Masculine or Feminine?

Question

When I search for a noun, there is no way to tell if it is masculine or feminine with the exception of the ending. However, if it is an 'irregular' there is no way of telling. (For example, el mapa is masculine. When 'map' is searched, all you get is mapa...) I think it would be a great improvement to the site if this was done.

when you look in the dictionary for mapa it says "masculine noun". Most Spanish dictionaries list the gender of nouns. - 0074b507, Nov 8, 2010

Answer 1

Most of Spanish nouns ending with pa and ma are masculine.These are of Greek origin. All nouns ending in cion and dad are feminine. Nouns taken from a longer word which is feminine remain feminine in the short form ex: la moto from la motocicleta etc. some nouns can be both masc.or feminine ex. el cometa, la cometa - meaning a comet and a kitel the gender used to differentiate them. A few nouns can be fem. because it sounds more poetic and formal. ex. el mar, la mar. If you have to guess. Roughly 60% of all nouins are feminine and 40% masc. so it would probably be better to use the fem.form if you are in a pinch.

nice answer - Echoline, Nov 8, 2010

Answer 2

La Comisa

Answer 3

mapa masculine noun1. map •borrar algo del mapa (informal figurative) -> to wipe something off the map •desaparecer del mapa (informal figurative) -> to vanish into thin air •mapa de bits (computing) -> bit map •mapa de carreteras -> road map •mapa físico -> geographic map •mapa mudo -> blank map •mapa político -> political map •mapa del tiempo -> weather map o chart •mapa topográfico -> contour map

Here is the SD entry for mapa. It clearly says right after the verb that it is a masculine noun. Perhaps you just didn't notice it, but it appears immediately under the word.

Answer 4

It is a little hard to know what noun femenino or masculino do not follow the rule, Ifor natural spanish speaker is natural, even most of the people they do not know the origen of this exception word, but of course it is not impossible. For example, words like:
moto, foto, polio are feminine, because they are short words for: motocicleta, fotografia, poliomelitis and because of that they are feminine:
la motocicleta la moto
la fotografia la foto
la poliomelitis la polio
La mano is an special word because even in Classic Latin ( the principal language that gave origen to our language) mano was feminine, despite to finish in (o), La mano. The same happened in that times with dia (day) finish in (a) but it is masculine: el dia. Since that days until now we continue pronounce that words the same way.
In ancient castellano words that begin with ( oh my God I forgot how to write vocal in english) vocal ( or sounds as vocal) are masculine as: amor, honor. El amor, El honor.
But, do not worry too much about that, because you can learn this special words when you speak in spanish.
See this words: la noche, la carcel, la modelo ( if it is a woman), la leche, la miel, la parte, la red, la sed, la piel, la pared, la madre, la calle, la frente ( when it is forehead) la radio, la razon, la pasion, la mansion, la cancion.
El fantasma, el clima, el poema, el poeta, el dilema, el morfema, el suicida, el periodista, el cometa,el frente, el patriota ( if it is a man), el tunel.
I hope this help you.
Rebeca

The word you wanted was "vowel". - samdie, Nov 8, 2010

Answer 5

Search where? In our dictionary, it says "masculine noun" directly after the head entry.