Trouble Remembering Whether Masculine or Feminine...

Question

Ever since beginning learning Spanish I've had difficulty remembering whether some words are masculine or feminine, particularly those ending in '-o' or '-a'. The first word that I recall causing this difficulty is 'desayuno' for 'breakfast', which I think I now know pretty surely is masculine and ends in '-o' (for some reason other words have never caused this problem , like 'comida' for 'food', which just stuck in my mind immediately without any question as to its gender or ending).

Only today I wanted to use the word 'arroyo' for 'stream', but I was convinced it was 'arroya'.

Is this a common problem ?

Does it get easier with time ?

To what extent does it affect one's ability to make oneself understood. For example, if I were to say 'desayuna' or 'arroya', would native Spanish-speakers still understand me ?

Probably depends on what else you said. If nothing they might think you are a retard. :) - ian-hill, Feb 15, 2015

Thanks, very encouraging... - Faldaesque, Feb 15, 2015

B U T - you will probably be understood when a word is used in context amigo. - ian-hill, Feb 16, 2015

Answer 1

For me this is a very common problem. There are a few words where the ending changes the word completely and others where it doesn't. I also screw up (mismatch) the el or la when the article is needed. The good news is that in conversation the context almost always gives clues and you are seldom misunderstood. If you are lucky they will correct you so you learn. Unfortunately my wife hardly ever corrects me. A few friends do and it helps. But overall don't worry about it too much. And don't let it keep you from talking! It is issues like this and conjugation of tenses that cause many people to hesitate and second guess themselves when speaking. It is a dangerous spiral. Don't get sucked into it. It is better to talk and make mistakes than to be afraid to talk.

Bah, so true. I get so tongue-tied with the tenses sometimes even though I'd be the first one to agree that it doesn't matter all that much. - Manity, Feb 17, 2015

Yes, whilst under duress I also make an incredible number of basic gender mistakes, for no apparent reason, but I have noticed that nobody else cares, so just keep going! - annierats, Feb 17, 2015

Answer 2

It is facinating. I have exactly this same issue. If it is a word like programa, mapa or planeta, no problem, because they are masculine and break the rule. But a lot of words, I cannot remember if they end in o or a and hence are masculine or femenine, until I have used them so many times I can't forget. And it is the combination that gets me (is it o/masc or a/fem). I do not have the problem with your example arroyo, because water features are almost always masculine, but there are a number that I do.

The other one that gets me is any word that ends in an e- I really have difficulty remembering the gender there for some reason.

The -e words are really hard. -ma words are all masculine. Someone told me this about a month ago during a conversation on this very topic. Also this is an example of why English is easier to learn. - gringojrf, Feb 16, 2015

-ma words of Greek derivation are all masculine. There are few femenine -ma words that are not Greek, like cama or pluma. But most -ma words are masculine. - bosquederoble, Feb 16, 2015