Nouns in Spanish
A noun is a word which refers to any names of a person, place, thing or an idea. In Spanish all nouns are either masculine or feminine.
For Example:
El chico- the boy.
La chica- the girl.
El hombre- the man.
La mujer- the woman.
El libro- the book.
La revista- the magazine.
To identify gender of nouns in Spanish:
Generally nouns ending with -o, -r, -z or -e are masculine.
For example:
El libro- the book
El hombre- the man
El doctor- the doctor
El lápiz- the pencil
Usually nouns end with -a, -ión, -dad, -tud, -umbre are feminine nouns.
For example:
La hija- the daughter.
La guitarra- the guitar.
La sociedad – the society.
La verdad- the truth.
La nación- the nation.
La canción- the song.
La televisión- the television.
La gratitud- the gratitude, thankfulness.
La costumbre- the custom.
Many nouns form the feminine by changing the final -o of the masculine to -a, vice-versa.
For example:
El señor- sir, mr.
La señora- ma’am, ms. (unmarried female), mrs. (married female)
El maestro, la maestra- the teacher.
El profesor, la profesora- the professor.
Some of nouns exist same for both masculine and feminine, only gender can be differentiate by using the article. (el, la, un, una, los, las, unos & unas)
For example:
El atleta- the male athlete.
La atleta- the female athlete.
El artista- the male artist.
La artista- the female artist.
Los estudiantes- the male students.
Las estudiantes- the female students.
un pianista- a male pianist.
una pianista- a female pianist.
Exceptional nouns:.
For example:
La calle- the street.
El idioma- the language.
La fiebre- the fever.
La radio- the radio.
La mano- the hand.
La moto- the motercycle.
La llave- the key.
La gente- the people.
El día- the day.
El paneta- the planate.
El problema- the problem
El tema- the topic, subject.
El programa- the program.
El sistema- the system.
El mapa- the map.
El sofá- the sofa.
La frase- the sentence.
La piel- the skin.
La flor- the flower.
La clase- the class.
If the words are ending with an unaccented vowel then just add -s and if the words are ending in a consonant or an accented vowel then add -es to make plural noun.
For example:
El libro (the book) – los libros (the books)
El bambú (the bamboo) – los bambúes (the bamboos)
El papel (the paper) – los papeles (the papers)
El mes (the month)- los meses (the months)
Words ending with -z change z to c then add -es to make plural noun.
For example:
El lápiz (the pencil) – los lápices (the pencils)
La cruz (the cross) – las cruces (the crosses)
Words of more than one syllable end with -s remain unchanged, unless or until last syllable is stressed.
For example:
El lunes (monday) – los lunes (mondays)
El paraguas ( umbrella) – los paraguas (umbrellas)
El inglés (englishman) – los ingleses ( englishmen)
El francés (Frenchman) – los franceses (frenchmen)
When nouns of relationship and rank used in the form of masculine plural, then it has two meanings.
For example:
Los chicos – boys, the boy and girl.
Los padres – fathers, parents.
Los reyes – kings, the king and queen.
Los señores – Mr. and Mrs.
Los hermanos – brothers, the brother and sister.
Abstract nouns made by placing -lo before an adjective are basically neuter in gender and that does not have plural form.
For example:
Lo bueno – the good.
Lo malo – the bad.