Reading a noun is difficult know its gender. There are some guide lines to differentiate them by the ending. Unfortunately, there are as many rules as exceptions. The best advice for the foreign student: when learning a new noun, focus on the genderand link it to a determiner.
1 Are feminine:
- Most of the nouns ending in -a: casa, máquina, historia, joya, gracia, fortaleza, tolerancia, etc.
- Some nouns ending in -e: madre, clase, leche, sangre, etc.
- The nouns ending in -ie, -ies, or –icie: serie, caries, calvicie, barbarie, etc.
- All the nouns ending in -sión: ilusión, mansión; -ción: imaginación, canción, comprensión, sanción, recepción; -ez: estupidez, sensatez, timidez, delgadez y -dad: soledad, bondad, maldad, etc.
- Some nouns ending in -zón: razón, cerrazón; -tud: multitud, magnitud; -tumbre: costumbre, y -dumbre: muchedumbre, servidumbre, etc.
- The nouns ending in -triz: actriz, emperatriz, institutriz, meretriz, cicatriz, etc.
- Some nouns ending in other consonants: mujer, flor, labor, sien, sartén, región, crisis, tos, res, cruz, col, sal, miel, piel, etc.
- Some nouns ending in -o: radio, mano, nao, foto(grafía), modelo, moto(cicleta), polio(mielitis), libido, etc.
2 Are masculine:
- Most of thethe nouns ending in -o: perro, saco, cesto, niño, olmo, chopo, patio, año, abanico, fuego, libro, queso, suelo, patio, etc.
- Most of the nouns ending in consonant: juez, arroz, matiz, lápiz, balón, pan, régimen, camión, escalón, eslabón, pezón, león, bufón, bien, corazón, caparazón, buzón, árbol, clavel, sol, mal, alud, ataúd, césped, abad, jueves, martes, mes, fax, reloj, placer, etc.
- The augmentatives ending in -ón: notición, butacón, etc.
- The nouns ending in -or: asesor, traidor, actor, colador, tractor, cursor, color, temor, etc.
- Some nouns ending in -a: clima, cometa, delta, día, diafragma, dilema, diploma, drama, eccema, edema, enigma, fantasma, idioma, jerarca, mapa, panorama, patriarca, pijama, planeta, poema, poeta, problema, profeta, programa, reuma, síntoma, sistema, telegrama, tema, teorema, tranvía.
The nouns denoting colour: el rosa, el naranja, el lila.
The nouns denoting wines: un Málaga, un Rioja. - The nouns ending in stressed -il: atril.
Also some nouns ending in -i: bisturí, rubí, etc. - Most of the nouns ending in -e: padre, nombre, postre, poste, minué, vinagre, hombre, claqué, monje, traje, garaje, viaje, arbitraje, peritaje, sorbete, zoquete, banquete, etc.
- Some nouns ending in -u: espíritu, menú, bambú, tisú, etc.
3 Formation of the feminine from the masculine (withnouns of relationships, professions or animals)
- Add -a to the nouns masculine ending in consonant.
| Escritor | Escritora |
| León | Leona |
| Ladrón | Ladrona |
- The masculine ending -o or -e changes to the femenine -a.
| Perro | Perra |
| Marcelo | Marcela |
| Médico | Médica |
| Hijo | Hija |
| Cliente | Clienta |
| Presidente | Presidenta |
| Gobernante | Gobernanta |
| Jefe | Jefa |
- Some masculine nouns form the feminine adding -esa to the masculine:
| Abad | Abadesa |
| Barón | Baronesa |
Others change the last vowel to the ending -esa. In the case of príncipe it also loses a p.
| Alcalde | Alcaldesa |
| Conde | Condesa |
| Vizconde | Vizcondesa |
| Diablo | Diablesa |
| Vampiro | Vampiresa |
| Duque | Duquesa |
| Sastre | Sastresa |
| Príncipe | Princesa |
- Also adding -isa.
| Papa | Papisa |
| Poeta | Poetisa |
| Profeta | Profetisa |
| Sacerdote | Sacerdotisa |
| Diácono | Diaconisa |
- Other with the ending -ina.
| Héroe | Heroína |
| Rey | Reina |
| Zar | Zarina |
- Or with the ending -triz.
| Actor | Actriz |
| Emperador | Emperatriz |
With women incorporation to tradicionally masculine professions, new feminine forms have appeared. Not all of them are still fixed and sometimes the speaker doubts.
La médico, la presidenta, la arquitecto, la ministra, la juez
4 Some nouns may be feminine or masculine, depending if they refer to a man or a woman: acróbata, aguafiestas, anarquista, artífice, artista, atleta, automovilista, bañista, burócrata, cabezota, camarada, cantante, carcamal, colega, comensal, comentarista, comerciante, compatriota, cómplice, conferenciante, dentista, deportista, espía, estudiante, excursionista, florista, guía, granuja, guardia, guitarrista, hereje, idiota, intérprete, joven, juez, malabarista, mártir, metomentodo, miembro, motorista, nómada, novelista, oculista, organista, paciente, pacifista, patriota, pensionista, periodista, pianista, prestamista, principiante, protagonista, proxeneta, publicista, recluta, regente, rentista, rival, solista, tarambana, taxista, telefonista, televidente, testigo, tragaldabas, trotamundos, turista, violinista, vocal, etc.
