Noun Gender In Spanish: Masculine And Feminine Nouns [Guide]

Learning Spanish isn't just about memorizing vocabulary and stringing words together. You need to know whether each noun is masculine or feminine because this affects the articles (el or la) and adjectives you use with it. A red book is "el libro rojo" while a red house is "la casa roja"—same adjective color, different endings based on the noun's gender.

In this post, I'll teach you how to recognize masculine and feminine nouns in Spanish. You'll learn the most common ending patterns, see clear examples of each, and know which exceptions to watch out for. By the end, you'll have a simple system for identifying noun gender without guessing.

What Is Noun Gender?

In Spanish, every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine. This isn’t about biological gender or whether something is "male" or "female" in real life. A table (la mesa) is feminine, and a book (el libro) is masculine simply because that’s how the language works. The gender is fixed and never changes for that noun.

Why does this matter? Because the noun's gender affects the articles and adjectives you use with it. If the noun is masculine, you use el and make adjectives masculine. If it's feminine, you use la and make adjectives feminine.

Masculine example:

• el perro pequeño (the small dog)

Feminine example:

• la casa pequeña (the small house)

The adjective "pequeño" changes to "pequeña" to match the noun's gender. Some adjectives like grande (big) stay the same for both genders because they end in -e, but most adjectives follow this matching pattern.

How to Spot Feminine Nouns In Spanish

Most Spanish feminine nouns follow predictable patterns based on their endings. Once you know these patterns, you can identify feminine nouns instantly without memorizing each word individually.

Nouns ending in -ción and -sión are especially reliable. These endings are equivalent to "-tion" and "-sion" in English, so words like "nation" (nación) and "television" (televisión) are always feminine. The -dad and -tad endings are equally consistent. If you see a noun ending in -dad, it's feminine without exception.

The -a ending is the most common feminine marker, but it's not 100% reliable. Most nouns ending in -a are feminine (la ventana, la cocina, la puerta), but there are important exceptions you need to know.

Exceptions When Using Spanish Feminine Nouns

Some feminine nouns end in -o, which can trip up beginners who expect all -o words to be masculine:

• la mano (the hand)
• la foto (the photo)
• la moto (the motorcycle)

La mano is genuinely an exception. However, foto and moto are actually shortened versions of fotografía and motocicleta, which is why they kept their feminine gender despite the -o ending.

You'll also find some masculine nouns that use feminine endings. These are the trickiest exceptions:

Masculine nouns ending in -a:

• el día (the day)
• el mapa (the map)
• el problema (the problem)
• el planeta (the planet)
• el clima (the climate)

Most of these come from Greek and end in -ma. If you see a word ending in -ma, it's usually masculine.

Masculine nouns ending in -d:

• el césped (the grass)
• el ataúd (the coffin)

These are rare, but good to know so you don't assume all -d endings are feminine.

How to Spot Masculine Nouns In Spanish

Masculine nouns in Spanish also follow clear ending patterns. Learning these will help you identify most masculine nouns on sight.

The -o ending is the most common masculine marker, just like -a is for feminine nouns. If you see a noun ending in -o, it's masculine about 90% of the time. Nouns ending in -or are also very reliable, especially words for feelings and concepts like amor (love), dolor (pain), and honor (honor).

Words ending in -aje are always masculine, with no exceptions. The same goes for most nouns with accented final vowels like café, sofá, and champú (shampoo).

Other masculine patterns:

• Days of the week are always masculine: el lunes (Monday), el viernes (Friday), el domingo (Sunday).
• Compound words (two words joined together) are masculine: el rascacielos (skyscraper), el paraguas (umbrella), el abrelatas (can opener).

Exceptions When Using Spanish Masculine Nouns

The main exceptions are masculine nouns that end in -a, which goes against the usual pattern:

• el día (the day)
• el mapa (the map)
• el problema (the problem)
• el programa (the program)
• el planeta (the planet)
• el clima (the climate)
• el tema (the theme)
• el sistema (the system)

Notice that most of these end in -ma. This pattern comes from Greek, where these words were neuter. In Spanish, they became masculine. If you see a word ending in -ma, assume it's masculine unless it's clearly referring to a female person (like la mamá).

Another small group of masculine exceptions ends in -ta or -pa:

• el cometa (the comet)
• el poeta (the poet)
• el mapa (the map)

These also have Greek origins, which is why they don't follow the typical Spanish patterns.

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How to Use Articles and Adjectives with Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Once you know a noun's gender, you need to match it with the correct article and adjective. The article is the word for "the" (el or la), and adjectives are describing words like "big," "red," or "beautiful."

Articles change based on gender

Use el with singular masculine nouns and los with plural masculine nouns. Use la with singular feminine nouns and las with plural feminine nouns.

Examples:

• el perro (the dog) becomes los perros (the dogs)
• la casa (the house) becomes las casas (the houses)
• el libro (the book) becomes los libros (the books)
• la mesa (the table) becomes las mesas (the tables)

Adjectives must match the noun's gender

Most Spanish adjectives end in -o for masculine nouns and -a for feminine nouns. When the noun is plural, add -s to the adjective.

Examples:

• el gato negro (the black cat) becomes los gatos negros (the black cats)
• la casa blanca (the white house) becomes las casas blancas (the white houses)
• el niño pequeño (the small boy) becomes los niños pequeños (the small boys)
• la niña pequeña (the small girl) becomes las niñas pequeñas (the small girls)

Adjectives ending in -e or consonants

Some adjectives don't change for gender. If an adjective ends in -e or most consonants, it stays the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. You only add -s to make it plural.

Examples:

• el coche grande (the big car) and la casa grande (the big house)
• el libro interesante (the interesting book) and la película interesante (the interesting movie)
• el hombre joven (the young man) and la mujer joven (the young woman)

The key rule: everything must agree. If your noun is feminine and plural, both the article and the adjective must be feminine and plural too.

Learn Spanish Grammar Naturally With Lingopie

Learning noun gender through textbooks means memorizing endless lists. Lingopie takes a different approach: you learn by watching Spanish TV shows and movies where masculine and feminine nouns appear in real conversations. Our Grammar Index color-codes words in the subtitles (nouns, verbs, adjectives) so you can see how sentences are structured at a glance.

When you encounter a confusing phrase, click it and our Grammar Coach explains the rule behind it. The coach gives you real-time feedback and practice exercises tailored to your level, whether you're just starting or already comfortable with Spanish. Each word you click becomes a flashcard linked to the actual video scene, helping you remember how native speakers use it. You'll pick up gender patterns naturally as you watch, without the drilling.

Frequently Asked Questions About Spanish Noun Gender

Start Learning Spanish With Lingopie

You now know the main patterns for identifying masculine and feminine nouns in Spanish. Words ending in -o are usually masculine, words ending in -a are usually feminine, and endings like -ción and -dad are always feminine. The exceptions exist, but they're manageable once you know what to watch for.

These patterns become automatic when you see them used in real Spanish conversations. Lingopie’s features let you learn through TV shows and movies where masculine and feminine nouns appear naturally in every scene. Click any word for an instant explanation, save it as a flashcard, and watch how native speakers use gender in context.

Curious? Try Lingopie free for 7 days and make noun gender second nature.