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In Spanish, all nouns, including those denoting non-living things and abstract concepts, are either masculine or feminine and singular or plural.
Therefore, the articles and adjectives change according to the grammatical gender and agree in number with the nouns they modify.
The following are some rules to determine the gender; however, the gender of some nouns must be learned by memorization.
The gender of living beings, such as people or animals, determines their grammatical gender.
A noun that refers to a male is masculine; a noun that refers to a female is feminine.
1. Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.
EXAMPLES:
- la cara/ the face
- la cabeza/ the head
EXCEPTIONS: The following words end in a; however, they are masculine:
- el día/ the day
- el sofá/ the sofa
- el mañana/ the tomorrow, the future (Note that la mañana means morning.)
2. Many female nouns that end in -a have a corresponding male form that end in -o.
Masculine Feminine
3. Nouns that end in -ista may be masculine or feminine. In these instances, the article determines the gender of the person.
Masculine Feminine LESSONS: Accounting I
& Accounting Ia
4. Nouns ending in -ión, -d, -ez, and -umbre are generally feminine.
EXAMPLES:
- La televisión/ TV
- la comunicación/ communication
- la oportunidad/ opportunity
- la aptitud / aptitude
- la vejez/ old age
- la costumbre/ custom
5. The letters of the alphabet are feminine.
EXAMPLES:
- la l/ l
- la a/ a
6. The following are nouns that can only refer to females despite of the ending:
- la actriz/ actress
- la mujer/ woman
7. The following nouns refer to females when the article is feminine:
- la bebé/ female baby
- la cliente/ female client
- la psiquiatra/ female psychiatric
- la columnista/ female columnist
8. Nouns of Greek origin that end in -ma, -pa, and -ta are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
- el programa/ program
- el mapa/ map
- el poeta/ poet
- el planeta/ planet
- el idioma/ language
- el sistema/ system
- el telegrama/ telegram
- el problema/ problem
- el clima/ climate
- el drama/ drama
- el cometa/ comet
- el diploma/ diploma
- el tema/ theme
LESSONS: Accounting II
1.Most of the masculine nouns end in -o.
EXAMPLES:
- el libro/ book
- el sombrero/ hat
EXCEPTIONS: Some nouns that end in a are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
- la mano/ hand
- la foto/ photo
2. Colors, numbers, and days of the week are masculine.
EXAMPLES:
- el verde/ green
- el rojo/ red
- el uno/ one
- el cien/ hundred
- el lunes/ Monday
- el martes/ Tuesday
LESSONS: Accounting III
3. The following are nouns that refer to males, regardless of the ending:
- el hombre/ man
- el profesor/ male professor
- el juez/ male judge
- el policía/ male police officer
- el doctor/ male doctor
4. Compound nouns are always masculine and plural.
EXAMPLES:
- el abrelatas/ can opener
- el sacacorchos/ bottle opener
LESSONS: Accounting IV
Number identifies words as singular or plural. To make a noun, plural follow the rules below:
1. Add -s to a noun ending in a vowel, as in huevo/ egg and uva/ grape.
Masculine Feminine
2. Add -es to a noun ending in a consonant.
cereal examen
NOTE: At times, it is necessary to add or drop a written accent when a word is made plural because the stress of their singular form is maintained in their plural form.
water melon exam
3. For the nouns that end in -z, change the z to ces.
rice walnut
4. Nouns ending in -es and -is do NOT change in the plural.
Monday crisis
5. Compound nouns have the same form in the singular and plural forms.
can opener bottle opener LESSONS: Accounting V
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