SPAN 1 Nouns and Articles 1.1

Nouns and articles Spanish

by Gonzalo Fernandez

A noun is a word used to identify people, animals, places, things, or ideas. Unlike English, all Spanish nouns, even those that refer to non-living things, have gender; that is, they are considered either masculine or feminine. As in English, nouns in Spanish also have number, meaning that they are either singular or plural.

​Nouns that refer to living things

​

Generally, nouns that refer to males, like el hombre, are masculine, while nouns that refer to females, like la mujer, are feminine.

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Many nouns that refer to male beings end in –o or –or. Their corresponding feminine forms end in –a and –ora, respectively.

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Multiple Choice

When you learn a noun in Spanish with ''el'' in front of the word, it means that the noun is....

• masculine

• feminine

Multiple Choice

When you learn a noun in Spanish with ''la'' in front of the word, it means that the noun is....

• masculine

• feminine

​Let's try with some examples where the masculine ends in -o -or and the feminine ends -a -ora

Multiple Choice

El hombre means....

• the man

• the woman

Multiple Choice

La mujer means....

• the man

• the woman

Multiple Choice

La chica means....

• the girl

• the boy

Multiple Choice

El chico means....

• the girl

• the boy

Multiple Choice

''El profesor'' or ''El maestro'' means....

• the teacher (male)

• the teacher (female)

Multiple Choice

''La profesora'' or ''La maestra'' means....

• the teacher (male)

• the teacher (female)

​And now a little more complicate......

​Try it......

​The same noun for masc-fem. You just change the article

​The masculine and feminine forms of nouns that end in –ista, like turista, are the same, so gender is indicated by the article el (masculine) or la (feminine). Some other nouns have identical masculine and feminine forms.

Multiple Choice

The student (female)

• El estudiante

• La estudiante

Multiple Choice

The student (male)

• El estudiante

• La estudiante

Multiple Choice

The tourist (male)

• El turista

• La turista

Multiple Choice

The tourist (female)

• El turista

• La turista

​Nouns non living things

​As shown, certain noun endings are strongly associated with a specific gender, so you can use them to determine if a noun is masculine or feminine.

It is also helpful to learn each noun with its corresponding article, el for masculine and la for feminine.

Multiple Choice

Almost always, nouns ending in -o, -ma and -s are....

• masculine

• feminine

Multiple Choice

Almost always, nouns ending in -a, -ción and -dad are....

• masculine

• feminine

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el cuaderno

• la cuaderno

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el diario

• la diario

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el computadora

• la computadora

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el escuela

• la escuela

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el probleMA

• la probleMA

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• la lecCIÓN

• el lecCIÓN

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el autobúS

• la autobúS

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el comuniDAD

• la comuniDAD

Multiple Choice

When you learn a noun in Spanish with ''el'' in front of the word, it means that the noun is....

• masculine

• feminine

Multiple Choice

When you learn a noun in Spanish with ''la'' in front of the word, it means that the noun is....

• masculine

• feminine

​

​Another reason to memorize the gender of every noun is that there are common exceptions to the rules of gender.

​

For example, el mapa (map) and el día (day) end in –a, but are masculine. La mano (hand) ends in –o, but is feminine.

​

​

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el mapa

• la mapa

Multiple Choice

Pick the correct

• el mano

• la mano

​Plural in Spanish

​To form the plural, add -s to nouns that end in a vowel. For nouns that end in a consonant, add -es. For nouns that end in z, change the z to c, then add –es.

​

​

Multiple Choice

The plural of ''chico'' is.

• chicos

• chicoes

Multiple Choice

The plural of ''diario'' is.

• diarios

• diarioes

Multiple Choice

The plural of ''nacionalidad'' is.

• nacionalidads

• nacionalidades

Multiple Choice

The plural of ''profesor'' is.

• profesores

• profesors

​Articles in Spanish

As you know, English often uses definite articles (the) and indefinite articles (a, an) before nouns. Spanish also has definite and indefinite articles. Unlike English, Spanish articles vary in form because they agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.

​Definite articles

​

Spanish has four forms that are equivalent to the English definite article the. Use definite articles to refer to specific nouns.

play

Multiple Choice

Make it plural : El diccionario

• Las diccionarios

• Los diccionarios

• La diccionario

Multiple Choice

Make it plural : El chico

• Las chicos

• Los chicos

• Los chico

Multiple Choice

Make it plural : La escuela

• Las escuelas

• Los escuelas

• Las escuela

Multiple Choice

Make it plural : El profesor

• Los profesors

• Los profesores

Multiple Choice

Make it singular : Las lecciones

• Las leccions

• La lección

• El lección

Multiple Choice

Make it singular : Las nacionalidades

• La nacionalidades

• El nacionalidad

• La nacionalidad

Indefinite articles

​

Spanish has four forms that are equivalent to the English indefinite article, which according to context may mean a, an, or some. Use indefinite articles to refer to unspecified persons or things.

Multiple Choice

How do you say ''A man''

• Un hombre

• Una hombre

Multiple Choice

How do you say ''A girl''

• Una chica

• Un chica

Multiple Choice

How do you say ''Some male teachers''

• Unas profesores

• Unos profesores

Multiple Choice

How do you say ''Some women''

• Unos mujeres

• Unas mujeres

Multiple Choice

Make it plural - Una computadora

• Unos computadoras

• Unas computadoras

Multiple Choice

Make it plural - Un chico

• Unos chicos

• Unas chicas

Poll

How did you feel about this lesson?

• It was helpful, I understand it better

• I knew most of it, but I had fun

• I knew most of it and it was boring

• I still don't understand it.