PART 1
The first part of this lesson explains what nouns are and how they are used in Spanish with definite and indefinite articles (a and the in English).
What is a noun?
A noun can be defined in the same way in both Spanish and English. They are words which are used to name the things we see around us or the names we give to people, animals, places, ideas or concepts. Here are some examples:
| table | la mesa |
| tree | el árbol |
| Mrs Álvarez | la Señora Álvarez |
| Maria | Maria |
| poverty | la pobreza |
| love | el amor |
The main difference between how nouns are formed in English and Spanish is that all nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. In English nouns are only considered masculine or feminine if there is an obvious distinction between gender; man and woman for example. In English the word it is used to refer to things that are considered neither masculine nor feminine.
In Spanish all things have a gender. Even nouns for inanimate things (things that are not living), have a gender. Spanish nouns are nearly always used with articles which tell us whether the noun is masculine or feminine. The following shows how articles are used with nouns in both Spanish and English. To learn more about articles take a look at the separate lesson on articles.
definite articles English Spanish
the floor el piso (masculine - singular)
the window la ventana (feminine – singular)
the floors los pisos (masculine –
plural)
the windows las ventanas (feminine – plural)
indefinite articles (use 'an' before nouns beginning with a vowel in English - an apple)
a (an) floor un piso (masculine - singular)
a (an) window una ventana (feminine – singular)
some or any floors unos pisos (masculine –
plural)
some or any windows unas ventanas (feminine – plural)
You can see that the absence of gender in English makes the use of articles much easier to remember. In Spanish the article used always depends on whether a noun is masculine or feminine and singular or plural.
The genders of Spanish nouns are also very important because they can also determine the gender of other words that they are used with it such as adjectives.
| La maseta roja. | The red flowerpot. |
| El coche rojo. | The red car. |
PART 2
The second part of the lesson looks at different types of nouns. Different names are given to different types of nouns depending on the type of thing that is being named.
Proper nouns
This is the name given to nouns which refer to specific people, places or things. In English these types of nouns should always take a capital letter. In Spanish this is not always the case.
| Spanish | English | |
| people | Arturo | Arturo |
| places * | el Ecuador | Ecuador |
| places * | Madrid | Madrid |
| days of the week | el lunes | Monday |
| months of the year | enero | January |
| religions | el cristianismo | Christianity |
| organisations | La Copa Mundial | The World Cup |
Common nouns
These type of nouns refer to people, places and things in a more general way. They are not specific and are the opposite of proper nouns.
| Spanish | English | |
| people | las bailarinas | dancers |
| places | el parque | park |
| things | el edificio | building |
Note: A common noun can become a proper noun if it is named
specifically; el Parque Central (
Concrete nouns
A concrete noun is the name given to a noun that can be perceived via the physical senses, touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste.
| Spanish | English | |
| touch | el vidrio | glass |
| smell | el aire | air |
| sight | la vista | the view |
| hearing | el mugido | moo |
| taste | la sal | salt |
Abstract nouns
These type of nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns and refer to things that can only be perceived by thought rather than via one of the physical senses.
| Spanish | English |
| el pensamiento | a thought |
| la gripe | a cold |
| la tristeza | sadness |
| la curiosidad | curiosity |
Countable and non countable nouns
As the name suggests these nouns refer to these that either can or can’t be physically counted.
| Spanish | English | |
| countable nouns | las flores | flowers |
| la puerta | door | |
| la hormiga | ant | |
| non countable nouns | el azúcar | sugar |
| el café | coffee | |
| el agua | water |
Collective nouns
Collective nouns are similar to non countable nouns even though they can be counted. They refer to groups of people, animals or things. The way to distinguish them between non countable nouns is to imagine the things that make up the group. Non countable nouns are made up of individual units of the non countable noun itself; grains of sugar. Collective nouns are made up of individual nouns in their own right; men and women in a team.
| Spanish | English | |
| people | el equipo | team |
| animals | la manada | herd / pack |
| things | la selección | selection |
Note: A noun will usually fall into more than one category
of nouns.
PART 3
The third part of this lesson looks at how we might be able to identify whether a noun is masculine by studying the ending of the noun. Much of the time no clues are given as to the gender of a noun especially when referring to inanimate objects or ideas. The following are some guidelines which can help us but it must be remembered that there are usually exceptions to most rules!
1) Spanish nouns ending in L,O,N (but not ion),E,R or S will normally be masculine. Thinking of the English word ‘loners’ is a good way of remembering the letters.
| example 1 | example 2 | exceptions | |
L |
el pañal (nappy) | el canal (canal / channel) | la sal (salt) |
O |
el abrigo (coat) | el anillo (ring) | la mano (hand) |
N |
el ratón (mounse) | el pan (bread) | la sartén (frying pan) |
E |
el cine (cinema) | el muelle (dock) | la leche (milk) |
R |
el líder (leader) | el recogedor (dustpan ) | la mujer (woman) |
S |
el cortaúñas (nail clippers) | el lavaplatos (dishwasher) | la crisis (crisis) |
2) Spanish nouns ending in imiento will usually be masculine.
| el conocimiento | knowledge |
| el pimiento | pepper |
| el nacimiento | birth |
3) Spanish nouns ending in ma and pa are quite often masculine. Less certain than rules 2 and 3.
| example 1 | example 2 | exceptions | |
MA |
el clima (climate) | el tema (subject) | la cama (bed) |
PA |
el mapa (map) | el papá (father) | la tapa
(lid / top / cover)
|
PART 4
The fourth part of this lesson looks at how we might be able to identify whether a noun is feminine by studying the ending of the noun. Much of the time no clues are given as to the gender of a noun especially when referring to inanimate objects or ideas. The following are some guidelines which can help us but it must be remembered that there are usually exceptions to most rules!
1) Spanish nouns ending in A, D (often ending in dad or tad), Z and ION will usually be feminine.
| example 1 | example 2 | exceptions | |
A |
la rana (frog) | la manzana (apple) | el día (day) |
D |
la amistad (friendship) | la pared (wall) | el césped (lawn / grass) |
Z |
la luz (light) | la niñez (childhood) | el lápiz (pénsil) |
ION |
la canción (song) | la calefacción (heating) | el
avión (aeroplane)
|
2) Spanish nouns ending in ITIS which describe to medical conditions are usually feminine.
| la apendicitis (appendicitis) | la gastritis (gastritis) |
That concludes this lesson on the nouns part 1. If you have
not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of
the associated quizzes to test your understanding.