You sit down at a café in Mexico City and read the menu: el café, la leche, el agua, el jugo. Then, further down, "el agua fresca". Wait: agua ends in -a, so shouldn't it be "la agua"? By the end of this lesson you'll know why it isn't, and you'll be able to put the right "the" or "a" in front of most nouns you meet.
Level: A1.
Every noun has a gender
In Spanish, every noun is masculine or feminine, even objects and ideas. There's no logic to it for things: a table is feminine (la mesa), a book is masculine (el libro). Gender matters because the article and any adjective have to match the noun. So learn each new noun with its article: not "mesa" but "la mesa".
The articles
| masculine | feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| the (singular) | el | la |
| the (plural) | los | las |
| a, an | un | una |
| some | unos | unas |
- el libro, la mesa, los libros, las mesas
- un libro, una mesa, unos libros, unas mesas
Two short forms you'll use every day: a + el becomes al (voy al mercado), and de + el becomes del (la casa del profesor). La, los and las never contract.
Patterns that predict gender
- -o is usually masculine: el vaso, el libro.
- -a is usually feminine: la casa, la mesa.
- -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad, -tud are almost always feminine: la canción, la televisión, la ciudad, la libertad, la actitud. English "-tion" words often become "-ción" words, and they're feminine: la nación, la información.
For other nouns that end in -e or a consonant, there's no safe rule: el café, la leche, el papel, la flor. Learn the article with the noun.
The exceptions worth learning now
- el día (the day), el mapa (the map): masculine, despite the -a.
- el problema, el tema, el sistema, el programa, el idioma: many words ending in -ma come from Greek and are masculine. Not all -ma words: la cama (the bed) is feminine.
- la mano (the hand): feminine, despite the -o.
- la foto, la moto: feminine because they're short for la fotografía and la motocicleta.
Why "el agua"?
Agua is feminine. But when a feminine noun starts with a stressed a or ha, Spanish uses el in the singular instead of la. The word stays feminine, so adjectives stay feminine: el agua fría (the cold water). In the plural the swap isn't needed: las aguas. Other words like this: el águila (the eagle), el aula (the classroom), el hambre (hunger), as in "tengo mucha hambre".
This only happens when the first syllable is stressed. La amiga keeps la, because the stress falls on -mi-.
People
For many people nouns, -o becomes -a: el amigo, la amiga; el chico, la chica. Nouns ending in -ista or -ante often keep one form, and the article does the work: el estudiante, la estudiante; el turista, la turista. A masculine plural covers a mixed group: los chicos can mean "the boys" or "the boys and girls", and los padres means "the parents".
Making nouns plural
- Ends in a vowel: add -s. Libro → libros.
- Ends in a consonant: add -es. Ciudad → ciudades, papel → papeles. But a word ending in an unstressed -s stays the same: el lunes → los lunes.
- Ends in -z: change z to c and add -es. Lápiz → lápices, luz → luces.
Watch the written accent: la canción becomes las canciones, losing its accent, while el joven becomes los jóvenes, gaining one, because the stress stays on the same syllable.
Spain and Latin America
The rules above are the same everywhere. A few individual words vary: "the computer" is la computadora in Mexico, el computador in Chile and some other countries, and el ordenador in Spain. Radio, for the device, is usually la radio in Spain, but in much of Latin America you'll often hear el radio.
Mistakes learners make
- Saying "la problema". It's el problema.
- Making agua masculine. El agua fría, not el agua frío.
- Leaving out the article for things in general. "I like coffee" is "Me gusta el café", not "Me gusta café".
- Writing "a el" or "de el". Contract them: al, del.
- Forgetting the z-to-c change. Lápices, not lápizes.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know if a Spanish noun is masculine or feminine?
Look at the ending: -o is usually masculine, and -a, -ción and -dad are usually feminine. For other endings, learn the noun with its article.
Why is it "el agua" and not "la agua"?
Agua is feminine, but feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a take el in the singular. Adjectives stay feminine: el agua fría.
Is "día" masculine or feminine?
Masculine: el día, buenos días. It's one of the common -a exceptions, with el mapa and el problema.
What is the plural of "el" in Spanish?
Los. The feminine la becomes las.
Try it
Say each card's answer out loud before you flip it, article first. Then order from that café: ¿Cómo se dice "a coffee and the cold water, please"?