Topic 3
Gender & articles
The rule, in plain English
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the article and adjectives must match. Words ending in -o are usually masculine (el libro), -a usually feminine (la mesa), but there are important exceptions (el día, la mano, el problema). Learn each noun WITH its article.
Why it's hard for English speakers
English has no grammatical gender, so it feels arbitrary. The fix is to memorise the article as part of the word — 'la mesa', never just 'mesa'.
Articles
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Definite (the) | el / los | la / las |
| Indefinite (a/some) | un / unos | una / unas |
Tricky ones
| Looks like… | Actually | Word |
|---|---|---|
| -a but masculine | el | el problema, el día, el mapa |
| -o but feminine | la | la mano, la foto |
Examples
- el problemathe problem (masculine despite -a)
- la manothe hand (feminine despite -o)
- unas casas blancassome white houses (all agree, feminine plural)
- el agua fríathe cold water (el for sound, but feminine adjective)
Common mistakes
- la problemael problema-ma words from Greek are masculine.
- el manola mano'mano' is feminine.
Practice
Exercises: 0 / 0 correct
___ día
___ mano
the white houses = las casas ___
___ mapa