Gender and Number Nouns
A noun is a person, place, animal, thing, or an idea.
· Proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Mexico, San Juan, and Español), is almost always capitalized
· Common nouns name everything else; things that usually are not capitalized (chico, árbol, luna, zapato).
· Count nouns name things that can be counted (cuatro sillas, dos plumas, algunas platas)
· Mass nouns name things that can't be counted (agua, aire, sangre) you can’t say they have 3 air or 4 bloods.
· Collective nouns take a singular form but are composed of more than one individual person or items (familia, equipo, compania, escuela, and grupo).
In Spanish, all nouns have a gender…masculine or feminine. Normally if a noun ends in:
· o it is masculine
· a it is feminine
MASCULINE NOUNS: Besides words ending in –o
1. Words ending in L-O-N-E-R-S are “typically” masculine words
L: el árbol, el sol
O: el zapato, el libro
N: el pan, el fin
E: el arte, el puente
R: el azucar, el amor
S: el paraguas, el sacapuntas
2. Words stemming from Greek origin
-ma: el clima, el tema, el programa, el poema
-pa: el mapa, el papa (the Pope)
-ta: el planeta, el poeta, el cometa
3. The days of the week are always masculine.
4. Words ending in “aje” usually are masculine.
el viaje, el paisaje
FEMININE NOUNS: Besides words ending in –a
1. Words ending in ON – ION – D – TUD – DAD – Z - UMBRE
ÓN: la razón
IÓN: la nación, la televisión
D: la red, la salud
TUD: la virtud
DAD: la ciudad, la navidad
Z: la paz, la luz
UMBRE: la costumbre, la legumbre
