Nouns and their gender!

Gender In English, nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neutral (meaning having no gender). In English, nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neutral (meaning having no gender). They can also be singular or plural. They can also be singular or plural.

Gender In Spanish, however, every noun must be masculine or feminine. In Spanish, however, every noun must be masculine or feminine.

Gender There is no way to tell for sure what gender the noun is, so you must memorize if it is masculine or feminine. Don’t assume! There is no way to tell for sure what gender the noun is, so you must memorize if it is masculine or feminine. Don’t assume!

Gender For example, we would assume a woman’s dress to be feminine, but in Spanish it’s not. It’s masculine. For example, we would assume a woman’s dress to be feminine, but in Spanish it’s not. It’s masculine.

Gender We might assume a man’s tie to be masculine, but it’s feminine. We might assume a man’s tie to be masculine, but it’s feminine.

Gender So, how do we know? So, how do we know?

Gender In Spanish we can look at the article In Spanish we can look at the article Article = (the little word that means “the” or “a”) Article = (the little word that means “the” or “a”)

Articles There are four articles. There are four articles. El (masculine singular)- the El (masculine singular)- the La (feminine singular)- the La (feminine singular)- the Los (masculine plural)- the Los (masculine plural)- the Las (feminine plural)- the Las (feminine plural)- the

Gender For example: El colegio = the high school For example: El colegio = the high school the word “el” tells us that it is masculine. the word “el” tells us that it is masculine. And singular! And singular! el =

Gender La escuela = the school La escuela = the school “la” tells us that it is Feminine. “la” tells us that it is Feminine. And singular! And singular! La =

Gender and Number For example- Los colegios For example- Los colegios the word “los” tells us that it is masculine. the word “los” tells us that it is masculine. And plural! And plural!los=

Gender and Number Las escuelas = the schools Las escuelas = the schools “las” tells us that it is Feminine. “las” tells us that it is Feminine. And plural! And plural! Las = Las =

Gender A general rule is “if it ends in “ o ”, it’s masculine. A general rule is “if it ends in “ o ”, it’s masculine. If it ends in “ a ” it’s feminine.” If it ends in “ a ” it’s feminine.” If it ends in “s” it’s plural! If it ends in “s” it’s plural!

Gender As always, there are exceptions to the rule, which you will learn later. So, for now, just memorize the articles with the word. As always, there are exceptions to the rule, which you will learn later. So, for now, just memorize the articles with the word.

Practice ________ muchacho ________ muchacho ________ muchacha ________ muchacha ________ colegio ________ colegio ________ escuela ________ escuela

Practice ________ muchachos ________ muchachos ________ muchachas ________ muchachas ________ colegios ________ colegios ________ escuelas ________ escuelas

Practice El amig____ El amig____ La amig____ La amig____ El sombrer_____ El sombrer_____ La camis______ La camis______

Practice Los amig____ Los amig____ Las amig____ Las amig____ Los sombrer_____ Los sombrer_____ Las camis______ Las camis______