Nouns that end with -ma, -pa, -ta, or any of the letters in the word LONERS are usually masculine. But for example to most of us the word mdicAsounds wrong- we wouldnt use it. (2020,May 08 ). Add vacation to one of your lists below, or create a new one. For objects and concepts, Spanish gender is, The Spanish masculine gender can be used to talk about a, Most feminine words in Spanish end with , Singular feminine words that start with a, Certain nouns related to professions have fixed endings. 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Feminine forms. That tree is very old. #RAEconsultas Although vacaciones is the majority use, the singular vacacin is also correct: la vacacin veraniega (P. Lan Entralgo). To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. Thinking of them together might help you remember their correct gender. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Adjectives that end with an -e or a consonant cannot be modified to express the Spanish grammatical gender. Retrieved from https://lingualinkup.com/el-la-spanish/. We know that all people have gender, but in Spanish all nouns have gender. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and getting angry about things on. You will notice that when adjectives modify such words, they are feminine: El agua est fra o tibia? Los peces son muy bonitos. For that reason, this guide covers all the information you need to understand this topic. Or el agua in singular, while las aguas in plural. There are one hundred chairs available. In English, you use a form of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are, was, were, etc.) Because the gender of the noun changes the article or adjective that you can use with the noun. Therefore, "red" is "rojo" but it becomes "roja" with a. When you are starting out in Spanish knowing the gender of nouns is very difficult. We covered o above because it really requires its own section, but this is a good general rule of thumb. Conseiller(re) aux ventes Corbeil lectromnager recherche une personne qui aime offrir aux clients une exprience de magasinage remarquable et qui a un bon sens de l'analyse des besoins. They went to Europe on vacation. Search millions of Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and the internet. Here are some of the letters that we usually see at the end of masculine words. Subscribe to the Lawless Spanish newsletter, New lessons and features in your inbox every Thursday. When they refer to professions, words ending with -ista have the same form for masculine and feminine: el/la dentista, el/la artista, el/la periodista, el/la pianista. In Spanish if there is a group of people, both males and females, you use the masculine to address them all, so masculine will work in most cases. More examples: rea (el rea/las reas), aula (el aula/las aulas), guila (el guila/las guilas), etc. You know that people and animals are masculine or feminine, but did you know that nouns in Spanish have gender? So with people you may not know well, perhaps someone older, or people of authority/higher status than oneself such as a college professor. Be aware that these guidelines are not set in stone, and there are some exceptions that youll need to memorize. That color is pretty. (Translation of vacation from the Cambridge English-Spanish Dictionary Cambridge University Press), (Translation of vacation from the GLOBAL English-Spanish Dictionary 2020 K Dictionaries Ltd), Watch your back! The following Spanish nouns all denote living creatures. Search millions of Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and the internet. I like the pink dress. I need a vacation from my family after the reunion. In those cases, if we want to specify the sex, we need to add macho (male) or hembra (female): Finally, a word can change its meaning according to its ending. To put it in simple terms, if youre working with a Spanish masculine noun, you must make sure its modifiers are also masculine. The song is too long. This semester is really tough. So far, youve learned some of the most common endings used to form feminine and masculine words in Spanish and their exceptions. Dont worry! Generally, if the masculine form ends with an -o, to form the feminine you just need to replace it with an -a: If the masculine form ends witn a consonant, to form the feminine we just add an -a: They usually have the same form for masculine and feminine: el/la estudiante, el/la cantante, el/la agente, el/la paciente, etc. (in summer) a. veranear Copyright 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited vacation noun 1 especially (Britain) (Jur) receso (m) vacacional (formal); periodo (m) vacacional The letters of the alphabet are feminine: la a, la be, la ce, la de, etc. Names of lakes, oceans, seas, and rivers. Nouns ending with -dez and -umbre are usually feminine, too: la solidez, la desnudez, la costumbre, la incertidumbre, etc. -Tud, like in the word actitud (attitude) is also a common ending for feminine nouns. 501 lessons. For instance, a cat can be el gato (masculine) or la . So, if you put a . These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. What gender is the sea in your mind? The name Isaac means 'he will laugh.'. Privacy | Terms of Use. Which brings us to the only exception to these rules! Estas manzanas estn muy agrias. