15. Tutorial: 1.1 Nouns and Articles

What is a noun and what does it do?

A noun identifies a person, place, thing, or idea. It is often the subject of the sentence (John is a boy.) but it can also be the object of the sentence. (I see Juan/the boy.)

Are there different types of nouns?

A proper noun gives a person, place, or thing a PROPER title or a SPECIFIC name. (John, Superman, New York, Kleenex.) These nouns begin with a capital/upper case letter.

What is an article and what does it do?

An article introduces a noun. In English, the DEFINITE article is "THE" because it refers to THE specific noun being targeted. The INDEFINITE article is "A" because it could be any one of that noun. (I need A pencil./I need THE pencil in your hand.)

What is the DEFINITE article, "THE" in Spanish?

Because articles introduce nouns, and all Spanish nouns have gender, there must be TWO words for "THE" in Spanish; one for MASCULINE nouns: "ÉL," and one for FEMININE nouns: "LA." They are NOT interchangeable. Only one can be correct. Therefore, when the meaning of a noun is learned, its gender must also be learned.

What does this mean: All nouns in Spanish have gender?

In English, only nouns that name people have gender (masculine or feminine). Spanish nouns have gender whether they name people, places, things, or ideas.

When there is a group of people that is all male, I use the MASCULINE plural (los chicos/unos chicos) and when there is a group of all females, I use the FEMININE plural (las chicas/unas chicas). But what do I use if the group is mixed, even by one person of a different gender?

In a mixed group of people, even if one person is of a different sex, use the MASCULINE plural. (10 boys and one girl - los chicos/10 girls and one boy - los chicos.)

Is there any easy way to remember if a NOUN in Spanish is MASCULINE or FEMININE?

Spanish nouns that name people are easy to recognize once you know the meaning of the word. "Mujer" for example means "Woman" and thus, is FEMININE: La mujer/Una mujer. The same is true for the MASCULINE "Hombre" for Man. IN GENERAL, masculine nouns end in an "O" and feminine nouns end in an "A" (chico/chica). Nouns that name objects, places, or ideas still have gender and must be learned when the noun is learned. (Why is it LA clase and not EL clase? There is no answer.)

What is the INDEFINITE article "A" in Spanish?

There are TWO words for the indefinite article "A" in Spanish because MASCULINE and FEMININE nouns have different genders. The MASCULINE indefinite article for "A" is UN. The FEMININE indefinite article for "A" is UNA.

Making a FEMININE article plural is pretty easy by just adding an "s": (la/las, una/unas). Making a FEMININE article plural is almost as easy: (el/los, un/unos). Is it hard to make nouns plural?

To make nouns that end in a vowel plural, it's easy; simply ad an "s." To make nouns that end in a consonant plural, ad an "es." The only exception to this rule is the letter "z." Change the "z" to a "c" before adding "es."

Are there any spelling changes to nouns as they go from singular to plural or plural to singular?

Typically, only the accent mark changes: From -ción to ciones or autobús to autobuses. The reason for this is that NORMAL stress in Spanish falls on the second-to-last syllable. When it does not, the addition of an accent mark helps the speaker see where the stress goes. When an extra syllable is added from the word moving to the plural, the NORMAL stress is automatically on the second to last syllable.

What about animals as nouns? They are not people but they have gender. Do I use the gender of the animal to spell the noun and use the appropriate article with it?

Usually, only pets with whom we are familiar, and are considered family are given MASCULINE or FEMININE spelling. Otherwise, just learn the name of the animal the way it is presented.

Are there any EXCEPTIONS to the common rule that FEMININE nouns end in "a"?

Yes! A common EXCEPTIONS to FEMININE nouns ending in "a" is: la mano,

Are there any EXCEPTIONS to the common rule that MASCULINE nouns end in "o"?

Yes! Some common EXCEPTIONS to MASCULINE nouns ending in "o" (besides the -ma suffix) are: el día, el mapa

Is there a short cut to learning nouns in Spanish?

Yes, there is a short cut to learning nouns in Spanish. They are called COGNATES: They are word that looks the same in Spanish and English and has the same meaning. But BEWARE: There are FALSE cognates that lure you into thinking they mean the same but they do not! (Éxito does NOT mean Exit but rather Success!) There are lists of cognates and false cognates.

Is there a plural form of "THE" in Spanish?

Yes. The MASCULINE form "ÉL" becomes "LOS," and the FEMININE form "LA" becomes "LAS."

Is there a plural form of the article "A" in Spanish?

Yes. The MASCULINE form of "A" plural or "SOME" is "UNOS" an the FEMININE form of "SOME" is "UNAS."

Are there any nouns with spellings other than ending in "o" or "a" that can help me know if they are MASCULINE or FEMININE?

Yes. There are some suffixes that are ALWAYS FEMININE: -ción, and -dad. There are some nouns that name people that have MASCULINE endings of -or (profesor) while their FEMININE endings are -ora (profesora). There are some nouns that name people that end in -ista (turista) and represent both MASCULINE AND FEMININE. The ARTICLE: El/Un/Los/Unos will determine if it is MASCULINE or La/Una/Las/Unas if it is FEMININE. Nouns of objects that end in -ma (problema) and -s (autobús) are MASCULINE.

There are so many nouns in Spanish and each one has a gender. I just can't do it!

¡Sí se puede! = Yes you can! Focus, Learn, Practice, Reuse/Recycle one noun at a time.