why is there a difference between el and la?

Question

Like when you say la leche but you say el piña it's not describing between girl or boy so why do they change it?

Answer 1

They change it for the same reason English used to change it over 900 years ago: because we inherited this system from Indo-European. You will have to go back in time a few thousand years to ask the original speakers why they came up with such an idea if you really want to know for certain.

And while you are at it, ask your ancestors why the Old English word for "woman" ("wifmann") was masculine.

Because the Old English speakers were male chauvinist pigs, obviously. - samdie, Aug 2, 2011

Answer 2

Unlike words in the English language, Spanish words and ideas carry with them a gender. It can be hard for native English speakers to conceptualize, but it's true. The change to which you're referring is because the definite articles, "el" and "la" need to be in agreement with the gender of the object, except that in the cases you've cited, both objects (la leche and la piña ) are feminine in gender. I wouldn't use "la" for either of them. I believe the "Learn Spanish" lessons 1.1 and 1.2 on this site do a good job addressing your question. The videos are about 5-10 minutes each. You can find them by clicking the "Learn Spanish" tab at the top of the screen. Check them out! -Mateo

I wouldn't use "el" for either of them. - samdie, Aug 2, 2011

Answer 3

All objects have a gender. Read introduction to genders for an introduction in recognizing genders from a noun.