In the previous post, we talked about the morphemes of the gender. We said that the endings (-a) (-o) in the words like 'amigo' ‘amiga’ (friend) and it helps us to identify the sex if it is masculine or feminine.
Remember that in the Spanish language, the person, the animals, and even objects or things denotes gender.
For example we have: tío - tía (uncle – aunt) / profesor - profesora (professor) with animals: león - leona – (lion) / gato – gata (cat)
Keep in mind: The concrete or abstract things manifest a single gender, for example, 'Puerta' (door) is a feminine concrete object and does not have its masculine. Although the word ‘puerto’ (Port) exists. This has nothing to do with 'door'. 'Puerto' is a place where the boats arrive, load and unload cargos. 'Amor' (love) is an abstract masculine object and does not have its feminine either.
Only people and animals distinguish gender, that is, it has its feminine and masculine.
So, the first rule to learn the morphemes that denote the masculine-feminine gender in Spanish is:
1.- Nouns with ending '-o' denote the masculine gender. Example:
el padrino (the godfather) / el libro (the book) / el gato (the cat)
Nouns with ending '-a' denote the feminine gender. Example: la madrina (the Godmother) / la cabina (the cabin) / la gata (the cat)
LOOK OUT! This is the first general rule to apply.
There are exceptions regarding this rule
Exceptions: words such as: Día (day) - agua (water) - poema (poem) – panorama (overview) – teorema (theorem) problema (problem) whose ending is -a are designated as masculine gender.
We say: el día, el poema, el agua, el teorema, el panorama, el problema.
Learn it by heart!
Other exceptions: the words as mano (hand) foto (photo), radio (radio), moto (motorcycle) whose ending is -o are designated as feminine words.
We say: la mano (the hand) la foto (the photo) la radio (the radio) la moto (the motorcycle)
Learn it by heart.
There are other rules and exceptions that exist in the Spanish language to determine the gender in people, animals and things. Check it out!!!
1.- The most of nouns that end in -e are usually masculine, although there are others designated as feminine. Examples:
Feminine: suerte (luck) nieve (snow) sangre (blood) volante (steering wheel)
Common nouns of person as: presidente (president) delincuente (delinquent) those words that end up in -ante –ente they can adopt both genders, that is to say, we use only the article corresponding to the gender whom we want to talk about. Example:
El gerente – la gerente (the manager)
El presidente – la presidente (the president)
El cantante - la cantante (the singer)
Except: The word ‘gente (people)’ is a feminine word. We say: la gente. (the people)
2.- Nouns that end in -i are masculine. Example:
Maniquí (Mannequin) - bisturí (scalpel) - bikini (bikini)
3.- Nouns that end in -u are masculine. Example:
Menú (menu) – bambú (bamboo)
Except for tribu (tribe), we say “la tribu” (the tribe)
4.- Nouns that end in -d are feminine. Examples:
Pared (Wall) - ataúd (coffin) – actitud (attitude) – bondad (kindness) – cantidad (quantity)
Except: césped (lawn) We say ‘el césped’ (the lawn)
5.- Nouns that end in -l the majority of them, are masculine, another feminine. Example:
Masculine words: sol (s) árbol (tree) mal (bad, evil)
Feminine words: sal (salt) – piel (skin) – señal (signal) miel (honey)
6.- Nouns ending in -n are usually masculine. Example:
Tren (Train) – almacén (warehouse) - acordeón (accordion) – camion (truck)
Except: imagen (image) – picazón (itching) razón (reason)
7.- Nouns that end in -ión are feminine. Example:
Situación (Situation) - adaptación (adaptation) – comunión (communion)
Except: camión (truck) sarampión (measles)
8.- Nouns ending in -z could be feminine or masculine. Example:
Feminine: luz (Light) – raíz (root) – nuez (walnut)
Masculine: arroz (rice) pez (fish) lápiz (pencil) maiz (corn)
Exercises:
Look at the following words in Spanish, say which words are in feminine or masculine according to their ending: Place an 'F' for the feminine and 'M' for the masculine. Write it with your respective article 'la' or 'el'. Follow the example.
Example:
sombrero (hat) M = el sombrero (the hat)
Pared (Wall) camión (truck) carretera (road) martes (tuesday) desliz (lapse) imagen (image) piel (skin) pez (fish)
Tiburón (shark) ambición (ambition) césped (lawn) suerte (luck) estudiante (student) arroz (rice) luminosidad (luminosity) nuez (nut) montaña (mountain) árbol (tree) gente (people) habilidad (ability) cliente ( client)
Well that's all friends, Next post, we will continue with more Spanish grammar to learn the Spanish language.