Some Interesting Facts about Gender Ambiguity of Nouns
Thanks to About.Com for providing this great article on the masculine/feminine ambiguities of articles in Spanish!
Some Nouns Are of Ambiguous Gender
By Gerald Erichsen, About.com Guide
la libido(the libido) — Some authorities say that libido and mano (hand) are the only Spanish nouns ending in -o, other than shortened forms of longer words (such as foto for fotografía and disco for discoteca, or occupational words, such as la piloto for a female pilot), that are feminine. However, the word is often treated as masculine.
el/la Internet(the Internet) — The general rule is that nouns imported from other languages are masculine unless there's a reason for making them feminine. In this case, the feminine is often used because the word for a computer network (la red) is feminine.
el/la web(the web page, web site, World Wide Web) — This word may have entered the language as a shorter form of la página web (web page), or it may be feminine because red (another word for the Web) is feminine.
el/la sartén(the frying pan) — The word is masculine in Spain, feminine in much of Latin America.
el/la radio(the radio) — When it means "radius" or "radium," radio is invariably masculine. When it means "radio," it is feminine in some areas (such as Spain), masculine in others (such as Mexico).
el mar(the sea) - Mar is usually masculine, but it becomes feminine in some weather and nautical usages (such as en la alta mar, on the high seas).
el arte(the art) - The masculine is used when arte is singular, but the feminine is often used in the plural, as in las artes bellas (fine arts).
Great article, huh? What a life I lead...Joel B.
Some Nouns Are of Ambiguous Gender
By Gerald Erichsen, About.com Guide
la libido(the libido) — Some authorities say that libido and mano (hand) are the only Spanish nouns ending in -o, other than shortened forms of longer words (such as foto for fotografía and disco for discoteca, or occupational words, such as la piloto for a female pilot), that are feminine. However, the word is often treated as masculine.
el/la Internet(the Internet) — The general rule is that nouns imported from other languages are masculine unless there's a reason for making them feminine. In this case, the feminine is often used because the word for a computer network (la red) is feminine.
el/la web(the web page, web site, World Wide Web) — This word may have entered the language as a shorter form of la página web (web page), or it may be feminine because red (another word for the Web) is feminine.
el/la sartén(the frying pan) — The word is masculine in Spain, feminine in much of Latin America.
el/la radio(the radio) — When it means "radius" or "radium," radio is invariably masculine. When it means "radio," it is feminine in some areas (such as Spain), masculine in others (such as Mexico).
el mar(the sea) - Mar is usually masculine, but it becomes feminine in some weather and nautical usages (such as en la alta mar, on the high seas).
el arte(the art) - The masculine is used when arte is singular, but the feminine is often used in the plural, as in las artes bellas (fine arts).
Great article, huh? What a life I lead...Joel B.
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