Nouns and articles · Spanish grammar A1

The gender of nouns#

Formation

Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine (el libro, el vaso), and nouns ending in -a usually feminine (la mesa, la casa). Nouns in -ción are feminine: la lección, la conversación. The gender of a noun ending in -e or in a consonant cannot be told from its ending and is learnt with the article: el coche, la noche, el árbol, la pared.

Masculine	Feminine
-o: el libro, el plato, el perro	-a: la mesa, la ventana, la silla
	-ción: la lección, la estación
-e, consonant: el padre, el parque, el hotel, el papel	-e, consonant: la leche, la noche, la sal, la ciudad
exception: el día	exceptions: la mano; la foto, la moto, la radio

La foto, la moto and la radio are feminine because they are short for feminine nouns: la fotografía, la motocicleta, la radiodifusión.

Nouns of people. The feminine is usually formed by replacing -o with -a (el niño, la niña; el amigo, la amiga), or by adding -a after the -or (el profesor, la profesora). Nouns in -ista and many nouns in -e have one form, and only the article shows the sex: el estudiante, la estudiante; el turista, la turista. Some pairs are two different words: el padre, la madre; el hombre, la mujer.

El coche de mi padre es rojo.My father's car is red.
La leche está en la mesa.The milk is on the table.
La mano de la niña es pequeña.The girl's hand is small.
La profesora es de Madrid.The teacher is from Madrid.

Difference from English

English nouns have no grammatical gender: “the”, “a” and “red” have one form for every noun. In Spanish, a car (el coche) is masculine and a table (la mesa) feminine, with no link to the meaning, and the article and every adjective agree with this gender: el coche nuevo, la leche fría. A noun is therefore learnt with its article, never alone.

Common mistakes

~~el mano~~ → la manoMano is feminine, although it ends in -o.
~~la día~~ → el díaDía is masculine, although it ends in -a.
~~el lección~~ → la lecciónNouns in -ción are feminine.

Practise

“Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The gender of nouns: el, la “Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, Nouns in -e and in a consonant: their gender

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The plural of nouns#

Formation

A noun ending in an unstressed vowel adds -s: libro → libros, mesa → mesas, padre → padres. A noun ending in a consonant adds -es: hotel → hoteles, ciudad → ciudades, profesor → profesores. A noun ending in -s that has one syllable or is stressed on the last syllable also adds -es: país → países, autobús → autobuses.

Spelling. Before -es, a final z becomes c: lápiz → lápices, pez → peces. The written accent is dropped when the stressed syllable becomes the second-to-last (lección → lecciones, autobús → autobuses), and it is added when the stressed syllable becomes the third-to-last: joven → jóvenes, examen → exámenes. Nouns in -s that are not stressed on the last syllable do not change: el lunes → los lunes.

What the plural covers. The masculine plural also names a mixed group: los padres (“parents”, the father and the mother), los hermanos (“brothers and sisters”), los hijos (someone's “children”, sons and daughters).

En la mesa hay tres vasos y dos tazas.There are three glasses and two cups on the table.
Los hoteles de la ciudad son caros.The hotels in the town are expensive.
Tengo dos lápices azules.I have two blue pencils.
¿Tienes hermanos?Have you got any brothers or sisters?

Difference from English

As in English, the plural is mostly -s, but after a consonant Spanish adds a whole syllable, -es: “hotels” is hoteles, “cities” ciudades. The ending is always pronounced. Hermanos covers “brothers” and “brothers and sisters”, and padres means “parents” as well as “fathers”.

Common mistakes

~~dos hotels~~ → dos hotelesA noun ending in a consonant adds -es, not the English -s.
~~los lápizes~~ → los lápicesBefore -es, z becomes c.
~~las leccións~~ → las leccionesAfter -n, -es is added, and the written accent is dropped.

Practise

“Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The plural: -s, -es, los, las, unos, unas

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The definite article: el, la, los, las; al, del#

Formation

The definite article agrees with the noun in gender and number: el before a masculine singular noun, la before a feminine singular noun, los before a masculine plural noun, las before a feminine plural noun. The preposition a and the article el combine into al; the preposition de and the article el into del.

	Masculine	Feminine
singular	el libro	la casa
plural	los libros	las casas
a + article	al parque, a los parques	a la playa, a las playas
de + article	del hotel, de los hoteles	de la ciudad, de las ciudades

Only el combines: a la, a los, a las, de la, de los, de las stay two words. The pronoun él, written with an accent, does not combine: de él.

Use

The definite article is used, as “the” is, before a noun already known or already named. It is also used before a noun taken in general, where English has no article (El café es caro aquí, “coffee is expensive here”), before the subject of gustar (“Me gusta, me gustan: saying what you like”) and before a day of the week (el lunes, “on Monday”). It is not used before a first name: Ana vive aquí.

Vamos al parque con los niños.We're going to the park with the children.
La puerta del jardín está abierta.The garden gate is open.
Mi padre va a la estación en coche.My father goes to the station by car.
Los libros de los estudiantes están en la mesa.The students' books are on the table.

Difference from English

English has one definite article, “the”; Spanish has four, chosen by the gender and number of the noun. A noun taken in general takes the article in Spanish but not in English: “I like tea with milk” is Me gusta el té con leche, “children learn a lot” Los niños aprenden mucho. “To the” and “of the” before a masculine singular noun become one word, al and del.

Common mistakes

~~Voy a el cine.~~ → Voy al cine.A and el combine into al.
~~la casa del los abuelos~~ → la casa de los abuelosOnly el combines with de.
~~Me gusta té con leche.~~ → Me gusta el té con leche.A noun taken in general takes the article.

