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| Nouns | Nouns refer to people, animals, places, and things. In Spanish, all nouns have gender even those referring to nonliving things. They are either masculine or feminine (gender). When learning new nouns, always learn the definite article that goes with the noun. These will be given with the noun in all vocabulary lists. | |
| Spanish Nouns Gender | Spanish nouns have gender even those referring to nonliving things. They are either masculine or feminine (gender). These will be given with the noun in all vocabulary lists. Nouns for people have natural gender, i.e. they are masculine or feminine based on the sex of the person. Other nouns have gender based on their endings. Masculine nouns frequently end in -o, while feminine nouns frequently end in -a. Still other nouns have geder that must be memorized. The gender of nouns is very important in Spanish, since their articles and adjectives must be in the same gender. | |
| Spanish Nouns Number |
Spanish nouns, like English nouns can
be singular or plural. Singular nouns name one of
something. Plural nouns refer to more than one of
something. Spanish nouns that end in a vowel
add -s
to form the plural. If the noun ends in a consonant
you add -es to
make it plural. |
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All nouns and pronouns in Spanish are divided into genders. Nouns for men and boys are masculine, while nouns for women and girls are feminine. | |
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Adjectives are words that describe a noun or pronoun. | |
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You can use the verb ser with adjectives to describe a person, place or thing. | |
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Adjectives have different forms in Spanish that must match or agree in number and gender (masculine or feminine) with the nouns or pronouns they describe. | |
| Making the endings of adjective and nouns match is called gender or number agreement. | ||
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Many descriptive adjectives in Spanish end in
-o in the masculine, singular
and -a in the feminine, singular.
Carlos es bajo. - Ana es baja. |
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| Adjectives also agree with nouns in number. An adjective that describes one person or thing is in singular form. When an adjective more than one person or things, its form must be plural. | ||
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If the singular form ends in a vowel add -s
to make it plural. If the singular form ends in a
consonant add -es to make it plural.
bueno - buenos; morena - morenas; inteligente - inteligentes; intelectual - intelectuales |
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| The masculine, plural form ends in -os and the feminine, plural form ends in -as. | ||
| If an adjective describes a mixed group of males (masculine) and females (feminine) then the masculine, plural form is used. | ||
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Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant, have only two possible forms (singular or plural) to indicate agreement. |
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Adjectives ending in -or and adjectives of nationality add an -a in the feminine, singular form and -as in the feminine plural form. |
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To describe one person or thing, use es + singular adjective. | ||||
| El cuaderno es nuevo. |
La carpeta es nueva. |
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To describe more than one person or thing, use son + a plural adjective. | ||||
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Los cuadernos son nuevos. |
Las carpetas son nuevas. |
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If you are describing a group of males and females, use a masculine, plural adjective. | ||||
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Los estudiantes son nuevos. |
Los profesores son nuevos. |
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Adjectives ending in -e or a consonant such as l, r, or n have only two forms: singular and plural. To make these adjectives plural, add -s, if it ends in e or -es if it ends in a consonant. | ||||
| El libro es interesante. | Los libros son interesantes. | ||||
| La clase es fácil. | Las clases son fáciles. | ||||
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