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. For example, to say, 'My brother is an interesting person' in Spanish, you would say Mi hermano es una persona interesante. las vacaciones and la estaci'on. "Favourite" is "favorito" in Spanish. For English speakers, it is hard to determine when a noun is feminine or masculine simply because nouns in English have no gender. Beware of exceptions! Tell Me In Spanish (tellmeinspanish.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. And it gets easier with time and practice. Ests muy estresado; necesitas irte de vacaciones. Dictionaries always indicate the grammatical gender of a noun! Most Spanish adjectives must agree in gender and number with the accompanying noun. el day is masculine and is the ONLY exception. Miami Beach, FL 33139, 1000 5th St, suite 200 * This is the only word ending in -ua that takes a masculine article. From students and tourists to doctors and soldiers whove moved and visited here over the years. Because aguas is plural in the second example, the s on the end of the article las breaks up the stressed a in aguas. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". Most words that. Check these examples of sentences with colors in Spanish: El rosa es mi color preferido. Colors are ADJECTIVES. 33 chapters | is vacation in spanish masculine or feminine. vacation translate: vacances [feminine, plural], vacances [feminine, plural], passer ses vacances, vacances, passer des. Nouns ending in -o, an accented vowel, -or, or -aje are usually masculine. Well break it down into three basic groups. Me encanta el salmn ahumado. Control of polling in presence of vacations in heavy traffic with applications to satellite and mobile radio systems. When talking about people, animals and occupations things get a bit blurry. man, dog, house). In Spanish, all nouns have a gender. In Spanish, the word "tea" is used for a wide variety of beverages from coffee to cold brew to water to iced tea to tea bags and more. The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. Sometimes the word just breaks the rules, and we have to memorize that they are different, such as la mano (hand). Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. You are too stressed out; you should go on holiday. Otherwise, it would sound like laaagua. For living things (such as people and animals), the grammatical gender is associated with the biological gender: El perro de Luis es blanco. Take Note: When it comes to living things (people and animals), masculine nouns are always used when referring to a mixed group (no matter how many females or males are) or when talking about the group as a whole. Los nios juegan en el parque. But since doctor refers to a person and an occupation, its the gender of the doctor that will determine the article and ending. This restaurant is pretty famous. La quiete - the quiet. Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions. As you can see, there are adjectives that follow the regular rule for endings using -o/-as/-os/-as (rojo, amarillo, negro, blanco, morado). by Classroom52. Little by little, and loads of practice is the best remedy. We do this in order to avoid a cacophony, a mixture of unpleasant sounds to our ears. Copyright 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited. El DIA = THE DAY Well start with the most obvious, which is that most words that end in o are going to be masculine. To do so, youll use Spanish articles, adjectives, or pronouns. However, with some specific nouns (especially when we talk about professions) we do replace the -e with an -a, and both forms are correct: El presidente -> La presidente / La presidenta. We know, we know, the exceptions are very frustrating. Theres a cold front in the city. Just think of the Spanish word for problem: el problema! El maquillaje de Claudia es muy bueno. When referring to people or animals, most of the time Spanish nouns can be transformed into feminine words by simply replacing the -o with an -a. Masculine forms. Days and months are masculine: el lunes, el mircoles, el sbado, este abril, ese enero, etc. Feminine nouns that end in -o * These words are shortened from words that do end in A: discoteca, fotografa, motocicleta, pornografa, and radiodifusin. Because there area lot. FR8 En Ville - Location Sort - Masculine/Feminine Group sort. All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. You will get new updates by email, as well as a copy of my ebook, the Definitive Guide to Learn Conjugations in Spanish. Learn more in the Cambridge English-French Dictionary. (m) means that a noun is masculine. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. However your friend is a hypochondriac and you need to assure him/her everything is going to be fine. Miami Beach, FL 33139, All Rights Reserved, 2017-2023. Because gender is such an integral part of learning Spanish your best bet as an English speaker is to acquire each new word with its respective article. They actually come from Ancient Greek and they are all masculine: el dilema, el emblema, el teorema, el fonema, el lexema. All of the nouns ending with -o are usually masculine: el bolgrafo, el dinero, el edificio, el vaso, etc. Her bedroom is purple. But, as youll see in the examples below, some popular words are the exception to this rule. Nouns in Spanish can be either feminine or masculine, and this distinction can often seem illogical to people who don't speak Spanish. A noun is a word used to denominate a person, thing, place or concept. Nouns ending with -a