Nouns & Articles in Spanish

The Gender of Nouns

Gender is referring to the noun being masculine or feminine. All nouns, whether living or non-living, have a gender in Spanish. We tend to think that gender means males and females, and in cases of human beings, that is certainly true. But in Spanish, gender is a grammatical term which doesn't necessarily refer to males and females. For example, in Spanish, pens, books, and pencils are masculine nouns, even though they do not exhibit any kind of male characteristics. In English, we would say that these nouns are neuter (without a gender). And tables, scissors, and doors are all feminine nouns, even though none of them exhibit any kind of female characteristics; for us in English, they also are neuter. ​

So how can you tell if a noun is masculine or feminine if it doesn't seem obvious?
The golden rule to remember when deciding on the gender of a noun is this:

• Nouns that end with the letter o are usually masculine. For example:  "libro" (meaning "book") is a masculine noun; it ends with an "o".
• Nouns that end with the letter a are usually feminine. For example: "mesa" (meaning "table") is a feminine noun; it ends with an "a"
  

These two golden rules are not without exception, unfortunately. However, the exceptions are very few... so when in doubt, it is a pretty safe bet that using them will be accurate.

The Rules for Singular Nouns & Articles  

In Spanish, the articles (the, a, and an) are determined by the gender of the noun.

• Singular, masculine nouns use the definite article "el" and the indefinite article "un" ("a", "an").
             For example:  el libro = the book         el borrador = the eraser
                                    un libro = a book           un borrador = an eraser
• Singular, feminine nouns use the definite artcile "la" ("the") and the indefinite article "una" ("a", "an").
             For example:  la mesa = the table       la naraja = the orange
                                     una mesa = a table       una naranja = an orange

The Rules for Plural Nouns & Articles

Just as articles are determined by the gender of the noun, so are they also determined by the number of the noun. The term "number" simply means singular and plural.

• Plural, masculine nouns use the definite article los (the) and the indefinite article "unos" ("some").
            For example:  el libro = the book  ---->  los libros = the books
                                    un libro = a book ---->  unos libros = some books
• Plural, feminine nouns use the definite article las ("the") and the indefinite article "unas" ("some").
           For example:   la mesa = the table ---->  las mesas = the tables
                                   una mesa = a table ---->  unas mesas = some tables

The following chart may be helpful in visualizing how definite and indefinite article work:

Value	Definite Article "the"	Indefinite Article "a", "an", "some"
singular masculine	el	un
plural masculine	los	unos
singular feminine	la	una
plural feminine	las	unas

The Rules for Making Nouns Plural

1. If the noun ends in a vowel, add an "s".  For example, libro ---> libros
2. If the noun ends in a consonant, add "es".  For example, borrador ---> borradores
3. If the noun end in a "z", change z to c and add es.  For example, lápiz ---> lapices