Spanish Noun Gender: Masculine and Feminine

Every Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine. The ending often tells you which.

Usual patterns

Ending	Usually	Example
-o	masculine	el libro (book)
-a	feminine	la mesa (table)
-ción, -sión	feminine	la canción (song)
-dad, -tad	feminine	la ciudad (city)
-ma	often masculine	el problema (problem)
-aje	masculine	el viaje (trip)
-or	masculine	el color (colour)

Common exceptions

• la mano (hand) ends in -o but is feminine.
• el día (day) ends in -a but is masculine.
• el mapa (map) is masculine.
• la foto (photo) is short for fotografía, so it is feminine.

People

For people, gender usually follows the person:

• el chico and la chica, boy and girl
• el profesor and la profesora, teacher
• el estudiante and la estudiante, student (same form, change the article)

Same word, different meaning

Masculine	Feminine
el capital (money)	la capital (capital city)
el policía (policeman)	la policía (police force)
el cura (priest)	la cura (cure)

Why gender matters

It affects articles and adjectives:

• el coche rojo, the red car
• la casa roja, the red house

Learning gender

1. Learn each noun with its article: el libro, la mesa.
2. Notice endings such as -ción and -dad.
3. Expect exceptions.
4. Use the dictionary, which shows gender for each noun.

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