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Nouns & AdjectivesbeginnerCEFR A1

Gender of Nouns: masculino y femenino (el/la)

📋Overview🏗️Structure💡Examples⚠️Common Mistakes🧠Quiz📚Useful Resources

What You'll Learn

  • A1 Essential: Recognise that Spanish are masculine or feminine
  • Learn the basic -o (masculine) and -a (feminine) pattern
  • Master common : el/la (the) and un/una (a/an)
  • Identify using in everyday vocabulary
  • Remember 3 important exceptions: el día, la mano, el problema
  • Apply gender rules to describe things around you

Overview / Usage

Every Spanish is either masculine or feminine - it's like each word has a ! The good news? There's a simple pattern that works most of the time.

🎯 The Basic Rule

-o = Masculineel libro
(the book)
-a = Femininela mesa
(the table)

This pattern works for about 90% of Spanish nouns!

💡 A1 Tip: Articles Show Gender!

Masculine
el = the
un = a/an
Feminine
la = the
una = a/an

Structure & Formation

🏗️ Basic Gender Patterns

Let's practice with everyday words you'll use from day one!

👨

Masculine (-o ending)

el perro
(the dog)
el niño
(the boy)
el vaso
(the glass)
👩

Feminine (-a ending)

la casa
(the house)
la niña
(the girl)
la silla
(the chair)

⚠️ Three Important Exceptions to Remember

These common words break the rules - memorise them!

el día
(the day)
Ends in -a but masculine!
la mano
(the hand)
Ends in -o but feminine!
el problema
(the problem)
Ends in -a but masculine!

▶🎨 Advanced Patterns & Professions(A2+ Optional - Click to expand)

For A2+ learners: Additional patterns and profession transformations

More Ending Patterns

  • -ción, -sión: Always feminine (la nación, la televisión)
  • -dad, -tad: Always feminine (la ciudad, la libertad)
  • -ma, -ta: Often masculine from Greek (el problema, el sistema, el tema)
  • -ista: Same form for both genders (el/la artista, el/la dentista)

Profession Transformations

-or → -ora:
  • el profesor → la profesora (teacher)
  • el doctor → la doctora (doctor)
Special changes:
  • el actor → la actriz (actor/actress)
  • el rey → la reina (king/queen)

More Exceptions

  • Feminine despite -o: la foto, la moto, la radio
  • Masculine despite -a: el mapa, el planeta, el clima
  • Variable -e endings: Need memorisation (el coche, la leche)

Examples

📚 Real-Life Examples

Practice with words you'll use every day! Notice how the article (el/la) always matches the gender.

Around the House

ellibro
(the book)
lamesa
(the table)
elbaño
(the bathroom)
lapuerta
(the door)

Food & School

elpan
(the bread)
elagua
(the water)
ellápiz
(the pencil)
laescuela
(the school)

💡 Special case - el agua: The word 'agua' is actually feminine, but we say 'el agua' (not 'la agua') to avoid the awkward 'la a-' sound. It's still a feminine word though: 'el agua fría' (the cold water - fría is feminine!).

Memory Tip: Articles Show Gender

el = Masculine
un = Masculine
la = Feminine
una = Feminine

Want to study offline? Download this complete lesson as a PDF!

Gotchas / Common Mistakes

⚠️ Gender Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Assuming -a = feminine

❌ Wrong: la problema

✅ Right: el problema

Some -a words are masculine!

❌ Forgetting exceptions

❌ Wrong: el mano

✅ Right: la mano

Memorise the common exceptions!

❌ Wrong article choice

❌ Wrong: un casa

✅ Right: una casa

Articles must match noun gender!

❌ Mixing up similar words

❌ Wrong: la foto es bonito

✅ Right: la foto es bonita

Adjectives must agree with gender!

Quick Test / Mini Quiz

📝 Interactive Gender Recognition Quiz

Test your ability to identify Spanish noun genders!

1

🏠 What gender is 'casa' (house)?

2

📚 Which article goes with 'libro' (book)?

3

🍎 What gender is 'mesa' (table)?

4

🐕 Which article goes with 'perro' (dog)?

5

☀️ Important exception! What's the gender of 'día' (day)?

6

✋ Another exception! What's the gender of 'mano' (hand)?

7

🚪 Which article goes with 'puerta' (door)?

8

✏️ Which article goes with 'lápiz' (pencil)?

Useful Resources