Gender

Every Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine, even nouns for things and ideas. The ending often tells you which, but some common words break the pattern, so it pays to learn each noun with its article.

Why Gender Matters

The words around a noun change to match its gender: el or la (the), un or una (a), and adjectives such as bueno / buena (good).

• el libro nuevo - the new book (masculine)
• la casa nueva - the new house (feminine)

The best habit is to learn every noun together with el or la. This app shows each noun’s gender after you answer, so take a moment to notice it.

-O and -A

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most ending in -a are feminine:

This rule covers a large share of everyday nouns, but not all of them. The most common exceptions come later in this guide.

Other Endings That Help

Some other endings are just as reliable:

• Feminine: -ción and -sión (la canción - song, la decisión - decision), -dad (la ciudad - city, la verdad - truth), -tad and -tud (la mitad - half, la salud - health).
• Masculine: -aje (el viaje - trip, el mensaje - message) and most nouns ending in -or (el amor - love, el dolor - pain). One common exception is la flor (flower).

Endings That Don’t Help

Nouns ending in -e or in most consonants can be either gender, so learn them one by one:

• el hombre - man, el padre - father, el pie - foot
• la noche - night, la calle - street, la gente - people
• el lugar - place, el papel - paper
• la luz - light, la mujer - woman

Common Exceptions

A few very common nouns don’t follow the -o / -a pattern.

These end in -a but are masculine:

• el día - day
• el mapa - map
• el problema - problem
• el tema - topic
• el programa - program
• el clima - climate, weather

Many nouns ending in -ma, like the last four, come from Greek and are masculine.

These end in -o but are feminine:

• la mano - hand
• la foto - photo (short for la fotografía)

Nouns for People

For people, the gender of the noun usually matches the person. Often you just switch -o to -a, or add -a to a final consonant:

• el amigo / la amiga - friend
• el niño / la niña - boy / girl
• el profesor / la profesora - teacher

Nouns ending in -ista, and most ending in -ante or -ente, keep the same form, and only the article changes: el turista / la turista (tourist), el estudiante / la estudiante (student).

A group of men and women together uses the masculine plural: los amigos can mean "friends" of both genders, and los padres means "parents".

El Agua: Feminine With El

Some feminine nouns begin with a stressed a or ha sound. To keep two "a" sounds from running together, they take el and un in the singular instead of la and una:

• el agua - water
• el hambre - hunger
• un arma - a weapon

These nouns are still feminine. Adjectives stay feminine, and the plural goes back to las:

• el agua fría - the cold water
• Tengo mucha hambre. - I’m very hungry.
• las armas - the weapons

This only happens when the first syllable is stressed. La amiga and la abuela keep la, because their stress falls later in the word (a-MI-ga, a-BUE-la).