Noun Gender - Género de los sustantivos

Beginner Spanish · Noun gender

Masculine and Feminine Nouns in Spanish

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender. A noun can be masculine or feminine, and that gender affects nearby words such as articles and many adjectives.

Your next small win: recognize common gender patterns, remember important exceptions, and match nouns with the correct article and adjective forms.

Use endings as clues

Common Gender Patterns

Word endings can often help you predict a noun's gender, but they are clues rather than perfect rules.

Often masculine

el libro
the book, common -o pattern
el zapato
the shoe, common -o pattern
el mensaje
the message, common -aje pattern

Many nouns ending in -o, -or, and -aje are masculine.

Often feminine

la casa
the house, common -a pattern
la canción
the song, common -ción pattern
la universidad
the university, common -dad pattern

Many nouns ending in -a, -ción, -sión, and -dad are feminine.

Words ending in -e

estudiante
student
la llave
the key

Nouns ending in -e can be masculine or feminine, so the ending alone is not a reliable guide.

Use the patterns

Give the correct article with libro, casa, and universidad.

Do not trust the ending every time

Important Gender Exceptions

Some very common nouns do not follow the pattern you might expect from their ending.

la mano
the hand, feminine
el día
the day, masculine
el mapa
the map, masculine
el problema
the problem, masculine
la foto
the photo, feminine
la moto
the motorcycle, feminine

Best habit: learn a new noun together with its article. Memorize el problema rather than only problema.

Remember three exceptions

Give the correct article with mano, mapa, and problema.

Some words for people change form

People and Gender

Some nouns referring to people have different masculine and feminine forms.

profesor
male teacher
profesora
female teacher
amigo
male friend
amiga
female friend
niño
boy
niña
girl

Words for people and animals often have forms that reflect gender. Most object nouns do not switch gender. La mesa stays feminine, and el libro stays masculine.

Change the person word

Give the feminine forms of profesor, amigo, and niño.

Gender affects nearby words

Articles and Adjectives Must Agree

Knowing the noun's gender helps you choose the article and, with many adjectives, the correct adjective ending.

el libro
the book
la casa
the house
los libros
the books
las casas
the houses

Adjective agreement

el libro rojo
the red book
la casa roja
the red house
los libros rojos
the red books
las casas rojas
the red houses

Agreement: many adjectives change to match both gender and number. Compare rojo, roja, rojos, and rojas.

El mapa está en la pared.
The map is on the wall.
La mano está limpia.
The hand is clean.
La universidad es grande.
The university is large.
El problema es difícil.
The problem is difficult.

Learning a new word

A
¿“Problema” es masculino o femenino?
Is “problema” masculine or feminine?
B
Es masculino. Se dice “el problema”.
It is masculine. You say “el problema.”
A
¿Y “mano”?
And “mano”?
B
Es femenina. Se dice “la mano”.
It is feminine. You say “la mano.”
Useful questions when learning vocabulary
¿Es masculino o femenino?
Is it masculine or feminine?
¿Cómo se dice “table” en español?
How do you say “table” in Spanish?
¿Qué significa esta palabra?
What does this word mean?
¿Cómo se escribe?
How do you spell it?

Make the words agree

Say “the red book” and “the red house.”

Your turn · 8 quick questions

Practice: Noun Gender

Choose the answer that best fits. Focus on common patterns, important exceptions, and article and adjective agreement.

Audio uses your device's Spanish text-to-speech voice. A useful habit is to learn each new noun together with its article, such as el libro, la casa, el problema, and la mano.