People & Animals (1/2)
Spanish: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 11.3.1
Gender of Nouns for People and Animals
The most common noun endings are 'o' for masculine nouns, and 'a' for feminine nouns. But there are others. When talking about animals and people they can either be masculine or feminine.
Nouns ending in 'o'
- Nouns that end in 'o' are generally masculine.
- To form the feminine of these nouns you replace the 'o' with an 'a'.
- El tío → La tía.
- The Uncle → The Aunt.
Nouns ending in 'd', 'l', 'n', 'r', 's' and 'z'
- When in the masculine form these nouns do not have an 'o'.
- To put them into the feminine form you add an 'a' to the masculine form.
- El doctor → La doctora.
- The doctor.
- There are two main exceptions, which stay in the masculine form even when feminine.
- El/la joven (the youth) and El/la líder (the leader).
Nouns ending in 'e'
- Nouns that end in 'e' stay that way when masculine.
- When these nouns are feminine sometimes the 'e' changes to an 'a', while sometimes it stays the same.
- El presidente → La presidenta.
- The president.
- El alcalde → La alcalde.
- The mayor.
- An exception to this is:
- El tigre (the tiger) → La tigresa (the tigress).
Nouns ending in 'ón' or 'ín'
- These nouns, in the masculine form, end in 'ón' or 'ín'.
- In the feminine form they change to 'ona' or 'ina'.
- 'El campeón → la campeona.
- The champion.
- El bailarín → La bailarina.
- The ballet dancer
Nouns ending in 'í' or 'ú'
- These nouns are normally masculine.
- These nouns are usually only feminine when talking about someone's nationality or religion.
- These noun endings do not change when feminine, It is only the article that changes.
- El ají - the chilli pepper.
- El hindú → La hindú - the Hindu.
Test yourself on People & Animals (1/2)
How do you say 'the champion' in Spanish?