Summary on Nouns

When you learn a new noun, you should also learn its definite article (el, la). There are several reasons for this:

• Because you cannot predict the gender of most nouns.
• Because not every noun that ends in -o is masculine, and not every noun that ends in -a is feminine.
• Because many nouns end in letters other than o or a.
• Because the definite article (el, la) is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine

• Many nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and a feminine form.
• Most nouns that end in -o are masculine.
• Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.
• Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a.
• Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la).
• Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.
• Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine.
• A few nouns that end in -o are feminine