Gender of Nouns

A noun is a word used to denote a person, place, thing, or idea. Gender of Nouns A noun is a word used to denote a person, place, thing, or idea. Person: John, girl, dentist Place: garden, university, Venezuela Thing: book, car, tomato Idea: liberty, despair, intelligence

In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine. el chico la chica boy girl el jardín la universidad garden university el libro la revista book magazine el miedo la libertad fear liberty

man woman tiger actor actress The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when the noun stands for a living creature. This is because in English, living creatures often have different names, depending upon whether they are male or female. Masculine Feminine man woman tiger tigress actor actress

The following Spanish nouns all denote living creatures… el gato la gata el perro la perra el chico la chica el abuelo la abuela male cat female cat male dog female dog boy girl grandfather grandmother

How are all of these masculine nouns alike? Hint: look at both the beginning and the ending of each line el gato el perro el chico el abuelo

How are all of these feminine nouns alike? Hint: look at both the beginning and the ending of each line. la gata la perra la chica la abuela

All masculine and feminine Spanish nouns are marked by masculine or feminine articles. Singular el la Plural los las

ALL nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine. la certidumbre- certainty la muchedumbre- crowd la conversación- conversation la habitación- bedroom la televisión- television la decisión- decision la actitud- attitude la gratitud- grattitude la dificultad- difficulty la libertad- liberty la ciudad- city la universidad- university

Some nouns that end in -a are masculine. el problema- problem el día- day el telegrama- telegram el clima- climate el programa- program el planeta- planet el mapa- map el tema- theme el agua- water el idioma- language el poema- poem el sofá- sofa

Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine. Notice that the following eight nouns listed below end in -ma. el tema el idioma el clima el poema el programa el telegrama el problema el sistema Note: A few nouns that end in -ma are feminine, such as la cama and la pluma.

**There are some exceptions to these two rules.** “Genderalizations” You will ALWAYS be able to tell the gender of a noun by the article (el, la, los, las or un, una, unos, unas). You cannot predict the gender of a noun, EXCEPT in the case of living creatures. In MOST cases, nouns that end in -o are USUALLY masculine and nouns that end in -a are usually feminine. **There are some exceptions to these two rules.**

¡Práctica! Gender of Nouns Part I Gender of Nouns Part II *quiz*

Plural Forms of Nouns

If a noun ends in a vowel, make it plural by adding -s. Book: El Libro Libro + (s) = Los Libros Pen: La Pluma Pluma + (s) =Las Plumas Dog: El Perro Perro + (s) = Los Perros Finger: El Dedo Dedo + (s) = Los Dedos

If a noun ends in a consonant, make it plural by adding -es. Eraser: El Borrador Borrador + (es) = Los Borradores University: La Universidad Universidad + (es) =Las Universidades Professor: El Profesor Profesor + (es) = Los Profesores City: La Ciudad Ciudad + (es) = Las Ciudades

If a noun ends in -ión, add -es and drop the written accent. Airplane : El Avión Avión + (es) – (´) = Los Aviones Conversation: La Conversación Conversación + (es) – (´) =Las Conversaciones Section: La Sección Sección + (es) – (´) = Las Secciones Television: La Televisión Televisión + (es) – (´) = LasTelevisiones

If a noun ends in -z, add -es and change the z to c. Pencil: El Lápiz Lápiz – (z) + (c) +(es) = Los Lápices Voice: La Voz Voz– (z) + (c) +(es) = Las Voces Nose: La Nariz Nariz– (z) + (c) +(es) = Las Narices Actress: La Actriz Actriz– (z) + (c) +(es) = Las Actrices

When the plural refers to two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural is used. 2 perros + 6 perras = 8 perros (not perras) 8 chicas + 2 chicos = 10 gatos (not chicas)

Review If a noun ends in a vowel, simply add -s. If a noun ends in a consonant, simply add -es. If a noun ends in a -z, change the z to c before adding -es. If a noun ends in ión, drop the written accent before adding -es. If the plural refers to a mixed group, use the masculine.

¡Práctica! Plural Forms of Nouns *quiz*

Articles Definite & Indefinite

The difference between definite articles and indefinite articles can be observed in the two sentences below. What are some differences and/or similarities you notice between the two? Give me a cookie, please. Give me the chocolate chip cookie, please.

