Noun Gender and their Articles

Spanish nouns are unlike their English counterparts in that they are inherently associated with a certain gender. English nouns are all neutral. Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. This doesn't necessarily mean the noun exhibits either of these qualities; but rather, these nouns are linked with certain articles.

The Spanish articles, much like English, are either indefinite or definite. The indefinite articles are either un, una, unos, or unas and are the English equivalents of "a", "an", or "some". Notice that there are four forms in Spanish, and they are respectively associated with nouns that are singular-masculine, singular-feminine, plural-masculine, or plural-feminine. Look at the following examples:



un dependiente
a store clerk
una manzana
an apple
unos libros
some books
unas bufundas
some scarves


On the other hand, the definite article only has one English use, namely "the". Again, there are four forms to match the possible gender and number combination of the given noun. They are el, la, los, and las. Here are some more examples:




el mostrador
the counter
la taza de café
the coffee cup
los relojes
the watches
las lámparas
the lamps


Although it will take awhile for you to solidify your understanding of noun gender in the Spanish language, you will start seeing patterns take shape, and it will allow you to use pronouns with more efficiency as you advance in your knowledge acquisition of the Spanish language.

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