Gender of Nouns in Spanish Grammar

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What does noun gender mean in Spanish?

Nouns (sustantivos), describe people, places, things and concrete or abstracts concepts.

In Spanish grammar, nouns are classified by gender as masculine or feminine. The gender of a noun in Spanish can generally be identified by the noun ending, however, there are some exceptions.

Learn the rules for identifying masculine and feminine nouns in Spanish grammar with Lingolia. In the exercises, you can practise what you have learnt.

Example

Masculine Nouns

The general rule is that nouns ending in -o are masculine. However, there are some different noun endings and noun categories that are also considered masculine.

Below is a list of general rules, examples and exceptions for determining masculine nouns in Spanish grammar:

word ending example exception
-o el trabajojob, el librobook la fotophoto, la manohand
-aje el viajetrip, el trajesuit
-ambre el calambrecramp
-ar, -er, -or el colmenarapiary, el ordenadorcomputer, el tallergarage
-an, -en, -in, -on, un (with or without an accent) el panbread, el andénplatform, el espadíndress sword, el jamónham, el atúntuna fish
-ate, -ete, ote el escaparateshop window, el camarotecabin
-é el cafécoffee
-és el arnésharness
-che el cochecar, el porcheporch la nochenight
-l el papelpaper, el nivellevel la pielskin, la cárcelprison
-ma el programaprogram, el poemapoem la cremalotion, la camabed
-miento el pimientopepper, el sufrimientosuffering
-n el trentrain la imagenpicture
-pa el mapamap, el arpaharp la capacloak
-ta el cometacomet, el planetaplanet la cartaletter, la patapaw
-x el tóraxthorax
-y el bueyox, el jerseypullover
compound words formed with a verb el paraguas (parar + agua)umbrella
stop + water
compass directions el norteNorth
days of the week el lunesMonday
months el eneroJanuary
numerals el unoone
names of bodies of water and mountains el AtlánticoAtlantic, el TeideTeide

Feminine Nouns

The general rule is that nouns ending in -a are feminine. However, there are some different noun endings and noun categories that are also considered feminine.

Below is a list of general rules, examples and exceptions for determining feminine nouns in Spanish grammar:

word ending example exception
-a la ventanawindow, la comidafood el sofácouch, el díaday
-ia, -ie la historiastory, la serieseries
-ad, -ed, -id, ud la facultadfaculty, la paredwall, la vidgrapevine, la saludhealth el ataúdcoffin
-ez, -eza la veztime, la tristezagrief
-is la tesisthesis, la crisiscrisis el arcoírisrainbow
-ncia la provinciaprovince, la pacienciapatience
-umbre la costumbrehabit, la cumbresummit
-z la cruzcross, la nariznose el lápizpencil
-ción, -sión, -zón la informacióninformation, la presiónpressure, la razónreason
the name of islands Mallorca el Hierro
city names ending with -a Barcelona
many countries EspañaSpain, ItaliaItaly Congo
letters of the alphabet la athe A

To Note

As with all rules, there are a few exceptions so it’s best to learn the article and gender together with the noun.

People and Animals

When a noun refers to a person or pet, the noun’s gender matches the gender of said person or animal.

Masculine Feminine
people el hombreman la mujerwoman
animals el gatomale cat la gatafemale cat
  • Some word endings are invariable, in this case only the article changes to reflect masculine and feminine.
Examples:
un turista, una turistatourist
un rehén, una rehénhostage
un testigo, una testigowitness

Noun gender with jobs and professions in Spanish

When talking about a person’s job, we change the gender of the noun to reflect that of the person we’re talking about.

  • Professions that end in -o or a consonant change their ending to -a in the feminine.
Examples:
el enfermero, la enfermeranurse
el profesor, la profesorateacher
  • Professions that end in -e don’t usually change in the feminine form. We simply change the article to reflect the person’s gender.
Example:
el/la representanterepresentative
el/la comerciantetrader
el/la intérpreteinterpreter
el/la cantantesinger
  • There are some exceptions where a job title that ends in -e takes the ending -a in the feminine.
Examples:
el jefe, la jefaboss
el presidente, la presidentapresident
  • Many professions have the same form in both the masculine and the feminine; only the article changes to reflect gender.
Example:
el/la árbitroreferee
el/la artistaartist
el/la astronautaastronaut
el/la atletaathlete
el/la colegacolleague
el/la dentistadentist
el/la guardakeeper
el/la guíaguide
el/la guitarristaguitarist
el/la líderleader
el/la pianistapianist
el/la pilotopilot
  • There are some professions and job titles where the masculine and feminine forms are completely different, as shown in the table below.
Masculine Feminine
el rey la reinaking, queen
el príncipe la princesaprince, princess
el barón la baronesabaron, baroness
el conde la condesaearl/count, countess
el duque la duquesaduke, duchess
el abad la abadesaabbot, abess
el emperador la emperatrizemperor
el actor la actrizactor, actress
el monje la monjamonk, nun
el héroe la heroínahero, heroin
el poeta la poetisapoet

Gender of animal nouns in Spanish

  • The gender of nouns for pets and some wild animals usually corresponds to the sex of the animal.
Examples:
el gato, la gatacat
el perro, la perradog
el oso, la osabear
el león, la leonalion
  • However, the nouns for some wild animals have only one form (masculine or feminine) that is used for both male and female animals. The gender of these animals is specified via the words machomale or hembrafemale.
Examples:
un delfín macho, un delfín hembraa male dolphin, a female dolphin
una rana macho, una rana hembraa male frog, a female frog
Always Masculine Always Feminine
el delfíndolphin la liebrehare
el avestruzostrich la ranafrog
el gusanoworm la panterapanther
el cisneswan la moscafly
el colibríhummingbird la víboraviper
el lincelynx la serpientesnake
el caracolsnail la langostalobster
el rinoceronterhinoceros la culebrasnake
la jirafagiraffe
la ballenawhale
  • In other cases, the masculine and feminine forms are different, as displayed in the table below.
Masculine Feminine
el caballo la yeguahorse, mare
el carnero la ovejaram, ewe
el elefante la elefantaelephant
el gallo la gallinarooster, hen
el jabalí la jabalinawild boar, wild sow
el tigre la tigresatiger, tigress
el toro la vacabull, cow