MUST AGREE IN NUMBER AND IN GENDER WITH THE NOUN THEY ARE RELATING TO. Imagine a plate full of cookies. There are peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, snickerdoodles, Oreo cookies and just one Chocolate chip. The difference between definite and indefinite articles is the difference between talking about a specific cookie, or any cookie from the plate. Your definite articles in Spanish are used a lot like adjectives in Spanish. This means they MUST AGREE IN NUMBER AND IN GENDER WITH THE NOUN THEY ARE RELATING TO.

el gato the male cat los gatos the male cats la gata the female cat In Spanish, the definite article has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. el gato the male cat los gatos the male cats la gata the female cat las gatas the female cats Note: The masculine plural definite and indefinite articles (los, unos) are also used to indicate a group of mixed gender. Thus, "los gatos" could refer to a group of 10 male cats, or it could refer to a group of 9 female cats and one male cat.

In English, the indefinite article is the word "a," "an," or "some." In Spanish, the indefinite article ALSO has 4 forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. un gato a male cat unos gatos some male cats una gata a female cat unas gatas some female cats

¡Práctica! Articles: Definite & Indefinite *quiz*

Adjective/Noun Agreement

You already know that ALL nouns in Spanish have gender and that no matter WHAT they are (persona, lugar, cosa o idea) they must fall under the classification of either MASCULINE or FEMININE. El chico Pablo La chica Ana Los libros Las reglas.

N A In Spanish, ADJECTIVES also have gender. Most masculine adjectives (like nouns) end with the letter -O. Most feminine adjectives (like nouns) end with the letter -a. The gender of a Spanish adjective is determined by the noun it is describing. In Spanish, the adjective MUST agree in NUMBER and GENDER with the noun it is describing. N A

Las Reglas (the rules) Adjectives that end in –e are GENDER NEUTRAL and can be used to describe both masculine AND feminine nouns. If an adjective ends in a consonant DO NOT add an –a to make it feminine…. UNLESS it ends in –or(a). The gender rule for mixed groups also applies to ADJECTIVES….use the masculine form.

Las Reglas del Emplazamiento (Rules of placement) Adjectives that describe QUANTITY/NUMBER, in a sentence, usually come BEFORE the noun. EX) mucho dinero= a lot of money EX) pocas casas = few houses Adjectives that describe a PHYSICAL STATE usually come AFTER the noun. EX) El chico alto= the tall boy EX) La chica bonita = the pretty girl

¡Práctica! Adjective/Noun Agreement

Subject Pronouns

A noun is ANY person, place, thing or idea A noun is ANY person, place, thing or idea. A subject is the part of a sentence (the person, place, thing or idea) that does/performs the action. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. When you put the two together, you get what is called a SUBJECT PRONOUN!!!!

Spanish Subject Pronouns Let’s check out this video about Spanish Subject Pronouns! Pronoun Paradise

TÚ YO ÉL ELLA USTED ELLOS ELLAS USTEDES NOSOTROS NOSOTRAS VOSOTROS In English, the words "I" "you" "he" "she" "we" "y’all" and "they" are called subject pronouns. These are the words you use to replace the “proper name” of the subject of your sentence. YO NOSOTROS NOSOTRAS TÚ VOSOTROS VOSOTRAS ÉL ELLA USTED ELLOS ELLAS USTEDES Spanish has subject pronouns that are similar to the subject pronouns we use in English. HERE is a list of the English subject pronouns and their Spanish equivalents: **The vosotros form is used ONLY in Spain. Throughout Latin America, "ustedes" is generally used in both formal and informal situations to refer to "you-all.“**

Spanish subject pronouns are both similar to and different from their English counterparts. One of the major differences is found in the Spanish and English subject pronouns for "you.” There are two ways the English word "you" can be expressed in Spanish: Spanish has a formal and an informal form of the word "you." "Usted" is more formal and is generally used to express respect. "Tú" is more familiar and is used among friends, coworkers, relatives, or when addressing a child. Usted - you (formal) Tú - you (familiar)

¡Práctica! Subject Pronouns *quiz*

Conjugating Verbs

to live vivir to leave salir to swim nadar to eat comer to sit sentar If a verb HAS NOT been changed to fit with a particular subject. It is in its INFINITIVE FORM. In Spanish, there are THREE kinds of infinitive verbs, and ALL of them will end with –ar, -er, or –ir. If a verb ends with –ar, -er, or –ir, that means it has NOT been CONJUGATED and its English translation will ALWAYS begin with “to.” to run correr to sit sentar to eat comer to leave salir to swim nadar to live vivir

Conjugating Verbs In order to make a Spanish INFINITIVE verb fit with a particular subject, we must conjugate it. When you conjugate a verb, you change the ending so that it matches up with the subject. There is a very particular way this is done for regular verbs.

Spanish I Assessment Review Ahora vamos a repasar preguntas directamente del examen de Español Uno……