Género y número (Gender & Number)Género

Some exceptions to the “__o” and “__a” endings (genderless nouns):

Artista Artista

Cantante Cantante

Género y número (Gender & Number)

Género

Some exceptions to the “__o” and “__a” endings (genderless nouns):

EstudianteEstudiante

Género y número (Gender & Number)

Género

Some exceptions to the “__o” and “__a” endings (genderless nouns):

Detective Detective

Género y número (Gender & Number)

Género: nouns that denote males are masculine / nouns that denote females are feminine:

Hombre Mujer

Género y número (Gender & Number)Género: OBJETOS (Things/objects)

• In Spanish, ALL NOUNS are either masculine or feminine. Gender for objects is arbitrary and fixed. For example: a table (“mesa”) is feminine, while a book (“libro”) is masculine.

• In general, most nouns ending in “__o” are masculine and most nouns ending in “__a” are feminine. There are, of course, exceptions: Día, mapa poema, tema, idioma, problema, sistema, programa, are ALL masculine nouns. Likewise, “Mano” ends in “__a” but it is a feminine noun.

• Students have to memorize exceptions

Género y número (Gender & Number)Género: OBJETOS

Cama EscritorioDisco

LibroSilla Ventana

Género y número (Gender & Number)

Género: OBJETOS

• There are many nouns not ending in “__o” or “__a”.

• Students have to memorize the gender of such nouns, which is arbitrary

Género y número (Gender & Number)Género: OBJETOS• There are many nouns not ending in “__o” or “__a”.

Lápiz

MasculinoSillón

Masculino

Luz

Femenina

Pizarrón Masculino

Universidad *

Femenina

Televisión *

Femenina

* Most nouns ending in “__dad”, “___tad”, “___sión”, “___ción” and “___umbre” are feminine.