Genre and Number in Spanish

Genre Number

In Spanish, nouns have gender: masculine and feminine. Generally, if a noun ends in:-o or consonant it is masculine: niño, señor-a it is feminine: niña, señora

How to change the genre?If a noun ends in:-o change the «o» into «a» - niño – niña-consonant add an «a» - señor – señoraThere are several nouns that have the same ending (suffix) for both genres:estudiante, artista, canadiense

Some nouns that end in «o» are feminine: mano (hand)

Some nouns that end (suffix) in «consonant» are feminine: universidad, institución

Some nouns that end in «a» are masculine: problema, sistema

Spanish nouns can also be singular and plural. Generally, you add «s» or «es» at the end of the word.

Add «s» if the word end in vowel: señora – señoras

Add «es» if the word end in consonant: señor – señores

Note: In Spanish all the words that refer or modify (adjectives) the noun must be in the same genre and number.

Compare: English:

The new teacher (female singular) The new teachers (female plural)

Spanish:

La profesora nueva (female singular) Las profesoras nuevas (female plural)

Click on the image to study abstract nouns in Spanish

Individual and collective nouns

Individual singular nouns name one person, animal or thing. Collective nouns name a singular set of people, animals or things.

Example:

Individual noun: pájaro (bird)Collective noun: bandada (bevy)

Click on the image to study collective nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study individual and collective nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study irregular nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study compound nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study diminutive nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study augmentative nouns in Spanish

Click on the image to study despective nouns in Spanish