1. Spanish Nouns and Articles Minerva del C. Martinez ENGL 360 Prof. E. Lugo February 28, 2012

2. Spanish Nouns and Articles Articles – The articles are the little words used before a noun, and there are two types. One type is "definite" and the other is "indefinite". – In English the definite article is "THE" and the indefinites are "A" or "AN". There are four forms for each type of article- based on gender and number. – The definite articles (= THE): el, la,los, las – The indefinite articles (= A, AN {singular] or SOME, A FEW [plural]) un, una, unos, unas

3. Spanish Nouns and Articles Articles – When a plural includes both masculine and feminine elements, the masculine noun is used with the article "los" (for example: parents are "los padres", children are "los niños" or "los hijos"). – Masculine nouns have the article "el" in singular form and the article "los" in plural. – Feminine nouns have the article "la" in singular form and the article "las" in plural.

4. Spanish Nouns and Articles Articles The uses of the indefinite articles – The indefinite articles is omitted in Spanish frequently when it is used in English. Here are the rules: – When telling what a person is (profession, nationality, occupation, religion, gender, social status, etc.), unless that noun is modified. Ejemplos: Yo soy profesor. (I am a teacher.) Ella es estudiante. (She is a student.) El es mexicano. (He is a Mexican.) But: Ella es una ingeniera fantástica. (She is a fantastic engineer. It's modified so the article una is used.)

5. Spanish Nouns and Articles Articles – When "tener" is negative, or if it is used in a question, the indefinite article is often omitted. For example: ¿Tienes bolígrafo? No, no tengo bolígrafo. Do you have a pen? No, I don't have a pen. In fact, after the verb "tener", the article is used only to specify the number. Tengo un bolígrafo. (I have "only one" pen.)

6. Spanish Nouns and Articles Articles – Very importantly, you must remember that the indefinite article is omitted in the following situations: After expressions starting with ¡Qué...! For example: ¡Qué día bonito! = What a pretty day! – Before "otro" or "otra" (These words mean "other" or "another", so using un/una would mean "an another".) Example: Hay otra razón para no salir. There is another reason not to leave. Before "cierto/cierta" Example: Hay cierta persona en la clase que no... There is a certain person in the class who doesn't... Before "cien" or "mil". Ejemplo: Tengo cien (mil) dólares. I have a hundred (thousand) dollars. After "tal" (such) Example: ¡Fue tal idea buena! It was such a good idea!

7. Spanish Nouns and Articles Spanish Nouns – Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. There is no neuter gender noun. – There are typical rules you can lean on and exceptions you should be aware when they occur.

8. Spanish Nouns and Articles The rules: – Feminine nouns Generally nouns ending in "-a" – la fruta, la mesa, la palabra Nouns ending in "-dad" / "-tad" / "-tud" – la ciudad, la edad, la universidad – la amistad, la facultad, la libertad – la inquietud, la juventud, la virtud

9. Spanish Nouns and Articles Feminine nouns: – Nouns ending in "-ción" / "-sión" / "- gión" – la canción, la estación, la lección – la profesión, la televisión, la tensión – la legión, la región, la religión – Nouns ending in "-ez", as long as they refer to abstract nouns formed with suffixes – la rigidez -- rigidity – la sensatez -- soberness – la validez -- validity – la vejez -- old age, oldness

10. Spanish Nouns and Articles Feminine nouns: – Nouns ending in "-triz" la actriz, la directriz, la emperatriz – Nouns ending in "-umbre" la costumbre, la incertidumbre, la legumbre – Shortened version of originally feminine nouns la disco -- la discoteca la foto -- la fotografía la moto -- la motocicleta la tele -- la televisión

11. Spanish Nouns and Articles Feminine nouns: – Nouns referring to women la madre -- mother la mujer -- woman, wife – Exceptions ending in "-d" – la merced -- mercy – la pared -- wall

12. Spanish Nouns and Articles Exceptions – ending in "-e" la base -- basis la calle – street – ending in "-z" la cruz -- cross la faz – face – other la filial -- affiliate la flor -- flower la imagen -- image la ley -- law la mano -- hand la miel -- honey

13. Spanish Nouns and Articles Masculine nouns: – Nouns of Greek origin, ending in "- ma" / "-ta" / "-pa" el clima, el programa, el tema el cometa, el planeta (but to confuse you: la dieta :-)) el mapa Exceptions el día (el mediodía) -- day, daytime (noon) el gorila -- gorilla el pijama -- pajamas el sofá -- sofa el tranvía -- tram, streetcar el yoga -- yoga

14. Spanish Nouns and Articles Words ending in..... – Words ending in "o" are generally masculine. There are some exceptions, however: la mano (hand) la radio (radio); el radio = radius la moto (motorcycle) short for motocicleta la foto (photograph) short for fotografía

15. Spanish Nouns and Articles – Words ending in "a" are generally feminine. Again, there are exceptions. el día (day) hence: ¡Buenos días! el tranvía (streetcar) el panda (panda) – There are a number of other words ending in "a" that are also masculine: – el mapa (map) – el drama (drama) – el problema (problem) – el sistema (system) – el programa (program) (also telegrama telegram, crucigrama crossword) – el planeta (planet)

16. Spanish Nouns and Articles dad, -tad, -tud, - umbre – With no exceptions, words ending in "dad", "tad", "tud" or "umbre" are feminine. la ciudad la libertad la universidad la juventud la cumbre la muchedumbre ión – With only two notable exceptions, words ending in "ión" are feminine. la reunión la televisión la reacción – The exceptions: el avión el camión

