Noun Gender (Masculine/Feminine)

Every noun in Spanish is either masculine or feminine. Unlike English, where nouns are generally gender-neutral, Spanish grammar requires you to know the gender of each noun because it affects the articles, adjectives, and pronouns used with it.

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Why Gender Matters

In Spanish, gender is not just a grammatical label — it shapes every sentence you build. The article you place before a noun, the adjective you use to describe it, and even some verb forms depend on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.

For example:

• El gato negro — The black cat (masculine)
• La gata negra — The black cat (feminine)

Tip: Learning noun gender from the start will save you enormous effort later. Always memorise a noun together with its article: el libro, not just libro.

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The Basic Rule: Endings

The most reliable way to guess gender is by looking at the ending of a noun.

Masculine Endings

Ending	Example	Meaning
-o	el libro	the book
-o	el perro	the dog
-o	el cielo	the sky
-o	el museo	the museum
-or	el color	the colour
-aje	el viaje	the trip
-mente	el continente	the continent
-ma (Greek origin)	el problema	the problem

Feminine Endings

Ending	Example	Meaning
-a	la casa	the house
-a	la mesa	the table
-a	la puerta	the door
-ción	la canción	the song
-sión	la decisión	the decision
-dad	la ciudad	the city
-tad	la libertad	freedom
-tud	la juventud	youth
-umbre	la costumbre	the custom

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Common Exceptions

Spanish has many words that break the basic rules. These must simply be memorised.

Masculine Words Ending in -a

Word	Meaning	Why?
el día	the day	Historical exception
el mapa	the map	From Greek
el planeta	the planet	From Greek
el problema	the problem	From Greek (-ma ending)
el sistema	the system	From Greek (-ma ending)
el tema	the topic	From Greek (-ma ending)
el programa	the programme	From Greek (-ma ending)
el idioma	the language	From Greek (-ma ending)
el clima	the climate	From Greek (-ma ending)
el sofá	the sofa	Foreign origin

Feminine Words Ending in -o

Word	Meaning
la mano	the hand
la radio	the radio
la foto	the photo (short for la fotografía)
la moto	the motorbike (short for la motocicleta)

Tip: Words of Greek origin ending in -ma, -ta, or -pa are almost always masculine: el drama, el diploma, el mapa.

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Nouns That Change Meaning with Gender

Some nouns have different meanings depending on whether they are masculine or feminine.

Masculine	Meaning	Feminine	Meaning
el capital	capital (money)	la capital	capital (city)
el cura	priest	la cura	cure
el orden	order (sequence)	la orden	order (command)
el guía	guide (person)	la guía	guide (book/guideline)
el frente	front (military)	la frente	forehead
el cometa	comet	la cometa	kite
el papa	pope	la papa	potato (Latin America)

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Nouns for People and Animals

For nouns referring to people and some animals, the gender usually matches the biological sex.

Pattern 1: Change the Ending

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
el chico	la chica	boy / girl
el hermano	la hermana	brother / sister
el abuelo	la abuela	grandfather / grandmother
el gato	la gata	male cat / female cat
el perro	la perra	male dog / female dog

Pattern 2: Different Words Entirely

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
el hombre	la mujer	man / woman
el padre	la madre	father / mother
el toro	la vaca	bull / cow
el caballo	la yegua	horse / mare

Pattern 3: Same Word, Change the Article

Some nouns for people keep the same form regardless of gender. Only the article changes.

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
el estudiante	la estudiante	student
el artista	la artista	artist
el periodista	la periodista	journalist
el dentista	la dentista	dentist

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Quick Reference: Gender Rules Summary

Typically Masculine	Typically Feminine
Ends in -o	Ends in -a
Ends in -or	Ends in -ora
Ends in -aje	Ends in -ción / -sión
Greek origin -ma	Ends in -dad / -tad
Days of the week	Ends in -tud
Colours (as nouns)	Ends in -umbre
Rivers, seas, oceans	Letters of the alphabet

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Practice: Identify the Gender

Try to determine whether each noun is masculine (M) or feminine (F):

1. televisión — F (ends in -ión)
2. problema — M (Greek origin, -ma ending)
3. universidad — F (ends in -dad)
4. coche — M (the car — must be memorised)
5. noche — F (the night — must be memorised)
6. costumbre — F (ends in -umbre)
7. viaje — M (ends in -aje)
8. mano — F (exception: la mano)
9. planeta — M (Greek origin)
10. libertad — F (ends in -tad)

Cultural Note: The topic of grammatical gender in Spanish is purely linguistic. Assigning gender to a table (la mesa) or a book (el libro) has no social or cultural significance — it is simply how the language has evolved over centuries from Latin.

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Summary

• Every Spanish noun has a gender: masculine or feminine.
• Endings are the best clue: -o is usually masculine, -a is usually feminine.
• Words ending in -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad, -tud, and -umbre are almost always feminine.
• Words of Greek origin ending in -ma are masculine (el problema, el tema).
• Some nouns change meaning with gender (el capital vs la capital).
• Always learn a noun with its article to remember its gender.