1. Gender, Number, and Articles in Spanish
Los Artículos
Gender, Number, and Articles in Spanish

2. Gender and Number
Classifying words as masculine or feminine and singular or plural

3. Lesson Objectives
Classify words as masculine or feminine based on word endings
Make singular words plural
Differentiate between definite and indefinite articles in Spanish and explain their usage
Use correct articles that agree in gender and number

4. Gender and Number
In Spanish, all objects have gender and are considered masculine or feminine.
Gender can be determined by word endings.

5. Gender can be determined by looking at the end of a word.
Feminine endings
Masculine endings
a (puerta)
ión (instrucción)
d (usually -tad or -dad; these are like the English -ty)
o (e.g., libro)
most consonants (e.g., borrador)

6. Gender Most common exceptions: words that are actually masculine:
el día (day),
el mapa (map),
certain words ending in -ma (poema, sistema, programa)
common feminine exception: la mano (hand)

7. Let’s identify these as masculine (M) or feminine (F).
Mochila
Dirección
Banco
Pared
Pizarrón F F M F M

8. On page 1 of your notes, identify each word as (F)eminine or (M)asculine.
1. _____ lápiz 6. ____ silla
2. _____ bolígrafo 7. ____ papel
3. _____ pizarra 8. ____ cuaderno
4. _____ professor 9. ____ reloj
5. _____ dirección ____ electricidad

9. Number agreement In Spanish, all objects have number:
 singular (1 thing)
 plural (more than 1)
To make a word plural:
Add 's' for words ending in vowels (libro -> libros)
 Add 'es' for consonants (pizarrón -> pizarrones)
 Words that end in 'z': change z -> c and add -es
  (lápiz -> lápic-  -> lápices)
Words that end in 's': don't change the ending, just the article (a/an/the)

10. Practice on p. 2 of your notes
Make these words plural:
Borrador _______________
Mochila ________________
Feliz ___________________
Plural words have gender, too! Circle the plural endings (s or es) and identify the vocabulary words as masculine or feminine.
1. ___Lápices 2. ___ papeles 3. ___ pizarras 4. ____ bolígrafos

11. Los Artículos Definidos (Definite Articles)
Definite articles mean the
There are FOUR of these in Spanish.
Examples
____ libros (the books)
____ mochila (the backpack)
Masculine
Feminine
Singular El La
Plural
Los
Las
los la

12. Practice Set 1: p. 2 of your notes
Fill in the blanks with the correct definite article (word for the).
1. _________ bolígrafos
2. _________ puerta
3. _________ lápiz
4. _________ pizarras
5. _________ lápices

13. Practice Set 2: p. 2 of your notes
Fill in the blanks with the correct definite article (word for the).
1. _________ poema
2. _________ libertad
3. _________ direcciones
4. _________ día
5. _________ clase

14. Los Artículos Indefinidos (Indefinite Articles)
Indefinite articles mean a, an, or some
Examples
____ libros (some books)
____ mochila (a backpack)
Masculine
Feminine
Singular Un
Una
Plural
Unos
Unas
unos
una

15. Practice set 1: fill in the blanks with the correct indefinite article: p. 3
__________ puertas
__________ mochila
__________ pizarrón
__________ borradores
__________ día
__________ paredes
__________ dirección
__________ lápiz
__________papeles

16. Practice set 2: fill in the blanks with the correct indefinite article: p. 3
__________ pared
__________ escritorios
__________ papel
__________ sacapuntas (s.)
__________ lápices
__________ amigas
__________ profesora
__________ direcciones
__________borrador

17. Gender and Number
Using gender and number to describe classroom items

18. Using gender and number for descriptions
In Spanish, all parts of a sentence must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
All adjectives come AFTER the nouns!
Example: el libro rojo (the red book)
Adjectives must change to agree in gender and number
Example: el libro rojo  los libros rojos (make it all match!)

19. Using gender and number for descriptions
To change a masculine word to describe something feminine:
If it ends in –o, change to _-a_
Rojo roja
If it ends in –r, add _-a_
Trabajador (hardworking)  trabajadora
Most words that end in other letters do not change for gender
Examples: Verde, gris

20. Practicamos (p. 4) Make these plural: El libro rojo El estudiante alto
El libro grande
La silla blanca
La alumna buena

21. Practicamos (p. 4) Make these feminine: El estudiante bueno
El amigo fantástico
El chico trabajador

22. Review In this unit, you: Identified classroom items and people
Described classroom objects using adjectives for color, shape, and size
Determined the gender of those words using word endings
Learned to write descriptive phrases using articles, nouns and adjectives that agree in gender and number