The determiners (el / la, este / esta…) preceding the noun point to the gender.
La protagonista de la película
El protagonista de la película
5 Some feminine nouns, which are therefore used with feminine determiners, may refer to women or men: criatura or víctima. In the same case are some masculine nouns: bebé, vejestorio or mamarracho.
Ricardo es una pobre víctima de las circunstancia.
María, te convertirás en un vejestorio amargado.
The nouns for animals may be masculine: canario, ratón, etc., or feminine: ardilla, perdiz, etc. In both cases, the singular noun may denote the whole species.
La perdiz ya no vive en estos bosques. (= No species of partridge live in these forests.)
To differentiate feminine from masculine may be used:
| El pez macho | La perdiz macho |
| El pez hembra | La perdiz hembra |
6 Some ambiguous nouns may adopt both masculine or feminine gender without changing its meaning: el / (la) mar, el / (la) calor, el / (la) azúcar, el / (la) análisis, (el) / la dote, (el) / la lente, el / (la) margen, (el) / la radio, el / (la) énfasis, el / (la) reuma, (el) / la apóstrofe, (el) / la vertiente, etc. The form less used is included between brackets.
In the case of el / la mar, the masculine form is the more used, the femenine is limited to poets and sailors. El / la calor: : the masculine form is the standard, the feminine form is used in popular or familiar Spanish.
In singular arte is masculine; but in plural is feminine.
Mi hermana estudió Bellas Artes en la Universidad.
Me gusta el arte flamenco.
7 Some nouns mean different things, depending if they are masculine or feminine.
| El batería (= A musician) | La batería (= An instrument) |
| El capital (= The money) | La capital (= A city) |
| El clave (= An instrument) | La clave (= A key point) |
| El cólera (= A disease) | La cólera (= The anger) |
| El cometa (= A star) | La cometa (= A toy) |
| El coral (= In the sea) | La coral (= Singers) |
| El corte (= A cut) | La corte (= The court) |
| El cura (= The priest) | La cura (= A medical treatment) |
| El espada (= A bullfighter) | La espada (= A weapon) |
| El frente (= In the war) | La frente (= A body part) |
| El guardia (= A police officer) | La guardia (= A beat) |
| El guía (= A tour guide) | La guía (= In mechanics) |
| El lila (= A color) | La lila (= A flower) |
| El mañana (= The future) | La mañana (= From 06:00 to 12:00) |
| El orden (= It is sorted out) | La orden (= A mandate) |
| El ordenanza (= The doorman) | La ordenanza (= A municipal law) |
| El parte (= A report) | La parte (= A piece of something) |
| El pendiente (= A jewel) | La pendiente (= The slope) |
| El pez (= From a river or the sea) | La pez (= A kind of glue) |
| El radio (= A radius) | La radio (= An household appliance) |
| El trompeta (= A musician) | La trompeta (= An instrument) |
| El vocal (= A representative) | La vocal (= “A, e, i, o, u”) |
8 Sometimes the difference in gender is indicated by differents tems.
| Hombre | Mujer |
| Yerno | Nuera |
| Marido | Mujer |
| Padre | Madre |
| Padrino | Madrina |
| Caballero | Dama |
| Jinete | Amazona |
| Carnero | Oveja |
| Toro | Vaca |
| Caballo | Yegua |
| Macho | Hembra |
| Chivo | Cabra |
| Gallo | Gallina |
9 The proper names for men are always masculine. The proper names for women are always feminine. Surnames are always masculine.
Hemos visto a los González.
Are always masculine: the seas (el Mediterráneo, el Egeo), the oceans (el Atlántico, el Índico), the lakes (el Baikal), the rivers (el Guadalquivir, el Tajo), the capes (el Cabo de Gata), the volcanos (el Etna, el Vesubio), and the mountains (el Teide).
Are also masculine: days of the week (el lunes, el martes), months (este enero), most of the fruit trees (el manzano, el peral), the colours (el azul, el rojo), Cardinal points (el norte, el sur) and numbres (el tres, el diez).
The towns, regions, villages and kingdom sending in -a are feminine,those ending in-o or consonant are masculine.
La señorial Salamanca
El viejo Madrid
However, the adjective sometimes refers to omitted nouns.
La gran (ciudad de) Bilbao se prepara para la fiesta mayor.
Todo (el pueblo de) Sevilla sale a la calle por la Feria de Abril.
Are also feminine: the letters of the alphabet (la a, la be), and most of the fruits (la manzana, la pera) and vegetables (la col, la alcachofa).