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Lesson 2 Nouns, Articles, Gender and Number

Mi nombre es _______________ Hoy es ______________________________________






The Plural Form of Nouns
1. If a noun ends with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), make it plural by adding s.
a. Plato (singular) = _______________ (plural)
b. Cama (sg) = _______________ (pl)
c. Bao (sg) = _______________ (pl)
2. If a noun ends with a consonant, make it plural by adding es.
a. Reloj (sg) = __________________ (pl)
b. Pared (sg) = __________________ (pl)
c. Papel (sg) = __________________ (pl)
3. If a noun ends with in, add es and drop the written accent.
a. Institucin (sg) = __________________ (pl)
b. Seccin (sg) = __________________ (pl)
c. Avin (sg) = __________________ (pl)
4. If a noun ends with z, add es and change the z to c.
a. Lpiz (sg) = _______________ (pl)
b. Voz (sg) = _______________ (pl)
c. Actriz (sg) = _______________ (pl)
NOUN, n: the name of things, places or
people.
Apple, chair, jeans, Kuala Lumpur,
etc.
GENDER: feminine, f or masculine, m.
ARTICLE: the qualifier of the noun.
The, a, an.
NUMBER: singular, sg or plural, pl.
apple - apples
When there is an accent on the last
syllable of the word in singular form,
it will disappear in the plural form.
For example:
comn (sg) comunes (pl)
ratn (sg) ratones (pl)
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Activity: Pluralise the nouns below using the rules above.
1. Guitarra
2. Tarde
3. Hermano
4. Arroz
5. Conclusin
6. Pingino
7. Zapato
8. Azul
9. Televisin
10. Pregunta
11. Refresco
12. Altavoz
13. Nariz
14. Ilustracin
15. Queso
16. Actividad
17. Ojo
18. Goma
19. Bicicleta
20. Ordenador
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
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The Articles Los Artculos
Each noun has an article which agrees with the gender of the object.

The Definite Articles Los Artculos Definidos (El/La/Los/Las)
The DEFINITE ARTICLE/ARTCULO DEFINIDO is the Spanish form of THE, which is used to refer to a
specific object.
singular plural
Masculino el los
Feminino la las
For example:

(a) Book libro. It is an object which is masculine.
Therefore, its article will be the masculine el.
The book = El libro (sg.)
The books = Los libros (pl.)

(b) Ruler regla. It is a feminine object.
Therefore, the article will also be feminine.
The ruler = La regla (sg.)
The rulers = Las reglas (pl.)

The Indefinite Articles Los Artculos Indefinidos (Un/Una/Unos/Unas)

The INDEFINITE ARTICLE/ARTCULO INDEFINIDO is the Spanish form of A or AN, which is used to
refer to a non-specific object, i.e. a general object.

singular plural
Masculino un unos
Feminino una unas

For example:

(a) Book libro (m)
A book = Un libro (sg.)
Some books = Unos libros (pl.)

(b) Ruler regla (f)
A ruler = Una regla (sg.)
Some rulers = Unas reglas (pl.)




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The Gender of Nouns

Nouns (people, places, things) in the Spanish language have a grammatical gender. It is only a
convention. The gender of a noun NEVER CHANGES.

There are 2 genders in Spanish the masculine (masculino) and the feminine (femenino).

Masculine Nouns
1. Those that end with o.
- El queso, el pingino, el zapato, el libro
2. Remember N O R S E L. Generally nouns that end with these letters are masculine.
- El ordenador, el puente, el papel, el cinturn
3. All the days of the week are masculine.
- El lunes, el martes, el mircoles, el jueves, el viernes, el sbado, el domingo
4. Nouns that end in ma, pa or ta and is of Greek origin generally are masculine.
- El clima, el idioma, el problema, el planeta, el mapa
Feminine Nouns
1. Those that end with a.
- La guitarra, la pregunta, la goma, la bicicleta, etc.
- Exception: el da
2. Those that end with in, -dad, -tad, -is, -ie and umbre.
- La conclusin, la actividad, la dificultad, la crisis, la serie, la costumbre
- Exception: el avin, el anlisis, el pie
3. There are words which seem to be exceptions, but really are words which have been cut short.
La disco la discoteca La moto la motocicleta
La foto la fotografa La radio la radiodifusin
BUT! A true exception is:
La mano las manos
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4. Nouns that begin with an emphasised a- or ha- require the el to maintain the sound balance of
the word. However, they maintain the feminine gender of the words.
In plural form, the feminine plural article, las is used.
El agua clara las aguas claras
El hacha fina las hachas finas
Activity Write the article for each noun below in singular (el, la) and plural (los, las) form.
Singular Form Plural Form
La manzana Las Manzanas
________ almohada ________ __________________________
________ telfono ________ __________________________
________ dedo ________ __________________________
________ universidad ________ __________________________
________ tenedor ________ __________________________
________ ratn ________ __________________________
________ camiseta ________ __________________________
________ sbana ________ __________________________
________ da ________ __________________________
________ mes ________ __________________________











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When we talk about nouns that refer to people, the noun ending changes according to the gender of the
person.

Masculino Femenino
el nio little boy la nia little girl
el chico boy la chica girl
el amigo friend (male) la amiga friend (female)
el hijo son la hija daughter
el mexicano Mexican man la mexicana Mexican woman

The same occurs when we talk about occupations. However, those that end with ta or ista remain the
same for both genders.



El maestro


____ enfermero
La maestra ____ _____________

____ cientfico

____ bombero
____ _____________ ____ _____________

____ taxista

____ dentista
____ _____________ ____ _____________


Sometimes, there is a different word for the masculine noun and the feminine one.
For example:
el hombre la mujer
man woman
el toro la vaca
bull cow

el caballo la yegua
stallion mare
el gallo la gallina
rooster hen