SPANISH NOUNS

1. Gender: Generally, All nouns that end in O are masculine and all
nouns that end in A are feminine. Unless, an exception occurs.

 Masculine: Niño=boy, libro=book, dinero=money, cuarto=room,

regalo=gift. Sombrero=hat | nm-noun masculine

 Feminine: pluma=pen, mesa=table, pizarra=blackboard,

puerta=door, ventana=window, silla =chair | nf-noun feminine

 Exception: dia nm – masculine | Buenos dias!

mano nf – feminine | La mano.

 Therefore, to consult SPANISH-ENGLISH Dictionary is a MUST!

 All nouns of Greek origin ending in ‘ma’ are masculine.

problema = problem clima = climate
programa = program idioma = language
tema = theme diploma = diploma
drama = drama poema = poem
dogma = dogma telegrama = telegram

 All nouns ending in ‘e’ are masculine with the exceptions of the
following:
carne = meat calle = street
sangre =blood noche = night
clase = class gente = people
muerte = death parte = part
suerte = luck llave = key

 Nouns ending in ‘r’ are masculine except:

flor = flower labor = task/labor
mujer = woman
 Nouns ending in ‘n’ are masculine except:
sien = temple razon = reason
imagen = image sarten = frying pan

 Nouns ending in ‘i’ are masculine except:

metropoli = city

 Nouns ending in ‘ion’ are feminine except:

camion = truck escorpion = scorpion
avion = airplane

 Nouns ending in ‘z’ are feminine except:

lapiz = pencil arroz = rice
antifaz = facemask maiz = corn
caliz = chalice barniz = varnish

 Nouns ending in ‘d’ are feminine except:

cesped = lawn ardid = trick
huesped = guest alaud = sandstorm
ataud = coffin

 Nouns ending in ‘l’ are masculine except:

carcel = jail señal = sign
miel = honey cal = lime
piel = skin capital = capital
sal = salt

 Exceptions on nouns ending in ‘s’

La crisis = the crisis
La tesis = the thesis
La hipotesis = the hypothesis

 Nouns beginning with accented ‘a’ or ‘ha’ take the singular article
“el” when singular, and the plural article “las” when plural. This is
done for the sake of euphony. Thus, these nouns are not exceptions
strictly speaking.
 el alma = the soul el ancha = the anchor | las anchas
el agua = the water el hacha | las hachas

las almas = the souls

las aguas = the waters

2. The plural form of nouns

 Generally, nouns in Spanish will have their plural form by simply
adding “s” or “es”. You add “s” to a noun that ends in vowel. On
the other hand, you add “es” to a noun that ends in consonant.
oficina - office | oficinas jabon – soap | jabones
carta – letter | cartas reloj – watch | relojes

 Nouns which end in accented í or ú form their plural by adding “es”

rubí – red stone | rubíes
tisú – fabric cloth | tisúes

 The plural of nouns ending in “z” is formed by changing z to c

before adding “es”
lápiz – pencil | lapices
voz – voice | voces

 Nouns ending in “s” but which receive stress on the second to the
last syllable remain unchanged in the plural form; the articles
preceding them will, however, change according to the number.

la crisis – crisis | las crisis

el jueves – Thursday | los jueves

 Nouns which designate objects composed of multiple parts are

always plural and therefore have no singular form, like:
 tijeras (scissors) | las alrededores (surroundings) | las
modales (manners) | los las albricias (glad tidings) | las
afueras (outskirts) | las

 Ambiguous Nouns. Nouns which have more than one meaning and
whose articles differ according to the meaning used.
el corte (the cut) nm la Corte (the court) nf
el cura (the parish priest) la cura (the cure)
el radio (the radius of a cycle) la radio (the radio)
el frente (the front) la frente (the forehead)
el capital (money, capital) la capital (the capital-city)

 The common gender is the gender of nouns distinguishable only

through the articles used.
el o la complice (accomplice)
el o la guia (guide)
el o la espia (spy)

 The names of abstract things due to their vague and general

meaning, belong to the Neuter gender. Thus, the article “lo” is used.
lo bueno – that which is good
lo malo – that which is bad
lo dificil – that which is difficult
lo imposible – that which is impossible
lo interesante – that which is interesting