Gramática: Sustantivos (Nouns)

Gender of nouns

Nouns in English are masculine, feminine or neuter (he, she, it).  Mother is feminine ("she"); uncle is masculine ("he"); book is neuter ("it").  In Spanish, nouns are only masculine or feminine.  Book is "he" and house is "she."  There is no "it."

1. Masculine nouns:

Words that refer to men and words that end in -o are usually masculine.  To say "the" in front of a masculine noun we use "el":
          el hombre  the man          el horario  the schedule

Práctica: Fill in el (the) before the following masculine nouns:

_______ hijo son

_______ padre

_______ doctor

_______ niño

2. Feminine nouns:

Words that refer to women and words that end in -a, -ción, -sión and -dad are usually feminine.  To say "the" in front of a feminine noun we use "la":

          la mujer   the woman                  la casa   the house

Práctica - Fill in la (the) before the following feminine nouns:

_______ montaña	_______ madre	_______ conversación
_______ hija  daughter	_______ electricidad	_______ pasión