Spanish Nouns

1. Spanish Nouns Gender and Articles

2. Feminine Nouns Feminine Nouns • Words that refer to females • Most words that end in –a • Most words that end in –ción, sión, tad, dad, -umbre Examples señora, niña, mujer, madre, estudiante silla, ventana, mesa, pluma conversación, libertad, costumbre Exception: mano

3. Masculine Nouns Masculine Nouns • Words that refer to males • Most words that end in –o • Most words that come from Greek that end in –ma, -pa, and -ta Examples señor, niño, padre, hermano, estudiante perro, carro, cuaderno, libro drama, mapa, planeta Exception: día

4. Feminine Nouns flor (flower) luz (light) pared (wall) llave (key) Masculine Nouns pupitre (desk) reloj (clock) árbol (tree) papel (paper) lápiz (pencil) borrador (eraser) Exceptions to the Rule

5. Articles • Definite articles • equivalent to “the” • Used when you are talking about a specific noun or group of nouns • el (singular masculine) ex. el niño • la (singular feminine) ex. la niña • los (Plural masculine) ex. los niños • las (Plural feminine) ex. las niñas

6. Articles • Indefinite articles • equivalent to “a,” “an,” or “some” • Used when you are not talking about a specific noun or group of nouns • un (singular masculine) ex. un niño • una (singular feminine) ex. una niña • unos (plural masculine) ex. unos niños • unas (plural feminine) ex. unas niñas

7. Plural Nouns Plural articles are used before plural nouns. Plural articles end in –s. Plural Definite Articles los and las Plural Indefinite Articles unos and unas

8. Plural Nouns • If a noun ends with a vowel, add –s • Example: el cuaderno – los cuadernos • If a noun ends with a consonant, add –es • Example: el pizarrón – los pizarrones • If a noun ends with “z”, change it to “c” and add –es • Example: el lapiz – los lapices • If a noun ends with “es” or “is”, it does not change in the plural. • Example: el lunes – los lunes