are usually feminine: la mesa, la cama, la casa, la palabra, etc. La serpiente - the serpent. hand From Latin manus (" hand " ). Recuerdas aquella vez que estuvimos de vacaciones en Vermont? For 15 years we've taught Spanish to hundreds of thousands of learners. Thats why agua, a feminine noun, in singular is el agua. (university) (United Kingdom) a. la vacaciones (F) to take a vacation tomarse unas vacaciones intransitive verb 2. Many people mistakenly think the gender of a noun in Spanish is determined by who uses that object. El telfono is masculine. A Spanish noun is a word we use to name people, things, concepts, places, and animals. With these rules below, youll know which to use with every word el or la. One of the first things that Spanish students learn is that most Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine and most that end in -a are feminine. Idioms with the word back, Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2023. This attribute allows us to classify words as either masculine or feminine. Tu vecina es muy ruidosa. (= Is the water cold or lukewarm?). vacacin ( bah - kah - syohn ) feminine noun 1. ). One of the first things that Spanish students learn is that most Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine and most that end in -a are feminine. In some cases, you will be able to tell the gender of a word based on the ending of the word itself. Esa cantante es muy talentosa. If you liked this post, you can share it with someone else who might find it helpful! I like the red bag more. When describing a masculine noun like "Amigo", we must use a masculine adjective as well, such as "Honesto". Men wish that they had been warriors, or are proud that they once were. The adjective for Brasil is brasileo. Composition 2 - 1020 Tema: Vacation plans Imagine you are planning your next vacation with your best friend to a Spanish speaking country or a specific city (assigned by your instructor). Un - unos. Because of this, most people assume that vestido is feminine, only to find out that theyre wrong. noun uk / veke.n/ us / veke.n/ A1 [ C or U ] US (UK holiday) a time when someone does not go to work or school but is free to do what they want, such as travel or relax vacaciones We're taking a vacation in June. While some of these exceptions just have to be memorized, you can scroll up and see that a lot of exceptions have their own rules in the-ta, -ma and-pasection. Fast, easy, reliable language certification, 35,000+ worksheets, games, and lesson plans. For these types of cases, there are certain guidelines that can give you a better idea of how Spanish gender is formed. Nouns that end in -ma are masculine, such as the word problema (problem), Nouns that end in -pa, like the word mapa (map), are also masculine. Time to dive into a topic that combines grammar and etiquette. Benoit Hamon, CEO de SINGA, est venu sur Komune pour donner des faits face aux ides Given that this may be a new concept for new learners, many people wonder what grammatical gender in Spanish is. We say EL agua frA (The cold water). Here are the exceptions to this rule. You cant apply it to plural nouns or that would mean that every word would be masculine. frias, sair de frias, frias [feminine, vacances [feminine, plural], passer ses vacances, vacanza, andare in vacanza, (passare le vacanze), Test your vocabulary with our fun image quizzes, Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. Two examples are doctora (female doctor) and camisa (shirt). Therefore, its correct to say: Tengo cien pesos. Lessons for Adults & Kids. Unfortunately, there are not as many rules to know whether a noun in Spanish is masculine. Take Note: You can also imply the gender of these nouns by saying the name of the person youre talking about. Spanish speakers always like to have vacations in plural. LinguaLinkup.com 2023. Nouns ending in -cin, -sin, -dad, -tad and -tud are feminine: la cancin, relacin, la televisin, la expresin, la ciudad, la verdad, la libertad, la amistad, la solicitud, la juventud, etc. Most nouns that end in "a" are feminine nouns. (Check out this link to learn how to use articles in Spanish). coming up later. "Masculine and Feminine in Spanish (el & la): The Rules & Their Many Exceptions." Objectos de clase (masculine - feminine ) Group sort. While some exceptions (like la mano) are just exceptions, many words that seemingly end in -o are actually shortenings of other words. A few of the most common ones are: Any words that are actually a shorter form of a longer word. On your particular example of a dropdown menu with the names of languages, you don't have to worry because there is only one name for (the language) Spanish: espaol, masculine. When you first start learning Spanish, grammatical gender can seem arbitrary and confusing. Other nouns that are always feminine are those words that end with -ad or -ed. My cousins design is not finished. The opposite time of day, la noche (night), is feminine, so you can think of them as a pair. by Classroom52. Here are the common endings for feminine words: The ending -a is usually feminine, just like -o is masculine. either to a group of male persons or a . Spanish also has four forms of the indefinite article that correspond to the words a/an and some/any in English. Luis dog is white. While this is actually true for a lot of words, there are so many exceptions to this rule that it often becomes more of a problem