Please, do we say, 'el agua or la agua', ?

Question

we say el agua or la agua?

Answer 1

Why it is el agua and not la agua is a frequently asked question here. When a feminine noun begins with a stressed 'a' sound, the definite article la becomes el. For more information check out the links below.

spanish.about.com article

reference article on definite articles

previous thread on 'el agua'

Answer 2

Agua is a feminine noun but you use el for the singular: el agua, las aguas. This is typical of femine nouns beginning with a accented 'a' and is a phonetic thing, avoiding the running together of the two a's. There is a short list of these words, including águila, and I can't think of others at the moment!

• el asta, and even el hacha (the initial h is silent) are two more examples - Jeremias Aug 3, 2010

Answer 3

Agua is a feminine noun indeed, but we say "el agua", because it starts with a vowel.

• Well yes, any vowel as long as it is "A" El Orinoco starts with a vowel as one example. - kenwilliams Aug 3, 2010
• El Orinoco is masculine, either way. - maleine Aug 3, 2010