Sustantivos Nouns - Eastfield College

Sustantivos
Nouns
Gender of Nouns
In Spanish, nouns ending in -o are generally masculine; nouns ending in -a are generally feminine.
Exceptions:
•
Irrespective of ending, nouns denoting male beings are always masculine; those denoting female
beings are always feminine. (un hombre - a man; una mujer - a woman)
•
Nouns of Greek origin ending in -ma, -pa, -ta are generally masculine. (el clima, el tema, el
mapa) Days of the week are masculine and are not capitalized. (el lunes, el martes)
•
Nouns ending in -ción, -sión and -lad, -tad, -dad, are generally feminine. (la lección, la ciudad)
•
There are many nouns of common usage whose gender follows no rule. (la flor, el papel, la
mano, el día, la noche)
•
For reasons of euphony, the article el, instead of la, is used in the singular form before all
feminine words that begin with a- or ha-. (el agua, el alma, el hacha) In the plural, the normal
feminine article las is used. (las aguas, las almas)
The Definite Article
The definite articles, singular form, in Spanish are el and la.
El is the definite article used before singular masculine nouns. (el libro); los is used before plural
masculine nouns. (los libros)
La is the definite article used before singular feminine nouns. (la mesa); las is used before plural feminine
nouns. (las mesas)
For the following exercise, provide the necessary definite article. (el, la, los, las)
1. ________
silla
7. ________
guitarra
13. ________
regalo
2. ________
hombres
8. ________
capítulo
14. ________
bomba
3. ________
mujer
9. ________
zapato
15. ________
pera
4. ________
camino
10. ________
ciudades
16. ________
ojo
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5. ________
carta
11. ________
dólares
6. ________
negocio
12. ________
sala
17. ________
planta
Plural Form of Nouns
Nouns, which terminate in a vowel, form their plural by adding -s. (libro - libros, mesa – mesas)
Nouns, which terminate in a consonant, form their plural by adding -es. (papel - papeles, color - colores)
Nouns, which end in the letter z, change this z to c in the plural. (lápiz - lápices, vez - veces, luz - luces)
Nouns, which end in -es or -is without an accent, retain the same form in the plural as in the singular. (el
lunes - los lunes, la crisis - las crisis)
Nouns ending in -ión, lose their accent in the plural. (lección - lecciones, nación - naciones)
For the following exercise, change the singular to the plural.
1. el martes
____________________
9. el león
____________________
2. el color azul
____________________
10. la nube
____________________
3. la región central
____________________
11. el doctor
____________________
4. el campo
____________________
12. el carro
____________________
5. el profesor
____________________
13. el libro
____________________
6. el francés
____________________
14. el pez
____________________
7. el gato
____________________
15. la chica
____________________
8. el dólar
____________________
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