Why is it la carne: I thought it was masculine?

Question

I don't understand the feminine and masculine? I thought meat is masculine? Why is it feminin?

I edited your post so that it has correct spelling and capitalisation. Please note that many members are learning English and they shouldn't see incorrect English all over the site. - chicasabrosa, Mar 31, 2010

Talley, please note that the correct spelling is "masculine." :-) - --Mariana--, Mar 31, 2010

okay im sorry. im not a english hero. :) - Talley, Mar 31, 2010

an english :P - chicasabrosa, Mar 31, 2010

Answer 1

Talley, you are not stupid, only German has different grammatical rules that decide whether a word is masculine or feminine. You can't rely on the grammatical rules of your own language to apply to a different language. You need to learn the specific grammatical rules of the new language. It's part of adopting a new language and making it your own.

thank you i will try it. :) - Talley, Mar 31, 2010

welcome :) and good luck! - chicasabrosa, Mar 31, 2010

Answer 2

Hi Talley. Welcome to the forum.

You'll have to learn the general rules, such as words ending in -O are masculine and words ending in -A are feminine. Then learn the exceptions, such as "la mano" and "el agua."

I've seen some tricks to learning the general rules, for example L-O-S-E-R-S is a way to remember that words ending in those letters are generally masculine. Also, D-ION-Z-A for the endings which are generally feminine words.

Search the web and look at several lessons on gender and you'll get 90% of it. The remaining 10% we just guess until someone corrects us.

Please remember that it seems difficult at first, but then it get easier.

okay, thanks for help :) thats really nice. - Talley, Mar 31, 2010

Answer 3

Sorry, carne is feminine.

but how could i know what is feminin and masculine? or how could i know el and la, is there any special fact which make it easier to know? - Talley, Mar 31, 2010

Answer 4

Here is a good one (frying pan). This can be feminine or masculine depending on the region and where you are. (my dictionary has it as feminine)

"la sartén" or "el sartén"

or how about "el agua" ??? - Yeser007, Mar 31, 2010

"The reason has to do with pronunciation — la agua would sound the same as lagua and might be confusing. But language is seldom logical, so don't try substituting el for la whenever a word that starts with a- follows." - Tormenta, Sep 29, 2010

Answer 5

Carne is feminine. It can not depend on what you think.

To know a noun is masculine or feminine, you should learn by heart. If you want why carne is feminine, you should study the history of Spanish language and other latin languages.

salad in german is masculine. ''der salat'' the translation would be called ''el ensalada'' but its wrong, i dont understand it, am i stupid? o.o - Talley, Mar 31, 2010

Absolutely not! Don't ever feel that way just because of a confusing language. - Yeser007, Mar 31, 2010