Spanish Gender: El, La, and Noun Gender

In English, objects are neutral. A table is just a table. A book is just a book.

In Spanish, every single noun (person, place, or thing) has a gender. It is either masculine or feminine.

This does not mean a table is a girl or a book is a boy. It is simply a grammatical category that affects the words around it.

The General Rule: -O and -A

Most of the time, you can tell the gender of a noun by looking at its last letter.

• Masculine nouns usually end in -o.
  • el libo (the book)
  • el chico (the boy)
  • el gato (the cat)
• Feminine nouns usually end in -a.
  • la mesa (the table)
  • la chica (the girl)
  • la casa (the house)

Exceptions to the Rule

Because languages are messy, there are exceptions. You simply have to memorize these.

• Words ending in -ma are often masculine (many come from Greek):
  • el problema (the problem)
  • el idioma (the language)
• Some common irregulars:
  • el día (the day) - Masculine despite ending in -a
  • el mapa (the map) - Masculine despite ending in -a
  • la mano (the hand) - Feminine despite ending in -o
  • la foto (the photo) - Short for fotografía

Definite Articles: The

In English, we have one word for “the”. In Spanish, we have four, depending on gender and number (singular/plural).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	el	los
Feminine	la	las

• el gato -> los gatos
• la casa -> las casas

Indefinite Articles: A / An / Some

In English, we say “a/an” or “some”. In Spanish, these also must match gender and number.

	Singular (A/An)	Plural (Some)
Masculine	un	unos
Feminine	una	unas

• un libro (a book) -> unos libros (some books)
• una manzana (an apple) -> unas manzanas (some apples)

Practice

Fill in the correct article for “the” (el, la, los, las).

1. _______ perro (masculine singular)
2. _______ chicas (feminine plural)
3. _______ problema (masculine singular exception)
4. _______ mesas (feminine plural)

Answers

1. el perro
2. las chicas
3. el problema
4. las mesas