When you have finished this page, try the Nouns - Nombres Quiz.
A noun is a word that names a person, place or thing. Nouns in English are not all identified as either male or female.
Nouns in Spanish are either male or female. They are often preceded by the articles "el" for the masculine and "la" for the feminine (both meaning "the").
The indefinite form of a noun in English is used with the word "a" or "an".or "some". In Spanish there is a masculine and feminine form of this word as well as the singular and plural. The masculine singular is "un" and the feminine singular is "una". The masculine plural is "unos" and the feminine plural is "unas".
If a noun is plural, the definite article "the" is fomred as "los" for the masculine and "las" for the feminine. This is different than English where there is no plural form for "the".
Here are some general rules so one knows if a noun is masculine or feminine.
| Masculine Rule | Masculine Example | Feminine Rule | Feminine Example |
| Nouns ending in "o" generally are masculine, | nino - boy | Nouns ending in "a" are generally feminine, | nina - girl |
| A number of nouns that end in ma are masculine, |
el clima |
Nouns that end in "dad" | la ciudad - city |
| A few that end in a are masculine | el día el mapa el planeta el sofá |
Nouns that end in "sión" | colisión - collision |
| Nouns that end in "ción" | acción - action | ||
| Nouns that end in "tad" | la libertad | ||
| Nouns that end in "tud" | altitud - attitude | ||
| Nouns that end in "umbre" | la certidumbre | ||
| Several nouns that end in o are feminine | lal mano - hand la radio - radio |
As in the examples above, most nouns form the plural by adding s to the singular form when they end in a vowel. However, as with English, there are some that are exceptions. Here are some examples:
If a noun ends in a consonant, add "es" to form the plural.
If a noun ends in "ión", the accent is dropped in the plural form.
la televisión -las televisiones
When a noun ends in "z", change the "z" to "c" and then add "es".
