Unit 2: Basics

2.1 Gender of Nouns and Definite and Indefinite Articles

All nouns in Spanish are masculine or feminine in gender. * (A very small number can be both.) Masculine nouns are generally preceded by the masculine definite article corresponding to English “the” or indefinite article corresponding to English “a” or “an” in the singular, “some” or “a few” in the plural. Feminine nouns follow the same pattern.

Masculine Feminine
definite article el libro – the book la clase – the class
indefinite article un libro – a book una clase – a class
Plural
definite article los libros – the books las clases – the classes
indefinite article unos libros – some (a few) books unas clases – some (a few) classes

Most nouns ending in -o are masculine, and most ending in -a are feminine, though exceptions exist. Gender of nouns, in any case, does not present comprehension problems or translation difficulties.

*Some nouns and pronouns are neuter in gender. You will see these later in the text.

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