Spanish - Nouns

After nouns: Adjectives

Adjectives usually come after the noun they are describing.

E.g.

• un vestido azul (a blue dress)
• una camisa roja (a red shirt)

Before nouns

Words like first, second, next, last go before the noun:

• el primer piso
• la tercera puerta
• la próxima semana
• la última semana

Gender

All nouns are either masculine or feminine.

• masculine: nouns often end in -o, use el, e.g. el niño (the boy)
• feminine: nouns often end in -a, use la, e.g. la niña (the girl)

Nouns end in consonants:

• masculine: l, r. E.g. hospital, tenedor.
• feminine: pared, habitación, televisión, costumbre, luz.

Languages and days of the week are always masculine, no matter the ending letter.

The endings of adjectives depend on the gender of what they describe.

E.g. americano (male) / americana (female)

Plural

Just like in English, add -s or -es (if the word ends in a consonant) to the end of the word.

• libro => libros
• el bolígrafo => los bolígrafos
• la carta => las cartas
• las mujeres

If a word ends in -z (e.g. lapiz, pez, feliz), remove the -z and add -ces to make it plural.

• el pez => los peces
• la vaca feliz => las vacas felices

Add -s / -es to both nouns and adjectives

• el zapato verde => los zapatos verdes

Also mi / tu / su

• mi / tu / su camisa => mis / tus / sus camisas

Agreement

Words describing a noun should agree in their gender:

• un / el niño mexicano
• una / la niña mexicaa

Occupations

The word changes depending on the gender of the person

• maestro / maestra: teacher
• profesor / profesora: professor
• médico / médica: doctor

el agua

El is often used for masculine nouns and la for feminine ones. But when the noun begins with a stressed a- or ha-, you must use el regardless of the gender.