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Nouns

Gender
In Spanish, nouns ending in o are generally masculine; nouns ending in a are generally feminine.

Exceptions:

1. Irrespective of ending, nouns denoting male beings are always masculine; those     denoting female beings are always feminine. (un hombre - a man;   una mujer - a woman)
    
2. Nouns of Greek origin ending in ma, pa, ta are generally masculine  (el clima, el tema, el mapa)   Days of the week are masculine (not capitalized) (el lunes, el martes, etc).
    
3. Nouns ending in ción, sión and lad,  tad, dad, are generally feminine (la lección, la ciudad)
    
4. There are many nouns of common usage whose gender follows no rule (la flor, el papel, la mano, el día, la noche)
    
5. For reasons of euphony the article el instead of la is used in the singular form before all feminine words that begin with a or ha (el agua, el alma, el hacha).  In the plural, the normal feminine article las is used (las aguas, las almas).

The Definite Article

The definite articles, singular form, in Spanish are el and la. 
El, is the definite article used before singular masculine nouns--el libro; los is used before plural masculine nouns --los libros.
La, is the definite article  used before singular feminine nouns -- la mesa;  las is used before plural feminine nouns--las mesas.

Experiment :  Provide the necessary definite article (el, la, los, las)

Plural Form of  Nouns

1. Nouns which terminate in a vowel, form their plural by adding  s. 
   (libro - libros, mesa - mesas)
2. Nouns which terminate in a consonant, form their plural by adding  es.
   (papel - papeles,  color - colores)
3. Nouns which end in the letter z, change this z to c in the plural.
   (lápiz - lápices,  vez - veces,  luz - luces)
4. Nouns which end in -es or -is without an accent, retain the same form in the plural as in the singular.
   (el lunes - los lunes,  la crisis - las crisis)
5. Nouns ending in ión, lose their accent in the plural.
   (lección - lecciones,  nación - naciones)

Experiment:  Change to the Plural

1.      el martes -__________________________________________________________
2.      el color azul -________________________________________________________
3.      la región central -_____________________________________________________
4.      el campo -__________________________________________________________
5.      el profesor -_________________________________________________________
6.      el francés -_________________________________________________________
7.      el gato -___________________________________________________________
8.      el dólar -___________________________________________________________
9.      el león -____________________________________________________________
10.    la nube -___________________________________________________________
11.    el doctor -__________________________________________________________
12.    el carro-___________________________________________________________
13.    el libro-____________________________________________________________
14.    el pez-____________________________________________________________
15.    la chica-___________________________________________________________

Hester Chamberlain
Learning Assistance Center
Eastfield College