Rules on Mas. and Fem.

Question

Why is sofá written with el instead of la in front of it. I thought the rules were if it ended in O then it was Mas. and if it ended in A it was considered Fem.

Answer 1

For further comment:

There are very few exceptions to the rule for words that end in “o”- I think the best known is “la mano”; “la foto” and “la moto” are also common enough words, but if you remember that they are short for “fotografía” and “motocicleta” they are easy.

There are many exceptions to the “a” rule, especially many of the Greek origin words that end in “ma” (but also some others like “el mapa”, “el planeta”)- I actually find it easier to assume that a “ma” ending word is masculine (idioma, dilema, tema, programa, sistema etc. etc. etc.) and memorize the ones that are actually feminine like “la pluma”, "la palma", "la rama" and "la cama".

great answer - rogspax, Apr 11, 2013

great elaboration - jessicamccall117, Apr 11, 2013

Just the short version, I didn't pursue more advanced things like why el in “el agua fría” (agua being feminine), nor cases like el cometa vs. la cometa, or el modelo vs. la modelo, el dentista vs. la dentista, etc. - bosquederoble, Apr 11, 2013

Foreign words in general are masculine. - BigMike, Apr 11, 2013

Answer 2

There are always exceptions to the rule.

too true - rogspax, Apr 11, 2013

And rules to the exceptions. - Pablo-Peligroso, Apr 11, 2013

Answer 3

see my flashcards

el ... la