THE BASIC RULE

Every noun in Spanish has a gender. It is either masculine or feminine.

Basic rule

  • If the noun ends in -o: It is masculine

e.g. libro, perro

  • If the noun ends in -a: It is feminine

e.g. mesa, silla

¡BE CAFERUL! THERE ARE EXCEPTION

  • The following nouns end in -a but are Masculine:

i. Words of greek origin ending in -ma like el clima, el idioma, el poema, el programa, el problema, el esquema, el sistema, el tema.

ii. Name of colours like el naranja, el Lila.

iii. El día, El mapa, El planeta, El sofá.

  • The following nouns end in -o but are Feminine:

i. Nouns ending in -o that come from shortened forms of feminine words are feminine like moto(cicleta), foto(grafía), quimio(terapia), crono(metrada).

ii. libido, mano, nao y seo

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