, a Spanish noun can be classified as masculine or feminine depending on its gender. Plural of Masculine Nouns [edit | edit source]. Do you have any QUESTION or comment about Spanish language? Usted is used to speak in a more professional manner. The ending -a is a good indicator that youre most likely dealing with a feminine Spanish word. Mi gatita est enferma. Search millions of Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and the internet. Singapore is very expensive. El Amazonas es el ro ms largo del mundo. Join the Tell Me In Spanish community and get a copy of my step-by-step Spanish Learners Roadmaps and tricky synonyms & vocab cheat sheets. Feminine and masculine nouns ending in -E. Nouns ending in -e can be masculine and feminine. Hay cien sillas disponibles. When using demonstrative pronouns (esta, esa, aquella) with these words, they stay feminine. Spanish nouns have a gender, which is either feminine (like la mujer or la luna) or masculine (like el hombre or el sol). Do you want to practice your Spanish? While some of these exceptions just have to be memorized, you can scroll up and see that a lot of exceptions have their own rules in the-ta, -ma and-pasection. document.write(d); And they can be a little confusing because sometimes the noun endings change (the masculineel doctor and the feminine la doctora), but sometimes they dont (the masculineel poeta and the femininela poeta).