Nouns and Articles

(Los sustantivos y los artculos)

It is often said that a noun is a person, place or thing. That is
true but, in fact, a noun is anything we can put a name on.
Therefore, even words that refer to abstract concepts such as
love, life, anger, and so on, are nouns. In Spanish, one of the
words for noun is nombre, which simply means name.

In Spanish, nouns are classified into two

groups: masculine and feminine
To identify our masculine nouns, we will start with the
indefinite masculine article un, which in English is a or an
Masculine nouns

un libro

a book

un rub

a ruby

un men

a menu

un reloj

a watch

Normally, nouns
ending in o, ,
or a consonant
are masculine.
Of course, there
are exceptions.
One is una mano.

Note: The fact that a noun is masculine, other than those that denote
human beings, has nothing whatever to do with sexual attributes.

In Spanish, nouns are classified into two

groups: masculine and feminine
Words ending in or (accented) are fairly rare in
Spanish and, as mentioned, are normally masculine.
un colibr

a hummingbird

un gur

a guru

un esqu

a ski

un igl

an igloo

un rub

a ruby

un men

a menu

Words ending in i or u (unaccented) are even more

rare, and may be masculine or feminine.

un/una cursi

a pretentious person (male/female)

una tribu

a tribe

In Spanish, nouns are classified into two

groups: masculine and feminine
To identify our masculine nouns, we will start with the
indefinite masculine article un, which in English is a or an
Masculine nouns

un hombre
In addition, nouns
that denote male
persons are normally
masculine.

a man

un muchacho a boy
un profesor

a professor (m)

un doctor

a doctor (m)

In Spanish, nouns are classified into two

groups: masculine and feminine
To identify our feminine nouns, we will start with the
indefinite feminine article una, which in English is a or an
Feminine nouns

una mesa

a table

una ciudad a city

una nacin a nation

Normally, nouns
ending in a, ad, cin,
or sin are feminine.
Two exceptions
are un mapa and
un da.

Note: Again, the fact that a noun is feminine, other than those that
denote human beings, has nothing to do with sexual attributes.

In Spanish, nouns are classified into two

groups: masculine and feminine
To identify our feminine nouns, we will start with the
indefinite feminine article una, which in English is a or an
Feminine nouns

In addition, nouns
that denote female
persons are normally
feminine or have a
feminine form that is
the counterpart of the
masculine.

una mujer

a woman

una muchacha a girl

una profesora

a professor (f)

una doctora

a doctor (f)

Remember!
Nouns ending in o, , , or a consonant are normally masculine
Nouns ending in a, ad, cin, or sin are normally feminine
Words that end with e are suspect, that is, they may be
masculine or they may be feminine

nouns ending in e

Masculine

Feminine

un coche
un bote
un frente
un bate

a car
a can
a front
a bat (baseball)

una noche
una calle
una frente
una peste

a night
a street
a forehead
a plague

un bache

a pothole

una llave

a key

When in doubt about the gender of a noun ending in e, or any noun,

ask a native speaker or your teacher, or look it up in a dictionary.

Words that end with -ma are usually masculine

un problema
un tema
un sistema
un diploma

un aroma
un programa
un diagrama
un clima

But there are a few exceptions:

una trama

una diadema

una estratagema

Definite and indefinite articles

The indefinite article (un, una) refers to a non-specific item.

Es un libro. Its a book, any old

book.

The definite article (el, la) refers to a specific item.

Es el libro que usamos en la clase de

espaol.
Its the book we use in the
Spanish class.

Definite and indefinite articles

The indefinite article (un, una) refers to a non-specific item.

Es una silla. Its a chair, any old

chair.

The definite article (el, la) refers to a specific item.

Es la silla que usamos en la clase de

espaol.

Its the chair we use in the

Spanish class.

Definite and indefinite articles

The plural indefinite article (unos, unas) can be translated as
some or a few.

Hay unos libros en la sala de clase.

There are a few books in the
classroom.

Hay unas sillas tambin.

There are some chairs,
too.

Definite and indefinite articles

The plural definite article (los, las), just like the singular, refers
to specific things.

Son los libros para la clase de espaol.

Theyre the books for the
Spanish class.

Son las sillas para los

estudiantes.
Theyre the chairs for the
students.

Summary of definite and indefinite articles

The masculine indefinite articles are:

un
unos

a, an
some, a few

un libro = a book
unos libros = some
books

The masculine definite articles are:

el
los

the
the (English
has no plural
form for the)

el libro = the book

los libros = the books

Summary of definite and indefinite articles

The feminine indefinite articles are:

una
unas

a, an
some, a few

una silla = a chair

unas sillas = some
chairs

The feminine definite articles are:

la
las

the
the

la silla = the chair

las sillas = the chairs

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
Nouns are pluralized differently in Spanish than in English.

If a noun ends in a, , e, , o, , i or u, we simply add s.

Singular

casa
mam
llave
caf
libro
domin
cursi
tribu

Plural

casas
mams
llaves
cafs
libros
domins
cursis
tribus

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
Nouns are pluralized differently in Spanish than in English.

The rare word that ends in or can be pluralized by

adding either s or es.
Singular

colibr
esqu
rub
igl
men
tab

Plural

colibrs/colibres
esqus/esques
rubs/rubes
igls/igles
mens/menes
tabs/tabes

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
Nouns are pluralized differently in Spanish than in English.

If a noun ends in a consonant, we add es.

Singular

borrador
orden
papel
pared
reloj
seor

Plural

borradores
rdenes
papeles
paredes
relojes
seores

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
Nouns are pluralized differently in Spanish than in English.

Polysyllabic words that end in s, and are stressed on any

syllable except the last one, maintain the same form in the
plural as in the singular. We show that they are plural by
using the plural article.
Singular

el lunes
el oasis
la tesis

Plural

los lunes
los oasis
las tesis

If stressed on the last syllable, they are pluralized normally.

el autobs

los autobuses

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
Generally, adjectives are pluralized just like nouns.

If an adjective ends in a vowel, we simply add s.

Singular

bonito
inteligente

Plural

bonitos
inteligentes

If an adjective ends in a consonant, we add es.

fcil
comn

fciles
comunes

Pluralization
(La pluralizacin)
When a noun or an adjective ends in z, we must change
the z to c before adding es.
Singular

nouns

adjectives

Plural

lpiz
luz

lpices
luces

feliz
audaz

felices
audaces

FIN