17. Spanish Nouns and Articles ie, -cia, -ez, -eza, - nza, -sis, -itis – Words with these endings are generally feminine: la especie (species) la herencia (heritage) la niñez (childhood) la naturaleza (nature) la enseñanza (teaching) la crisis (crisis) la tendonitis (tendonitis) -án, -or, ambre, -aje – Words with these endings are generally masculine. el alemán (German) el amor (love) el calambre (cramp) el garaje (garage) – exception: "hambre" is feminine in gender! la hambre

18. Spanish Nouns and Articles If the word is...... Sometimes you can determine the gender of a noun by what it is, too. For example: – All days of the week and months are masculine. el lunes, el martes, el enero, el diciembre, etc. – Languages are always masculine. el español, el inglés, el francés, etc. – Numbers are masculine. Su cumpleaños es el diez de abril. – Colors, when used as nouns, are masculine. Mi color favorito es el verde.

19. Spanish Nouns and Articles If the word is...... The names of rivers, lakes, seas and oceans are masculine (because the words río, lago, mar and océano are all masculine. The Pacific = El Pacífico, The Amazon = El Amazonas; etc. – Whereas the fruit is often feminine (la manzana- apple); the fruit tree is masculine (el manzano- apple tree). la naranja > el naranjo; la pera > el peral; la cereza > el cerezo; etc. – Infinitives used as nouns are always masculine. El fumar es malo para la salud.

20. Spanish Nouns and Articles Compound words – What are they? Some words are made up by combining two separate words. Often these consist of a verb and a noun. The verb is in the third person singular (él), and the noun is in the plural form [= does something to this object]. These words are always masculine. – For example: el tocadiscos (toca + discos = plays records)= record player el paraguas (para + aguas = stops water) = umbrella el parabrisas el abrelatas el lavaplatos el sacacorchos el limpiacristales

21. Spanish Nouns and Articles Words that are both masculine and feminine... – Some words can be either masculine or feminine, but the meaning of the word changes with the gender change. el cura = priestla cura = cure el capital = money (capital) la capital = capital [city] el mañana - tomorrow la mañana = morning el frente = front [weather, military] la frente = forehead el orden = order [tidiness] la orden = order [command] el policía = policemanla policía = police [force], policewoman el guía = guide [male]la guía = guide [female] or guidebook

22. Spanish Nouns and Articles One more thing- ARTE. – In its singular form, "arte" is masculine- el arte moderno. However, in its plural form "artes" is feminine - las bellas artes.

23. Spanish Nouns and Articles Nouns Designating People and Some Other Animals Obviously, people have gender so this will make more sense than saying if a chair is masculine or feminine. If the word ends in...... in the masculine form..., in the feminine it ends in... o Quite often if a word referring to a person ends in "o", the corresponding feminine form will end in "a". For example: el hijo > la hija; el hermano > la hermana; el médico > la médica; etc. exceptions (These do not change the "o", but do change the article.): el testigo > la testigo; el modelo > la modelo

24. Spanish Nouns and Articles or If a word ends in "or" on the masculine, add and "a" to form the feminine. el profesor > la profesora; el escultor > la escultora. exceptions: el actor > la actriz; el emperador > la emperatriz és, án Words ending in "és" and "á[í, ó]n" drop the accent and add an "a" to form the feminine. el francés > la francesa; el capitán > la capitana; el ladrón > la ladrona, el bailarín > la bailarina

25. Spanish Nouns and Articles a Some words end in "a" in the masculine form. Again, these are often from Greek and the gender change is going to be noted merely by a change in article. el artista > la artista; el pianista > la pianista; el dentista > la dentista, el atleta > la atleta e Words ending in "e" fall into two categories- "e" and "nte". Words ending in "e" first. They change the article only: el intérprete > la intérprete; el tigre > la tigre; el teniente, la teniente

26. Spanish Nouns and Articles nte Many words ending in "nte" do one of two things. In the past, they kept the "e" at the end- el cliente > la cliente; el dependiente > la dependiente, etc. However, it is becoming common to change the "e" to "a", so you may hear (read, say or write) la clienta, la dependienta, consonants (other than "or", "és" and án") These words stay the same, but change the article to reflect the gender change: el joven > la joven, el líder > la líder

27. Spanish Nouns and Articles Words that Change with a Gender Change It's not la padre, is it? It's la madre. There are other words that change as do these. – el rey > la reina – el actor > la actriz – el emperador > la emperatriz – el varón (masculine) > la hembra (feminine) – el toro > la vaca – el conde > la condesa – el poeta > la poetisa – el marido/ el hombre > la mujer – el príncipe > la princesa – el gallo (rooster) > la gallina (hen) – don > doña

28. Spanish Nouns and Articles Words that don't change at all. There is a short list of words that do not change gender- article or word. They just do not change! So regardless of whether they are designating a male or female, they will always be: – el bebé (baby) – el ángel (angel) – la persona (person) – el personaje (character from a book, movie, show, etc.) – la víctima (victim)

29. Spanish Nouns and Articles http://doncarlos123.tripod.com/sus tantivos.html#Definite article translations http://www.e- spanyol.hu/en/grammar/gender.php http://www.e- spanyol.hu/en/grammar/gender.php