Fem.nouns beginning with a
Okay, I just read that "agua" is feminine and it takes the article "el" because it begins with the letter "a"; similarly astronauta, alma, and some others. To be sure, "la agua" is not exactly easily pronounced ... Correcto??
Could someone elaborate on this "rule"?
3 Answers
Yeah, it's only if the first a sound is stressed. For example, it's el ave, but la amiga.
Read qfreed's answer: it is because it is an initial tonic /a/ sound. The word arpa can also be spelled like harpa (less frequently in Spanish), and although both are feminine words, you have to use "el" with both of them.