We use nouns (sustantivos) to describe people, places, things, and concrete or abstract concepts. In Spanish grammar, nouns are classified by gender as masculine or feminine.
Typically, we can identify the gender of a noun in Spanish by the noun ending, however, there are some exceptions.
Masculine Nouns
Rule 1: Nouns ending in -o, an accented vowel, -or, or -aje are usually masculine.
Note: There are exceptions - other noun endings and noun categories that are also considered masculine. Here are some of them:
- nouns of Greek origin ending in -a, -ma
- nouns ending in -ambre
- infinitives as used as nouns
- months and days of the week
- numbers
- geographical names of rivers, lakes, oceans, and mountains (because el río, el lago, el océano, and el monte are masculine)
- compound nouns formed by following a verb with a noun
- names of the chemical elements (except for la plata (silver)
- foreign words adopted into the Spanish language (except for the foreign words related in meaning to a Spanish feminine word)
Feminine Nouns
Rule 2: Nouns ending in -a, -ción, -sión, -ía, -itis, -za, or -dad are usually feminine.
Note: There are exceptions - other noun endings and noun categories that are also considered feminine. Here are some of them:
- letters
- names of islands (because la isla is feminine)
- names of companies (because la compañía (company), sociedad anónima (corporation), corporación (corporation), and empresa (business) are feminine)
Additional Rules
Rule 3: Abbreviations and acronyms typically use the gender of the main noun of what the shortened version stands for.
Rule 4: Two-word nouns carry the gender of the first noun.
Rule 5: Words that are a shorter form of another word or of a phrase keep the gender of the initial word or of the main noun in the phrase.
Quiz
1/4Identify the gender of a noun. nación (nation)