How do you know when to use El vs La when it does not pertains to a person?
When describing options are things (not a person) I'm having difficulties knowing when to you El and La. Is there a simple way to know when?
4 Answers
Hi Drew. Welcome to the forum.
When you have a feminine word you use the artile "la." For example, "La casa." (The house).
When you have a masculine word you use the artile "el." For example, "El libro." (The book).
Words that end with an A are often feminine words that end with an O are often masculine
Also words ending with -ion are usually feminine 
Hola Drew.
As you probably know, all Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.
Most, notice that I said most, which end in "o" are indeed masculine, and those ending in "a", for the most part, are feminine.
Other endings that are usually feminine are: ...dad, ...ión
The easierst way is to learn the article when you learn the noun.
A few of the exceptions:
el mapa - the map
la mano - the hand
el sistema - the system
el poema - the poem, although poetry is la poesía
The more you write and read, the easier it will be.
Hay que tomar en cuenta que para usar el plural debes cambiar: "El" a "Los", y "La" a "Las", y agregar una "s" al sustantivo.
El ejemplo anterior:
La mano - Las manos. El poema - Los poemas.
