Unlike in English, every noun in Spanish has a gender (género). These genders are important to know, since they determine the articles and adjectives to use with that noun.
Genders in Spanish
There are two grammatical genders: feminine (femenino) and masculine (masculino). Generally, words referring to living beings will reflect that being's gender, but otherwise the gender of the word refers to the word itself instead of the underlying object.
How to Determine a Gender
There are a few rules you can follow to help make an educated guess about the gender of a noun. There are usually exceptions to these rules, but this should give you a solid starting point.
Masculine
The following nouns are (often) masculine:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Ends with-o | el tiempo (time, weather),el plato (plate) |
| Ends with-ma | el idioma (language),el programa (program) |
| Ends with-á/-é/-í/-ó/-ú | el bebé (baby),el colibrí (hummingbird) |
| Refers to males | el padre (father),el hombre (man) |
| Days | el lunes (Monday),el martes (Tuesday) |
| Dates | el 1 de abril (the 1st of April) |
| Cardinal directions | el norte (north),el sur (south) |
Feminine
The following nouns are (often) feminine:
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Ends with-a | la casa (house),la vida (la vida) |
| Ends with-d | la salud (health),la felicidad (happiness) |
| Ends with-ión | la canción (song),la religión (religion) |
| Ends with-umbre | la costumbre (custom)la muchedumbre (crowd) |
| Ends with-z | la luz (light),la nariz (nose) |
| Refers to females | la madre (mother),la mujer (woman) |
| Letters | la (letra) "a" (the letter "a") |
Common
Sometimes a word that refers to a person can be used with either gender, even though the word itself stays the same:
| Examples |
|---|
| el dentista/la dentista (dentist) |
| el testigo/la testigo (witness) |
| el violista/la violista (violinist) |