A few days ago, a question arose – Is there a rule in Spanish that helps us recognize whether a given noun is masculine or feminine, or is each one unique on its own. I will attempt to clarify this in several consecutive posts.
With regard to gender – masculine or feminine, nouns in Spanish are divided into three large groups:
1. Nouns where the gender is motivated – determined by the sex of the beings being referred to.
- feminine forms are created from the corresponding masculine forms through the suffix -a
for example:
el chico – la chica; el abuelo – la abuela; el hermano – la hermana;
el presidente – la presidenta; el sirviente – la sirvienta; el cliente – la clienta
el autor – la autora; el español – la española; el portugues – la portuguesa;
- the feminine form is a word with a different root;
for example:
el padre – la madre; el hombre – la mujer; el caballo – la yegua;
- the feminine form is created through the suffixes: -ina; -esa; -isa; – iz;
for example:
el rey – la reina; el conde – la condesa; el poeta – la poetisa; el actor – la actriz;
- the feminine and masculine form are the same, and the gender is indicated by the definite article, respectively EL or LA, or by an adjective that accompanies the noun
for example:
el joven – la joven; el artista – la artista; el economista – la economista;
….. to follow are 2. and 3.