Noun Gender
Noun Gender: Spanish vocabulary and examples with English explanations. Open the interactive lesson for pronunciation and practice.
01 · Common pattern: -o masculine, -a feminine
Start with the usual pattern: nouns ending in -o are usually masculine; nouns ending in -a are usually feminine. Here el marks masculine and la marks feminine to help you learn each word with its gender. These are patterns, not absolute rules.
| Español | English |
|---|---|
| el teatro · el trabajo · el curso | Masculine: theatre, work, course. All end in -o. |
| el diccionario · el diario | Masculine: dictionary, diary / daily newspaper. Both end in -o. |
| la revista · la película · la playa | Feminine: magazine, film, beach. All end in -a. |
| la historia · la comida | Feminine: history / story, food / meal. Both end in -a. |
02 · Common exceptions: endings can mislead
Some common nouns do not follow the pattern: learn their gender with the word. Foto is short for fotografía and moto for motocicleta, so they keep their feminine gender. Some -ma words, including problema and idioma, are masculine, but not all: la cama (bed) is feminine.
| Español | English |
|---|---|
| la mano | Hand: ends in -o but is feminine. |
| la foto · la moto | Photo, motorbike: both end in -o but are feminine. |
| la radio | Radio (receiver or broadcasting): ends in -o but is feminine. |
| la disco | Disco / nightclub: short for discoteca, retaining feminine gender. |
| el día · el mapa | Day, map: both end in -a but are masculine. |
| el problema · el idioma · el planeta | Problem, language, planet: all end in -a but are masculine. |
| el tema | Theme; topic: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el sistema | System: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el programa | Programme; software program; plan: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el clima | Climate: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el poema | Poem: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el diploma | Diploma; certificate: ends in -a but is masculine. |
| el sofá | Sofa: ends in stressed -á and is masculine. |
| el pijama | Pyjamas: usually masculine in Spain despite final -a; la pijama is also used in parts of Latin America. |
03 · Final -e: the ending does not tell you
Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine; there is no single rule for the whole group. Check a dictionary and learn the noun with el or la. Dictionary labels m. and f. mean masculine and feminine. Do not change the ending to -o or -a to guess a gender.
| Español | English |
|---|---|
| el coche · el cine | Masculine: car, cinema. An -e ending can be masculine. |
| la noche · la clase · la serie | Feminine: night, class, series. An -e ending can also be feminine. |
| el coche · la noche | Compare: coche is masculine, noche feminine. Sharing an -e ending does not imply the same gender. |
04 · People and animals: male and female forms
For people and animals, many -o nouns denote males and change -o to -a for females. Some consonant-ending nouns add -a, such as profesor → profesora. This is not universal: actor → actriz has a different form. Other nouns keep the same form and use el / la to distinguish gender.
| Español | English |
|---|---|
| el niño · la niña | Boy → girl: change -o to -a. |
| el amigo · la amiga | Male friend → female friend: change -o to -a. |
| el gato · la gata | Male cat → female cat: change -o to -a. |
| el perro · la perra | Male dog → female dog: change -o to -a. |
| el profesor · la profesora | Male teacher → female teacher: add -a after r; the spelling is profesora. |
| el español · la española | Spanish man → Spanish woman: add -a after l. |
| el actor · la actriz | Actor → actress: a special pair, not simply consonant + -a. |
| el estudiante · la estudiante | Male student → female student: estudiante stays the same; el / la distinguishes gender. |
05 · Groups: masculine and feminine plurals
For nouns with distinct male and female forms, standard Spanish uses masculine plural for all-male or mixed groups, and feminine plural for all-female groups. Here we focus on who these forms refer to, not how plurals are formed. This does not apply to every animal noun: la jirafa (giraffe) is grammatically feminine, so las jirafas may include males. Grammatical gender does not always equal biological sex.
| Español | English |
|---|---|
| los niños · las niñas | Los niños: boys, or a mixed group of children. Las niñas: girls only. |
| los amigos · las amigas | Los amigos: male friends or a mixed group of friends. Las amigas: female friends only. |
| los profesores · las profesoras | Los profesores: male teachers or a mixed group of teachers. Las profesoras: female teachers only. |
| los gatos · las gatas | Los gatos: male cats or a mixed group of cats. Las gatas: female cats only. |
06 · Noun endings: feminine and masculine reference
Check the complete ending first: -ción and -tad are usually feminine. Each row groups nouns by ending, with articles, meanings and cautions. Endings are clues, not absolute rules; check longer endings such as -ción before shorter ones such as -ón. Check a dictionary when unsure and learn each noun with its article.
| Español | English |
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