how to identify gender

Question

How do I identify what gender a word is? In my lesson, it speaks of making sure each answer agrees in number and gender with the noun it is modifying. I do not understand how to know what gender is referring to.

Thanks, Pam

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Apr 23, 2017

Answer 1

That article, to me, looks somewhat overwhelming for a beginner. Here's a simpler way.

All words that appertain living things are masculine or feminine according to the biological sex of that person or animal. There are a few exceptions with animals, which does not matter here.

Ex. La mujer (woman) el hombre (man), el muchacho (boy) la muchacha (girl), etc

For non-living things, we need to consider the ending of the word.

MOST WORDS ending in "o" are masculine. cuaderno, sombrero, etc. One notable exception is "La mano." which is feminine.

MOST WORDS ending in "or" are masculine. Motor, favor, etc. There are a few exceptions.

Words ending in "ema" or "ama" which came from the Greek language with their masculine genders are also masculine

Ex. Drama, panorama, telegrama tema and many others. (NOTE) Most of these have similar cognates in English, so they are easy to recognize,

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Most words (non-living things) ending in "a" are feminine. The most well known exception is "el mapa." There are a few others.

ALL words ending in "tad" or "dad" are feminine. There are many cognates here.

Ex. Libertad verdad ciudad, etc.

ALL words ending in "ión" are feminine. There is a boatload of cognates here.

Acción, dirección, lección, nación, and maybe a hundred more.

Words ending in "e" can be either gender. The same problem resides with "z". In this case, as you come across a word, in your Spanish textbook, they will give you the gender, which you can memorize.

Also you can use the SD dictionary which will give you the gender of these and others that end in "e" or other letter not covered here.

Even native speakers can make a mistake on some of these words, so don't worry about it.

My suggestion would be to copy and print the article that NKM1974 gave you, but these simple that I have given you will keep you correct most of the time.

EDIT: I forgot one category. "ista" words are both masculine and feminine.

El dentista / la dentista. el turista, la turista. Once again it just depends on the biological sex of the person.

I would add that there are a few exceptions for terms that apply human beings as well, el amor, la víctima come to mind. But that would be beyond the needs of the person asking the question. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 23, 2017

Those are not "people" words except "victima" I was speaking of the usual ones, dorctor/a chico/a muchacho/a conductor/a maestro/maestra, and so forth. - Daniela2041, Apr 23, 2017

Yes, i know. it was not a criticism, just a supplement, your only vote so far is mine. Mi esposa es el amor de mi vida. I gues it really is not a people word, but I have had desires to say she is "la amor". I know I have used cariña in error. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 23, 2017

Anyway I think your answer would be very helpful to a beginner. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 23, 2017

Answer 2

Objects or ideas are nouns. Nouns don't have gender in English. In Spanish they do. We say "la mesa" (feminine) but " el árbol (masculine) even though neither "table" nor "tree" are animals or people with "gender or sex". ç

When it comes to nouns for people it's easier and if it's a male we use "el" and if it is a female we say "la"

el maestro (male teacher)
la maestra (female teacher)

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender

la mesa roja (the red table)
el árbol rojo ( the red tree)
el maestro alto (the tall male teacher) la maestra alta ( the tall female teacher)

They also agree in number or if they are singular or plural

las mesas rojas
los árboles rojos
los maestros altos
las maestras altas

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Answer 3

Hello!

This link might be the answer to your question. Gender Articles

I hope this helps.

Regards!