Gender and articles
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine — that determines which article you use.
Masculine or feminine?
In Spanish, every noun has a gender (género): masculine (masculino, m) or feminine (femenino, f). There is no neuter 'het' form like in Dutch.
Rule of thumb:
- Words ending in -o are usually masculine: el libro, el gato, el niño.
- Words ending in -a are usually feminine: la casa, la mesa, la niña.
Gender also determines the article and any adjective that goes with the noun — so always learn a word together with its article (el libro, not just libro).
Examples
Exceptions to the -o/-a rule
Many words don't follow the rule. The most important exceptions for A1:
- Words ending in -ción, -sión and -dad are always feminine: la canción (the song), la televisión, la ciudad (the city), la universidad.
- Words ending in -ma (often of Greek origin) are often masculine: el problema, el idioma (the language), el programa, el sistema.
- La mano (the hand) is feminine, despite the -o.
- El día (the day) is masculine, despite the -a.
- La moto, la foto and la radio are also feminine (shortened forms of motocicleta, fotografía, radiodifusión — the gender of the full word is kept).
Examples
Definite articles: el, la, los, las
The definite article ('the') depends on gender and number:
- masculine singular → el (el libro)
- feminine singular → la (la casa)
- masculine plural → los (los libros)
- feminine plural → las (las casas)
Watch out for vowel clash: before a feminine singular word that starts with a stressed a- or ha- sound, you still use el (only in the singular, to avoid two a-sounds colliding): el agua (the water), el águila (the eagle), el hacha (the axe). The word stays grammatically feminine: el agua fría (the cold water), plural las aguas.
| Enkelvoud / Singular | Meervoud / Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Mannelijk / Masculine | el libro | los libros |
| Vrouwelijk / Feminine | la casa | las casas |
| Vrouwelijk + a-klank / Feminine + a-sound | el agua | las aguas |
Examples
Indefinite articles: un, una, unos, unas
The indefinite article ('a/an') follows the same logic:
- masculine singular → un (un libro = a book)
- feminine singular → una (una casa = a house)
- masculine plural → unos (unos libros = a few books)
- feminine plural → unas (unas casas = a few houses)
The plural of 'a/an' doesn't exist in English, but in Spanish unos/unas means something like 'a few' or 'some'. Just like with el, use un (not una) before feminine words starting with a stressed a-sound: un agua, un águila.
Examples
💡 Tips
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Related grammar
← Pronunciation and the alphabetThe plural →
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