than a solution. Because coming from English you dont have any reference to hold on to, sometimes our memory can only recall so much and we mix up the gender. Given that its key for your conversations and it can also help you practice this spelling change, in this guide, well learn the probar conjugation Hola! This t-shirt is black. Which is why it uses the article las which correctly matches the nouns gender. Cardinal directions are masculine, too: el norte, el sur, el este, el oeste. We can check this by going to the plural and to its modifiers: The waters = las aguas" The water is cold = "El agua est fria." The bull is very aggressive, and the cow is very calm. If the occupation ends in -a it tends not to change. One might phrase it like thisand I am sincerely sorry if the address here is too masculine, but there is no help for it. Words ending in -ismo are simply the Spanish counterparts to the English isms because they share the same Latin root. Here it might help to connect it with a feminine word that is opposite, so you can remember the words in pairs. La mano (hand) is feminine, but el pie (foot) is masculine. For example: Subscribe for free weekly updates from this Spanish Language site. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. In contrast to English, the Spanish plural of the masculine forms of these words refers to "not-all-feminine" groups, i.e. Even though the brother is a man, the word persona is always feminine. The Masculine and feminine 2 Whack-a-mole. Larry fue a Londres un par de das durante las vacaciones, El ao pasado pasamos unas vacaciones maravillosas en Mallorca. El ao que viene voy a tomarme unas vacaciones en Europa. My kitty is sick. Dont be shy and post a message! This discussion is especially alive with occupations. Words that end in -in are feminine nouns, such as religin (religion). Names of rivers, oceans, and seas are always masculine: el Ro de la Plata, el Amazonas, el Misisipi, el Atlntico, el Pacfico, el Mediterrneo, etc. If the noun is masculine and singular, use the masculine, singular ending (usually - o ). Our car is dirty. Its Nuestro coche est sucio. A student learns how to identify gender in Spanish. I've still got some vacation time left before the end of the year. The mechanic works every day. For example, we usually say la moto for motorcycle, which ends in an -o. But fortunately, Spanish grammatical gender does have some rules you can follow to figure out when you needel and when you needla. I know we said we would only be giving you rules that didnt have any exceptions, the rules above are full proof- its when you get to people and occupations where you need to put your thinking cap on. Thomas grew up in suburban Massachusetts, and moved to New York City for college. The same thing in the other direction the rules say it should be el, but the word is actually la. Feminine nouns have different letters at the end of them than masculine ones. El toro es muy agresivo y la vaca muy tranquila. Sofia is very smart. The word in the example sentence does not match the entry word. Dolphins are adorable. Grammatical gender is a property of Spanish nouns. However, the gender in Spanish language can be really tricky sometimes. But be careful! Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. Regardless of the rules we stated above, if the word is referring to an animal or a person, then the article must correspond to the gender of the animal or person. I can help you with that! This power point explains how Spanish nouns, articles and adjectives have gender and number. My cousin is also smart. El nino y el gato. There is not a single pattern, as you can see from the following examples. To keep the sentence consistent, adjectives, articles, and pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. In these cases, we use. Im going to list them one by one, and also I will teach you what the exceptions are if there are any. Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). It's the person's gender that will determine whether we use el or la. (general) a. vacation (United States) Me urge una vacacin! These nouns are: Mi caballo es negro y mi yegua parda. When My Masculine Met My Feminine | Tijana Tamburic | TEDxBucharest La disco is short for la discoteca, andla foto is short forla fotografa. Lesson outline 1. His shoes are very expensive. Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. Spanish Survival Kit: Asking for Directions [2022]. Copyright (c) Minerva Webworks LLC All Rights Reserved. Talking about people, especially family members, often includes referring to gender. Yet if you are referring to a person or occupation this is what happens: EL espa = The spy (if the spy is a man) LA espa = The spy (if the spy is a woman. This site also participates in other affiliate programs, including CJ and other sites, and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies, but in no way increases the cost to you if you opt to make a purchase from my links. Como La Flor, by Selena. It's a good place to start for beginners though! The Amazon River is the worlds largest river. As established before, when it comes to people, you can usually form the Spanish gender by changing the -o for an -a. In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. The grammatical gender is an arbitrary classification that divides nouns into two types: masculines or feminines. trabajador (feminine trabajadora, masculine