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Chapter 1 Singular Nouns ­ Part I

What is a noun?

A noun is a word used to denote a: person place thing

All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.

Usually - although not always - masculine nouns end with ­o and feminine nouns end with ­a

Examples of masculine nouns which end in ­o would be: vaso ..........glass plato ......... plate cuchillo ..... knife libro .......... book

Examples of feminine nouns ending in ­a would be: taza .......... cup mesa ........ table cuchara .... spoon cabeza ...... head

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Sometimes, with nouns relating to persons or animals, the ­o or ­a at the end will change, depending on whether it relates to male or female.

Some examples of this are: gato .......... male cat gata .......... female cat

abuelo ...... grandfather abuela ...... grandmother

tío ............. uncle tía ............. aunt

chico ......... boy chica ......... girl

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Chapter 2 Singular Nouns ­ Part II

In Chapter 1, we said that Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine, that nouns ending in ­o tend to be masculine, whilst those ending in ­a tend to be feminine.

There are, however, some exceptions to this rule.

Common examples of nouns ending in ­a which are masculine are: clima .................... climate día ........................ day idioma ................... language mapa .................... map planeta .................. planeta poema ................... poem problema ............... problem programa ............... programme sistema .................. system sofá ........................ sofa telegrama ............... telegramme tema ....................... theme, subject

In the same way, some nouns which end in ­o are classed as being feminine, although there are not so many of them. Examples are: mano ....................... hand radio ........................ radio

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