How To Guess if a Spanish Noun Is Masculine or Feminine

How To Guess if a Spanish Noun Is Masculine or Feminine Although it is seldom possible to predict with certainty whether a given Spanish noun is of masculine or feminine gender, Spanish has numerous guidelines that can usually be followed. Key Takeaways: Spanish Noun Gender Nouns ending in -a, -cià ³n, -à ­a, or -dad are usually feminine.Nouns ending in -o, an accented vowel, -or, or -aje are usually masculine.Names of rivers, lakes, and oceans are usually masculine; names of mountains are usually feminine. The most well-known rule or guideline is that nouns ending in -o are masculine and those ending in -a are feminine, but there are numerous exceptions to this gender rule, especially for those ending in -a. Some of the exceptions are listed below. Following are some other guides to gender determination. Note that many words have definitions in addition to those listed: Feminine Suffixes Nouns ending in certain suffixes are usually feminine. They include -cià ³n (usually the equivalent of -tion), -sià ³n, -à ­a (usually the equivalent of -y, although not in the diminutive sense), -za, -dad (often used like -ty), and -itis (-itis). la nacià ³n (nation)la intervencià ³n (intervention)la hospitalizacià ³n (hospitalization)la ocasià ³n (occasion)la tensià ³n (tension)la economà ­a (economy)la taxonomà ­a (taxonomy)la probreza (poverty)la felicidad (happiness)la caridad (charity)la mastitis (mastitis)la meningitis (meningitis) Masculine Endings Nouns of Greek origin ending in -a, often -ma, are nearly always masculine. Most of these words have English cognates. el problema (problem)el drama (drama)el poema (poem)el tema (subject) Nouns ending in an accented vowel are usually masculine. el sof (sofa)el tabà º (taboo)el rubà ­ (ruby) Nouns with certain other endings are usually masculine. These include -aje (usually the equivalent of -age), -ambre, and -or. An exception is la flor (flower). el coraje (courage)el mensaje (message)el espionaje (espionage)el hambre (hunger)el calambre (cramp)el calor (heat)el dolor (pain)el interior (interior) Masculine Infinitives Infinitives used as nouns are masculine. el fumar (smoking)el cantar (singing)el viajar (traveling) Months and Days Months and days of the week are masculine. el enero (January)el septiembre (September)el martes (Tuesday)el jueves (Thursday) Letters and Numbers Letters are feminine while numbers are masculine. One way to remember this is that letra is feminine while nà ºmero is masculine. la d (d)la o (o)el siete (seven)el ciento (100) Abbreviations and Shortened Words The gender of abbreviations and acronyms typically matches the gender of the main noun of what the shortened version stands for. la ONU (the O stands for Organizacià ³n, which is feminine)los EE.UU. (United States; estados (states) is masculine)las FF.AA. (armed forces; fuerzas is feminine)la NASA (NASA; the word for agency, agencia, is feminine)el FBI (FBI; burà ³, the word for bureau, is masculine) Words that are a shorter form of another word or of a phrase retain the gender of the longer word or of the main noun in the phrase. la moto (motorcycle; the word is a shortened form of la motocicleta)la disco (disco; the word is a shortened form of la discoteca)la foto (photo; the word is a shortened form of la fotografà ­a)la bici (bicycle; the word is a shortened form of la bicicleta)un Toyota (a Toyota. The masculine may be used here as a short form of un coche Toyota, as coche, the word for car, is masculine. However, una Toyota may refer to a Toyota pickup truck, because the common word for pickup is the feminine camioneta.)la Alcatraz (the word for prison, prisià ³n, is feminine) Compound and Two-Word Nouns Compound nouns formed by following a verb with a noun are masculine. el rascacielos (skyscraper)el dragaminas (minesweeper)el guardarropa (clothes closet)el tragamondedas (slot or vending machine) Two-word nouns, which are unusual in Spanish, carry the gender of the first noun. el kilowatt hora (kilowatt-hour)el sitio web (website)el aà ±o luz (light-year)la mujer objeto (sex object)la noticia bomba (bombshell news story) Chemical Elements With the exception of la plata (silver), names of the chemical elements are masculine. el flà ºor (fluorine)el cinc (zinc)el hidrà ³geno (hydrogen) Geographical Names Names of rivers, lakes and oceans are masculine because el rà ­o, el lago and el ocà ©ano, respectively, are masculine. el Danubio (the Danube)el Amazonas (the Amazon)el Titicaca (Titicaca)el Atlntico (the Atlantic) Names of mountains are usually masculine, because el monte (mountain) is masculine. An exception is that the Rockies are usually referred to as las Rocosas or las Montaà ±as Rocosas. los Himalayas (the Himalayas)el Cervino (the Matterhorn)los Andes (the Andes) Names of islands are usually feminine because la isla (island) is feminine. las Canarias (Canary Islands)las Azores (Azores)las Antillas (West Indies) Company Names Names of companies usually are feminine, because la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a (company) is feminine, as are sociedad anà ³nima (corporation), corporacià ³n (corporation), and empresa (business). This rule is not consistently followed, however, and some well-known companies (such as Google) are referred to as either masculine or feminine. la Microsoft (Microsoft)la ExxonMobil (ExxonMobil)la Nestlà © (Nestlà ©) Imported Words The default gender for foreign words adopted into the language is masculine, but a feminine gender is sometimes acquired if theres a reason for doing so. Thus foreign nouns that end in -a sometimes become feminine, as do some words related in meaning to a Spanish feminine word. el marketing (marketing)la web (the Web or World Wide Web; the feminine is usually used because the Spanish words red and teleraà ±a, words for web and network, respectively, are feminine)el internet, la internet (both genders are used)los jeans (jeans)el rock (rock music)el software (software)el show (show)el champà º (shampoo)el bistec (beefsteak)la pizza (pizza)