Lesson Four - Genders

All nouns (things) in Spanish are recognised either to be Masculine or Feminine (male or female). So, when talking about a noun, we can put, "the" or " a" in front of the verb in their correct form.

La = the (before a feminine noun...) Una = a (before a feminine noun)
Le = the (before a masculine noun...) Un = a (before a masculine noun)

But, how do we know if a noun is masculine or feminine?
Here are some simple rules (keep an eye out for the exceptions also...):

Masculine words end in:
-O un amigo = a friend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - excp la mano = the hand
-OR el doctor = the doctor~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - la flor = the flower
-EMA el problema = the problem ~~~~~~~~~~~~-la crema - the cream
-GRAMA un crucigrama = a crossword
-ON el corazon = the heart ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-la razon = the reason

Feminine words end in:

-A una amiga = a friend ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~excp- el dia = the day
-ED la pared = the wall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-el huesped = the guest
-DAD un apropidad = a property
-TAD la libertad = the freedom
-TUD la altitud = the altitude
-UMBRE la costumbre = the custom
-CION la informacion = the information
-SION la pasion = the passion
-XION la connexion = the connection

There are some nouns which could be either, depending upon whether you are talking about a masculine or feminine person/object.

e.g
-ISTA el turista (male tourist)~~~~~~~~~~~~~ excp- la vista (the view)
~~~~la turista (female tourist)

-ANTE el estudiante (male student)
~~~~la estudiante (female student)

-ENTE el presidente (male president)
~~~~la presidente (female president)

There are other exceptions which you just have to learn and you get know whether they are masculine or feminine after a while...

Vocabulary:

la calle = road
el arbol = tree
la cruz = cross
el reloj = watch

tip: any nouns that begin with "a" or "h" are masculine, as to pronounce, "la + a....." or "la + h....." is very hard in Spanish!

e.g
el agua = water
el aguila = eagle
el arma = gun
el hacha = axe
el almo = aura/spirit

Happy studying!

We hope you enjoyed your Spanish learning to tell time lesson!

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