Spanishdict.com/dictionary microwave gender?
The flashcard (and google) says "la microonda" but spanishdict.com dictionary says "cocinar en el microondas" Why the masculine?
5 Answers
Hey , welcome to the forum. This question was already asked. Take a look at that.. 
It is masculine because microonda is an abbreviation for horno de microondas and horno is masculine. Similarly foto is feminine.
OK, I read that Q&A, but I still don't see why the flashcard shows a picture of a microwave oven (which I gather would come from "horno de micoondas") which would then be masculine, but the flashcard caption is "la microonda". It seems like the flashcard is wrongly teaching me to use feminine when referring to the appliance found in a cocina.
Hi, Bob, I am hoping to clarify for you. This will have to be a grammatical explanation.
"Microondas" is a compound word that ends in an "s" even in the singular. Other examples of compound words that end in "s" in the singular are: paraguas, portavasos, sacacorchos, sacapuntas..." . Compound words that end in "s"in the singular are always masculine. Thus: el microondas, el paraguas, etc.
On the other hand the word "microonda" does not end in an "s" in the singular. Thus "la microonda".
I understand that this can be confusing and maybe even frustrating. Since technology is developing new appliances at a rapid rate, the gender issues in Spanish sometimes vary depending on variations of the word in Spanish.
I hope that this has helped to clarify for you.
Both variations of "microwave" are used in Spanish, although different regions may prefer one variation over the other.
Spanish compound words are formed by attaching a plural noun to the end of a third person singular verb. Microonda is not a compund word in this sense any more than kilogramo or centimetro are compound words--micro is a prefix, not another word. Also, microonda is the word for the electromagnetic wave, not for a microwave oven. It is feminine though.