Practise

“Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The gender of nouns: el, la “Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The plural: -s, -es, los, las, unos, unas “Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, Contractions: al, del

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The indefinite article: un, una, unos, unas#

Formation

The indefinite article is un before a masculine noun and una before a feminine noun; in the plural, unos and unas. Before a noun, the masculine form is un, not uno: un libro. Uno is the number “one” used alone, or the pronoun: Tengo uno.

Use

The indefinite article introduces a thing or a person new to the conversation (Hay un gato en el jardín) and is used to say what a thing is: Es una camisa. Unos and unas mean “some”, “a few”: unos amigos, unos días. A plural noun for an unstated quantity is usually used with no article (“Nouns without an article: soy profesor, hay leche, tengo coche”). Otro (“another”) is used without un: otro café.

Mi hermana tiene un perro y una gata.My sister has a dog and a cat.
¿Qué es esto? — Es un diccionario.What's this? — It's a dictionary.
Voy a la playa con unos amigos.I'm going to the beach with some friends.
¿Quieres otro té?Would you like another tea?

Difference from English

In English, “a” or “an” is used according to the sound that follows; in Spanish, un or una is used according to the gender of the noun. “Another” contains “an”, but otro is used alone, with no un: “another coffee” is otro café. “Some” before a plural noun is usually left out, and a job after ser takes no article where English uses “a”; both are explained in “Nouns without an article: soy profesor, hay leche, tengo coche”.

Common mistakes

~~uno cuaderno~~ → un cuadernoBefore a masculine noun, the article is un.
~~Quiero un otro café.~~ → Quiero otro café.Otro means “another” and takes no indefinite article.
~~una otra vez~~ → otra vezThe feminine otra takes no article either.

Practise

“Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The indefinite article: un, una “Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, The plural: -s, -es, los, las, unos, unas

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Nouns without an article: soy profesor, hay leche, tengo coche#

Use

A noun is used with no article:

after ser, for a job or a nationality: Soy estudiante, Es francesa;
after hablar, for the name of a language: Hablo español;
for an unstated quantity, in the singular with an uncountable noun and in the plural with a countable noun: Hay leche, Bebo agua, Compro tomates;
after tener, for a thing one normally has only one of: Tengo coche, ¿Tienes perro?

The subject of gustar, on the other hand, takes the article: Me gusta el pan blanco, not Me gusta pan blanco.

La madre de Pablo es médica.Pablo's mother is a doctor.
¿Hay pan para la cena?Is there any bread for dinner?
Por la mañana bebo café con leche.In the morning I drink white coffee.
Mis abuelos no tienen coche.My grandparents haven't got a car.
En el parque hay árboles y flores.There are trees and flowers in the park.

Difference from English

English puts “a” before a job (“I'm a student”); Spanish says Soy estudiante, with no article. “Some” and “any” before a noun are usually not translated: “is there any bread?” is ¿Hay pan?, “I'm buying some tomatoes” Compro tomates. “I haven't got a car” is No tengo coche.

Common mistakes

~~Soy un estudiante.~~ → Soy estudiante.After ser, a job takes no article.
~~Mi madre es una médica.~~ → Mi madre es médica.“A doctor” after ser is médica alone.

Practise

“Introducing yourself: hola, ser, me llamo”, Jobs and nationality: soy estudiante, es francesa “Ser and estar: estar, hay and place”, There is, there are: hay un, hay una, hay dos

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Noun + de + noun: el libro de Ana#

Formation

A noun that completes another comes after it and is introduced by de: el libro de Ana, la casa de mis padres. Before el, de combines into del: la puerta del hotel.

Use

The noun after de names the owner (el coche de Pablo), what the thing is made of or holds (un zumo de naranja, un vaso de agua), or a field (la clase de español, el profesor de música). When it names a kind of thing, it takes no article: la clase de inglés.

Es el bolígrafo de Carmen.It's Carmen's pen.
La casa de mis abuelos es muy bonita.My grandparents' house is very pretty.
Tomo un zumo de naranja.I'll have an orange juice.
El profesor de música es simpático.The music teacher is nice.

Difference from English

Spanish has no 's: “Ana's book” is el libro de Ana, “the book of Ana”. English also puts one noun before another (“orange juice”, “the music teacher”); Spanish puts the main noun first and links the second with de: zumo de naranja, el profesor de música.

Common mistakes

~~el naranja zumo~~ → el zumo de naranjaThe main noun comes first, then de and the second noun.
~~el música profesor~~ → el profesor de músicaA field is named after the noun, with de.
~~la clase del español~~ → la clase de españolA noun that names a kind of thing takes no article.

In short

Point	Rule	Example
gender	-o masculine, -a feminine, usually; -ción feminine	el libro, la mesa, la lección
gender learnt	nouns in -e and in a consonant; exceptions	el coche, la leche, la mano
plural	vowel + -s; consonant + -es; z → c	libros, hoteles, lápices
definite article	el, la, los, las; also for a noun in general	los niños, las mesas
contraction	a + el = al; de + el = del	al parque, del hotel
indefinite article	un, una, unos, unas; otro alone	un perro, unas amigas, otro café
no article	job after ser; language; unstated quantity	Es médico. Hay leche.
noun + de + noun	main noun first; no 's	el libro de Ana

Practise

“Nouns and articles: el, la, un, una, the plural”, Noun + de + noun: el libro de Ana

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