⇒ All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine, regardless of whether they are animate or inanimate objects

⇒ A number of factors can determine the gender of a noun, such as its meaning, its origin or its ending

⇒ Whenever you learn a noun in Spanish you will have to learn its gender as well:

⇒ Generally speaking nouns that end in -o are masculine as well as those ending in -or, -ema, and -ista

⇒ While those nouns that end in -a, -ión, -ad, -ed, and -ud are usually feminine

⇒ There are, however, some exceptions such as la mano (hand) and you will just have to learn these as you come across them.

⇒ It is relatively simple to form the plural of most nouns: if the noun ends in a vowel, -s is added, if the noun ends in a consonant, -es is added:

⇒ There are a few irregular plurals and nouns that do not change in the plural - but most of these aren't very common and will be indicated in our notes as they appear.

⇒ Note: Some nouns lose their written accents in the plural for reasons which follow the normal rules of pronunciation (see our notes on pronunciation and stress)

• For example, acción/acciones and jardín/jardines (garden)

⇒ The gender of the noun will be shown by the article that is used before it

⇒ There are two types of articles – definite and indefinite

⇒ Definite articles (English ‘the’) tend to be used with nouns that have already been mentioned while indefinite articles (English ‘a/an’) introduce a previously unmentioned noun

⇒ Compare:

• The dog ran across the road
• I saw a dog in the park

⇒ In the first sentence, the speaker is referring to a dog which both s/he and the person to whom s/he is speaking already know about – i.e. a specific (definite) dog; while in the second sentence the speaker is introducing a new topic

⇒ In Spanish the form of the article changes according to both the number and gender of the noun with which it is used

⇒ The equivalent of English ‘the’ has four forms in Spanish:

⇒ Note: Feminine nouns beginning with a stressed a or ha are preceded by el and not la, but this does not make them masculine nouns, it is just for ease of pronunciation

⇒ If another word comes between the article and the noun, la is used because pronunciation is no longer a problem. Also, las is used in the plural

• For example, el agua (water), el hacha (axe), el águila (eagle)
• But it is: la gran águila and las hachas

⇒ The equivalents of English ‘a’, ‘an’ and, in the plural ‘some’, are:

⇒ What has been said with regard to feminine nouns beginning in stressed a or ha is also true for the indefinite article:

• For example, un hacha, un águila
• But: unas hachas, unas águilas

⇒ The plural forms unos and unas are commonly omitted without any significant change of meaning (as they are in English). When used, they often have the meaning of 'a few' or 'some':

• Hay galletas en la caja = There are biscuits in the box
• Hay unos niños en la calle = There are some children in the street

⇒ Un(o) and una are also used to mean 'one':

• Sólo tengo un hermano = I only have one brother

⇒ But note that the form uno/una is used to mean ‘one’ when referring to a masculine singular noun when the noun itself is not mentioned:

• ¿Tienes un perro? = Do you have a dog?
• Si, tengo uno = Yes, I have one
• ¿Tienes una casa? = Do you have a house?
• Si, tengo una = Yes, I have one

⇒ Although the use of the definite and indefinite articles in Spanish is generally similar to their use in English, there are a number of important cases when this is not so:

• When referring to nouns in general
• With nouns in apposition
• Before professions and status

⇒ Nouns that refer to all the members of the relevant class usually require the use of the definite article, although in English the article is omitted in such cases:

• Me gusta el café = I like coffee i.e. all coffee in general
• La violencia es inaceptable = Violence is unacceptable i.e. all violence
• El ruido me molesta = Noise irritates me i.e. all noise in general

⇒ When the noun refers back to the one just mentioned, the definite article is omitted:

• Felipe, rey de España = Felipe, the King of Spain
• Madrid, capital de España = Madrid, the capital of Spain

⇒ Nouns that refer to professions, occupations and status, do not normally require an indefinite article, unless they are qualified by an adjective or other expression:

• Es médico = He's a doctor
• Es un buen médico = He's a good doctor
• Soy soltero = I'm a bachelor
• So un soltero muy feliz = I'm a very happy bachelor

⇒ Test out your knowledge of Spanish nouns and articles here