Language/Spanish/Grammar/The-noun-gender

The noun

The function of the noun is that of subject and object. The subject is defined as "that person or thing from which something is said". The object is the function played by the noun when it complements the meaning of the verb. It can be Direct, Indirect and circumstantial.

- The direct complement restricts the action of the verb, Example:  Los agricultores cultivan sémola. (Subject is limited to cultivar "sémola")

- The indirect complement completes the predicate information, Example:  Los agricultores cultivan sémola para sus familias. Uses as nexus the prepositions “a” or “para” ((Indicates for those who "cultivan")

- Finally the circumstantial complement adds to the verb information of adverbial type (place, mode, time, etc.), example: Los agricultores cultivan sémola en el campo después del verano. (Indicates place and time in which it is "cultiva")

The gender of the noun

It is usually determined by its termination, usually the nouns ending in "o" are masculine and those ending in "a" are feminine, however, there are exceptions like “la mano”, or “el día”, “el mapa”, “el planeta”.

Also masculine are the nouns ending in "or" (example: planeador, domador) and female ones completed in “ancia”, “encia”, “ción”, “dad”, “dura”, “ez”, “eza”, “ia”, “icia”, “itud”, “ura” (example: la decadencia, la condición, la destreza, la infancia)

Some nouns can form the feminine not only by ending in a, but through terminations such as “esa”, isa”, “ina”, “triz” when the male termination is not "or" example:

• El abad – La abadesa

• El poeta – La poetiza

• Zar – Zarina

• Actor – Actriz

One can also determine the gender of the noun by its meaning, they are masculine nouns by their meaning:

• The proper names and referring to a male, as well as male animals (el Rodrigo, el Mono)

• The dignities or professions proper to a man (el abad, el sacerdote)

• The names of geographical features (el Danubio, los Urales)

• The Cardinal numbers (el uno, el dos, etc.)

• The days of the week and the months of the year (el lunes, el viernes)

They are feminine nouns by their meaning:

• The proper names and referring to a woman, as well as female animals (la Susana, la Campanilla)

• The common names that designate the feminine (la mujer)

• The dignities or offices of women (la madre, la azafata)

There are also nouns that vary their gender not by their completion but by changing the whole word, example:

• El Caballo – La Yegua

• El Toro – La Vaca

There are also nouns that, without changing, can be feminine or masculine according to the article that accompanies them, for example:

• El artista – La artista

• El mártir – La mártir

Ambiguous nouns are those nouns where the feminine or masculine article is used interchangeably, although its plural requires choosing a gender, for example:

• El Reuma – La Reuma – Las Reumas

• El Azúcar – La Azúcar – Los Azucares

For the noun "mar" (el mar, la mar) the plural requires male concordance (los mares) and its complements, the feminine (alta mar, baja mar, mar picada).

Sometimes gender change implies a change of meaning, for example:

• El cólera: Infectious disease - La cólera: Anger

• El frente: Fighting line – La frente: Upper face

• El cometa: Astro with luminous tail – La cometa: Flying toy