plural trabajadores, feminine plural trabajadoras) hard-working Synonyms: currante, trabajante; Noun . There are three genders in Spanish: masculine, feminine, and neutral. Many students assume that confusing the gender of words in Spanish is not a big deal. Singapore is very expensive. A common mistake made by Spanish learners is to confuse the number one, uno, with un, which means a/an. Below youll find a list of words and be able to find out for yourself if it is masculine (el) or feminine (la). La periodista es muy insistente. Masculine nouns are used with articles like el or un and have adjectives that end in -o, while female nouns use the articles la or una and have adjectives that end in -a. However, in certain situations, changing the gender of a noun can also change its meaning, as you can see in the graphic and examples below: Mi mam tiene un cerezo. Este semestre est bien pesado.I desperately need a vacation! There are some words that end with -o, -ma, -pa, -ta, or LONERS that are feminine. My mom has a cherry tree. More often than not, the endings change according to the gender of the person or animal: Sometimes only the article changes. Why? My students are already speaking Spanish and using it in their everyday lives. Why? This means that every word for a person, place, thing or idea is either masculine or feminine. Let's look at the word persona (person) to help explain this idea. No me di cuenta, ya lo correg , Your email address will not be published. Necesito un respiro de mi familia despus de la reunin. And to improve your Spanish even further, book a lesson with me! In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. La noche - the night. Tom la decisin equivocada. Some of the exceptions occur because of how the words were treated in other languages, such as Latin and Greek. With these rules below, you'll know which to use with every word "el" or "la". . If the noun is plural and feminine, then use the plural, feminine ending (usually - las ). And they can be a little confusing because sometimes the noun endings change (the masculineel doctor and the feminine la doctora), but sometimes they dont (the masculineel poeta and the femininela poeta). La pared est recin pintada. We can include el/la cineasta within this group. In Spanish nationalities are expressed through origin adjectives (known as gentilicios in Spanish). My parents spent the Easter holidays in Argentina. The light is quite bright. Not only in Spanish, but also in other Romance and non-Romance languages, such as German and Russian. . Youll find a few Spanish singular feminine words that end with -a that are preceded by a masculine article. My dogs are very quiet. Les gusta irse de vacaciones a las Bahamas. Claudias make-up is very good. These adjectives are derived from the name of that place. Most adjectives in Spanish can be either feminine or masculine depending on the genre of the accompanying noun. The user may also prefer cheaper vacations and may have desiderata or wishes such as visiting an attraction park in each stop. You will need to memorize rule-breaking words like la mano (hand) and el d'ia (day). During the day Im a freelancer and online marketer, while at night Im here writing for students of the world wide web looking to learn Spanish. Colours in Spanish. Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English. These key rules will make it easier for you! One of the biggest exceptions to the LONERS rule we talked about for masculine nouns above is-in. As a result, here are some frequently asked questions that most of my students usually have. The ending -a is a good indicator that youre most likely dealing with a feminine Spanish word. Your lipstick is so pretty! This can be confusing, especially when some words, like persona (person), can refer to a person that is man or a woman. Singapur es muy caro. Dijiste que the letters of the alphabet are masculine, pero son feminine, Muchas gracias, Ann! And it sounds quite logical if nouns refer to living creatures: Masculine: El hombre (The man) Feminine: La mujer (The woman) Masculine: Un caballo (A horse) Feminine: Una yegua (A mare) But what about nouns that stand for non-living things? How do numbers and gender affect adjectives in Spanish? Your email address will not be published. [Determiner] + [noun] + [verb conjugated] + [adjective]. Our tutors at Fluenz Spanish Immersion like to explain the noun gender in this way: Think of the article almost as part of the word. I love smoked salmon. 2. This semester is really tough. Masculine Nouns Here are some of the letters that we usually see at the end of masculine words. Also, notice that there are masculine nouns that end in -l, -z, and -n. I would recommend you learn the following by heart. La foto, can actually shed some light into one of the rules for feminine words. When working as adjectives, numbers have to agree in gender and number with the noun they are modifying. Its important to know the grammatical gender of a noun in Spanish because all of the elements referring to them (articles, adjectives, pronouns) will agree in grammatical gender, too: There are some rules that you can follow when it comes to identifying masculine and feminine in Spanish. According to the standard rules, you would think the opposite, but as youll see in the exceptions below, youll learn the nuances with the Spanish language.
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