Grammatical gender in Spanish nouns

Intro

Possibly one of the most confusing aspects of Spanish for English speakers, grammatical gender is one of the most fundamental features of Spanish and many other languages. However, mastering grammatical gender can be made simple with the right tools, and you're in the right place! All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine, and the gender and number (i.e., if the noun is singular or plural) of the nouns will affect the words around them. However, we have divided them into three types of categories that are easy to break down, let’s look into them:

Common gender nouns

Sustantivos comunes en cuanto al género / Common gender noun:

These nouns do not change their form because of gender and are specifically used for living things. Their gender is distinguished only by their article (el, la, los, las), for example:

1. el/la estudiante = the student

2. los/las cantantes = the singers

   1. (Notice how the -s was added to mark plurality)

   2. (el has the biggest change when turning into its plural: los)

3. un/una psiquiatra = a psychiatrist

4. unos/unas guitarristas = some guitarists

Nouns like these act as adjectives without gender, such as feliz (happy), amable (kind), and/or humilde (humble). With these nouns and adjectives, you can already form a phrase. It is important to remember that IF the noun is feminine and plural, then its article(s) and its adjective(s) must be feminine and plural as well, unless the adjectives are neutral in gender, just as the ones listed above. This agreement is called concordancia gramatical or grammatical concord, which is similar to the subject-verb agreement in English, but with added elements like gender. Next up, we will see examples of gender-neutral adjectives:

1. La estudiante amable/inteligente. = The kind/intelligent (female) student.

2. Las estudiantes amables/inteligentes. = The kind/intelligent (female) students.

3. Unas guitarristas humildes. = Some humble (female) guitarists.

4. Los psiquiatras talentosos. = The talented (male) psychiatrists.

   1. (Notice the gendered adjective talentosos? You can mix and match all kinds of nouns with all kinds of adjectives. How would have the sentence changed if it was feminine and singular, instead of masculine and plural?)

Which is feminine and singular?

• Las psiquiatras talentosos
• La psiquiatra talentosa.

The correct answer is at the end of the blog!*

Another important rule that applies to masculine nouns in their plural form is the generic masculine rule, which states that even when a group of living entities is NOT composed exclusively of males, los + masculine noun is used to refer to the group as a whole.

1. Las perras = The (female) dogs (ONLY female dogs)

2. Los perros = The (male) dogs (ALL dogs regardless of sex)

   
   

Even when, technically, Los perros could refer exclusively to male dogs, it is used so generally that any group of living entities that can be of both sexes will be referred to as Los... estudiantes, psiquiatras, artistas, perros, amigos, etc. Now, let's see some nouns of living things that are exclusively of one gender.

Static nouns

Sustantivos estáticos / Static nouns:

These nouns will always be used with one specific gender, WITHOUT a difference in articles. Let’s take a look:

1. Las personas pensativas. = The pensive people.

   1. (Notice the grammatical concord, the whole sentence is feminine and plural.)

2. Mi personaje favorito fue Julieta. = My favorite character was Juliet.

   1. (Even when Julieta is a feminine name, since personaje is always masculine, the adjective will also be masculine: favorito, and not favorita.)

   2. (Notice the possessive pronoun Mi, which is neutral.)

3. La hormiga macho es roja. = The male ant is red.

   1. (Same thing here, even when the ant is macho, hormiga is always female, hence the adjective roja and not rojo.)

4. Mi abuelo tenía una guitarra. = My grandfather used to have a guitar.

   1. (A guitar, like ALL non-living nouns, is either feminine or masculine.)

   2. Have you ever heard the phrase uno momento? Well it's 100% WRONG.

      1. Uno is a number or pronoun, somewhat similar to how English uses it.

      2. uno de esos = one of those / uno mismo = oneself / uno y dos = one and two

      3. Un is the determiner: un panda = a panda

While these nouns might appear very specific and confusing, they are key to mastering grammatical concord in Spanish.

"To master the gender, the noun you must remember."

Binary nouns

Sustantivos binarios / Binary nouns

The following nouns have two versions: a masculine and a feminine form. In many cases, the difference lies in the last vowel, usually, it is -o for masculine and -a for feminine, but there are always exceptions. Let's look at some examples:

1. El gato y la gata se abrazaron. = The (male) cat and the (female) cat hugged.

2. La dueña / El dueño del negocio lloró. = The owner of the business cried.

3. Los compañeros / Las compañeras = The partners/companions/classmates

   1. (Remember the generic masculine)

One thing to keep in mind about nouns and their gender is that, in a sense, they are arbitrary. This randomness is based on the fact that different languages have assigned different genders to objects. For example, the flower in Spanish is feminine (la flor), but it is masculine in Italian (il fiore), the same way the bridge is masculine in Spanish (el puente) but feminine in German (die Brücke). Here you will see a list of the most used nouns in Spanish, be sure to add these words to improve your vocabulary significantly. Most are inanimate objects, but a select few aren’t, can you identify them?

Most used nouns by gender.pdf

Download PDF • 108KB

While there is much more to cover regarding the grammatical gender of Spanish, this blog post is a great introduction for beginners and for non-native Spanish speakers of any level who are looking to refresh their memory. Make sure to share these blogs with your friends so everyone can learn about the beauty of Spanish! Thank you for your support!

La pisquiatra talentosa is feminine and singular!*