Gender and articles

What you will practice

• Use el, la, los, and las with the right gender and number.
• Choose un or una for “a” or “an.”
• Remember el día, la mano, and the stress rule for el agua.

Explanation

Gender in the article

The definite article points to a particular noun. el is singular masculine and la is singular feminine: el libro, la casa. In the plural, el becomes los and la becomes las: los libros, las casas. libro and casa add -s because they end in a vowel. Gender is a grammar class you learn with the noun. It is not a guess from the English word, and a mixed group still takes masculine los.

The article chart

The indefinite article means “a” or “an.” Use un before a masculine singular noun and una before a feminine one: un libro, una mesa. The table puts the definite and indefinite articles in one place. There is no plural of “a” or “an” in this lesson. When you mean particular books or houses, the plural articles are los and las. Learn the article together with the noun the first time you meet it.

Endings and exceptions

Many nouns in -o are masculine, and many in -a are feminine, but the hint fails. el día is masculine even with an -a ending. la mano is feminine even with an -o ending. A feminine noun that starts with a stressed a takes el in the singular. agua is feminine, yet the phrases are el agua fría and toda el agua. The plural is las aguas. An unstressed first a keeps la, as in la arena.

Examples

1. el librothe book
2. la casathe house
3. una mesaa table
4. el díathe day
5. el agua fríathe cold water

Common mistakes

• la día and el mano follow the ending and miss the real gender of those nouns.
• el agua does not make the noun masculine. The adjective stays feminine: fría, not frío.