Spanish I Nouns NOUNS n Nouns refer to

Spanish I Nouns

NOUNS n Nouns refer to people, animals, places, and things.

NOUNS n In Spanish, nouns have gender. They are either masculine or feminine.

Masculine / Feminine n Most nouns that end in -o are masculine.

Masculine / Feminine n Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.

Masculine / Feminine n For example: el libro la calculadora

Other Spanish Nouns An exception: el día la clase la televisión El agua n

Other Spanish Nouns n Some can be both masculine and feminine: el/la estudiante

Making Nouns Plural n n To make nouns plural you usually add -s to words ending in a vowel and -es to words ending in a consonant. sillas teclados carteles

Making Nouns Plural n n Singular nouns that end in z change the z to c in the plural. El lápiz los lápices

Definite Articles n El , La , Los and Las are called definite articles. n In English they mean “the”

Definite Articles Use El for masculine and singular nouns and with n Use Los for masculine and n plural nouns. n Use La for feminine and singular nouns and with n Use Las for feminine and plural nouns.

Indefinite Articles n Un, Una, Unos, and Unas are indefinite articles.

Indefinite Articles n Un and Una mean “a or an” in English.

Indefinite Articles n Unos and Unas mean “some” in English.

Indefinite Articles Un is masc. and singular n Unos are masc. and plural n Una is femenine and singular n Unas are feminine and plural n

n n _________ casas maestros

n n Imagine a plate full of cookies. There are peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, and one chocolate chip cookie. The difference between the definite and indefinite articles is the difference between talking about a specific cookie, or any old cookie at all.

n Give me the chocolate chip cookie. n Give me a cookie, please.

It’s a good idea to learn a noun with its definite article, el or la, because that will usually tell you the gender.