Introduction#
Each noun in Spanish has gender and number.
Gender#
Spanish has two genders - masculine and feminine. The gender of a noun always must be learned with the noun itself, although there are a few patterns which can help you guess it.
| Category | Examples | Notable Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| Almost all nouns referring to a male person or animal | toro (bull) | The generic "persona", "víctima" and "estrella" are always feminine. |
| Most nouns ending in -o | barco (boat), libro (book), ojo (eye) | moto (motorcycle), foto (photo) |
| Most nouns ending in -or | amor (love), conductor (conductor), autor (author), calor (heat), licor (liquor) | |
| Most nouns ending in -aje | paisaje (landscape), equipaje (baggage), viaje (journey) | |
| Most nouns ending in -men | certamen (contest), volumen (volume), régimen (diet) | |
| Most nouns ending in -gen | origen (origin) | imagen (image) |
| All country names which do not end in an unstressed -a | Canadá, Chile, Estados Unidos, Japón, México, Reino Unido, Salvador, Panamá, Perú | |
| All river names | Amazonas, Colorado, Nilo, Paraná, Rin, Río Grande, Sena, Támesis | |
| All months | enero (January), febrero (February), marzo (March), abril (April), mayo (May), junio (June), julio (July), agosto (August), septiembre / setiembre (September), octubre (October), noviembre (November), diciembre (December) | |
| All car brands | Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, Porsche, Maserati | |
| All watch brands | Seiko, Longines | |
| All airplane brands | Boeing, Concorde | |
| All languages | chino, español, francés, inglés, ruso | |
| All metals | hierro (iron), cobre (copper), acero (steel), bronce (bronze) | |
| All musical notes | fa sostenido (F sharp) |
| Category | Examples | Notable Exceptions |
|---|---|---|
| Almost all nouns referring to a female person or animal | dama (lady), princesa (princess), reina (queen), muchacha (girl), vaca (cow), gallina (hen) | |
| Most nouns ending in -a | casa (house), puerta (door), caza (hunt), ventana (window), comida (meal) | Nouns denoting males: artista (artist), cura (priest), guardia (guard); tequila, problema, teorema (theorem), carisma (charisma) |
| Most nouns ending in -dad | severidad (severity), ansiedad (anxiety), sociedad (society), enfermedad (illness), verdad (truth), eternidad (eternity) | |
| Most nouns ending in -tad | libertad (liberty) | |
| Most nouns ending in -tud | virtud (virtue), longitud (longitude) | |
| Most nouns ending in -ión | ambición (ambition), región (region), pasión (passion), nación (nation), intuición (intuition) | avión (air plane), camión (truck) |
| Most nouns ending in -umbre | certidumbre (certainty), costumbre (custom), cumbre (peak), muchedumbre (crowd) | |
| Most nouns ending in -ie | intemprie (bad weather), serie (series) | |
| Most nouns ending in -sis | metamorfosis, catarsis, crisis, parálisis | análisis, apocalipsis, éxtasis (ecstasy) |
| Most nouns ending in -tis | artritis (arthritis), apendicitis (appendicitis) | |
| Most islands | Filipinas, Marianas, Malvinas, Córcega, Cerdeña, Canarias | |
| All letters of the alphabet | la a, la b, la h |
Many nouns which denote people come with two forms:
- a masculine form ending in -o for denoting a male person;
- a feminine form ending in -a for denoting a female person.
Example: Nouns with -o / -a Forms
amigo (male friend) / - amiga (female friend)
chico (guy) / chica (girl)
cocinero (male cook) / cocinera (female cook)
Some nouns can be either gender, but change meaning depending on this.
Example: Meaning-Changing Gender
creciente (m) - first quarter of the Moon; creciente (f) - flood
doblez (m) - fold (in a piece of cloth or sheet); doblez (f) - hypocrisy
Some nouns can also occur in both genders without a difference in meaning. This occurs mostly across various geographic regions or when a specific gender for the noun has not been adopted by all speakers yet.
Number#
Spanish has two numbers - singular and plural. The vast majority of nouns inflect to show their number.
The plural of all native words ends in -s:
| Category | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Monosyllabic nouns ending in a vowel or diphthong | Add -s | fe -> fes bici -> bicis pie -> pies té -> tés |
| Nouns ending in a diphthong ending in -y | Add -es | convoy -> convoyes rey -> reyes grey -> greyes |
| Nouns ending in an unstressed vowel or diphthong which does not end in -y | Add -s | agua -> aguas casa -> casas tribu -> tribus |
| Nouns ending in a stressed vowel or diphthong which does not end in -y | Add -es | champú -> champúes tabú -> tabúes However, some exceptions exist: bebé -> bebés; buró -> burós; café -> cafés; cliché -> clichés; dominó -> dominós; gachó -> gachós; sofá -> sofás |
| Nouns ending in -z | Replace -z with -ces | cruz -> cruces desliz -> deslices juez -> jueces lápiz -> lápices raíz -> raíces |
| Pollysyllabic nouns ending in an unstressed -is, -es or -us | Same as singular | análisis -> análisis caries -> caries cactus -> cactus |
| Latin terms | Same as singular | currículum -> currículum déficit -> déficit dosis -> dosis ítem -> ítem |
| Family names which are not stressed on the ultima but end in -z | Same as singular | Martínez -> Martínez Fernández -> Fernández |
| Nouns ending in a consonant other than -z | Add -es | álbum -> álbumes árbol -> árboles jardín -> jardines mártir -> mártires autor -> autores canal -> canales |
The plurals of foreign words vary a lot and must be learned on a case by case basis.
The vast majority of nouns have the same stress in both the singular and plural. This can lead to an acute accent either appearing or disappearing in one of the forms: autobús -> autobuses; balcón -> balcónes; margen -> márgenes; origen -> orígenes.