Basic Spanish grammar: gender, article & nouns
Most nouns referring to male people or animals are masculine. Additionally, nouns ending in -o are often masculine.
El chico (The boy)El perro (The dog)El libro (The book)Nouns referring to female people or animals are generally feminine. Nouns ending in -a are often feminine.
La chica (The girl)La gata (The cat - female)La mesa (The table)There are exceptions, and not all words ending in -o are masculine, nor are all words ending in -a feminine.
Día (day) is masculine.Mano (hand) is feminine.Articles also reflect gender. The definite articles are "el" for masculine nouns and "la" for feminine nouns. The indefinite articles are "un" for masculine and "una" for feminine.
El perro es rápido. (The dog is fast.)La mesa es grande. (The table is big.)Understanding the gender of nouns is crucial for forming grammatically correct sentences and for proper word agreement within a sentence. While it may seem challenging at first, practice and exposure to the language will help reinforce the patterns and exceptions associated with gender in Spanish.
