Gender and Articles in Spanish
One of the first differences English speakers notice in Spanish is grammatical gender. Nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine, and this affects the articles and adjectives used with them. You don’t have to memorize the gender of every noun right away, but understanding basic patterns will help.
Definite and Indefinite Articles
In English we have only one definite article (the) and two indefinite articles (a/an). Spanish uses different forms depending on gender and number. A frequency list of common words by MosaLingua highlights that articles like el, la, los, las, un and una are among the most frequent words in Spanish. Here is a summary:
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Plural Masculine | Plural Feminine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| the | el | la | los | las |
| a/an | un | una | unos | unas |
Determining Gender
Most nouns ending in ‑o are masculine (el libro – the book) and most ending in ‑a are feminine (la mesa – the table). There are exceptions, so it’s best to learn nouns with their article. Here are some other patterns:
- Nouns ending in ‑ión or ‑dad are usually feminine: la canción (song), la ciudad (city).
- Nouns referring to people often have both masculine and feminine forms: el amigo / la amiga (friend).
- Some nouns maintain the same form for both genders and are distinguished by the article: el estudiante / la estudiante (student).
Practice
Try pairing new vocabulary with its article to internalize the gender. As you expand your vocabulary, you’ll start to recognize patterns and exceptions naturally.