Test Yourself Masculine Feminine Spanish Nouns

Test Yourself Masculine Feminine Spanish Nouns Suzy S. In English, every noun has a neutral gender. This makes it easy to learn, so you really only need to learn the new word and the learning stops there. In Spanish, on the other hand, every single noun is either masculine  or feminine. This means that every time you learn a new Spanish vocabulary word, you need to learn its accompanying gender as well. This may appear confusing for beginners, but bear with me! Here are the general rules for determining masculine and feminine Spanish nouns: Nouns that are feminine often (but by no means always) end in -a. By contrast, nouns that are masculine often (but by no means always) end in -o, or many other consonants. When a noun is masculine, we use the el definite article for a singular noun, and the los article for a plural noun, (both mean the in English) to represent the noun’s masculinity. When a noun is feminine, we use the la definite article for a singular nouns and the las article for a plural noun (both also mean the in English) to represent the noun’s femininity. For example, el carro  (the car) and la casa  (the house). Using a noun’s gender correctly also depends on differentiating plural nouns to singular nouns. For example, los carros By contrast, las casas If you want to say a, the indefinite instead of the definite article the, you use un or unos, or una and unas respectively. For example, un carro  or unos carros By contrast, una casa or unas casas The noun’s gender follows it when it’s being described with adjectives. If the adjective is describing a masculine word, it most likely end in -o, whereas an adjective describing a feminine word most likely ends in -a. Its plurality or singularly continues into the noun’s corresponding description, unlike English! For example, el/un carro bonito or los/unos carros bonitos By contrast, la/una casa bonita  or unas casas Translations: the/a beautiful car, the/some beautiful cars However, if only it were that simple… Nouns that end in -a that have Greek origins go against the natural assumption and are actually masculine nouns. Some examples of this are: El problema  instead of la problema  (problem) El tema  instead of la tema (theme) El dilema  instead of la dilema  (dilemma) There are also a few feminine nouns that end in -o, such as la mano  (hand). Test Yourself! Think youve got it? Take this quiz to test your knowledge of masculine and feminine Spanish nouns! [playbuzz-item url=//www.playbuzz.com/takelessons12/how-well-do-you-know-masculine-and-feminine-nouns-in-spanish] The bottom line here is to start paying attention to a noun’s gender immediately when you learn the noun, so you can start identifying patterns. When I first began learning Spanish, I glossed over this crucial distinction which made it much more difficult for me later on. So start early, and start learning with a private Spanish tutor! It’s not too difficult once you internalize that learning a noun’s gender is indispensable to learning Spanish vocabulary. Let’s end by being grateful that Spanish only has two  genders, whereas German, and many other languages also have neutral nouns, making three  genders possible! Now that’s really confusing! Editors Note: Want even more tips? We like this article about memorizing genders from the 5-Minute Language blog.   Post Author:  Jason N. Jason N. tutors in English and Spanish in Athens, GA.  He majored in Spanish at UC Davis, lived in Mexico for 3 years where he completed a Master’s degree in Counseling, and studied Spanish Literature and Psychology at the University of Costa Rica. He is currently attending the University of Georgia.  Learn more about Jason here!   Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher