1.2.- Masculine nouns and their endings in Spanish
As we said in the previous video, nouns that end with the letter -O are usually masculine, but we also have many exceptions and particular cases like the ones that we are going to study in this lesson.
We also talk about the importance of daily practice. Reading, watching movies and having conversations with Spanish people is very important for you to improve your Spanish.
EXERCISE 01:
I hope that with this exhaustive list you will be able to identify any masculine gender noun.
And I also hope you will listen to me and practice your Spanish with readings, movies and conversations because the only way to learn Spanish effectively is to put it into practice over and over again.
And now let’s do this exercise to see if you have understood everything.
Great! You can now go to the next video. And, remember, if you still have doubts, you can always contact me on the support form.
VIDEO TIMELINE:
In this second section we talk about:
- Min 00:12 = Nouns that end with the letter -O are usually masculine.
- Min 00:28 = Other words that don’t end with the letter -O and are masculine nouns.
- Min 00:37 = Some nouns that end with the letter -A are masculine.
- Min 01:39 = Nouns with endings like -AJE, -AMBRE, -ÁN, -ÉN, -ÍN, -ÓN, -ÚN, -AR, -ER, -OR, -ATE, -ETE, -OTE, -ÉS, -MIENTO are usually masculine.
- Min 03:03 = Many other nouns ending in a consonant like L, N, R, S, T and X are also masculine.
- Min 03:30 = Certain groups of nouns belonging to a theme are masculine.
- Min 05:48 = The importance of daily practice.
MASCULINE NOUNS AND THEIR
ENDINGS IN SPANISH
1.- THE GENERAL RULE FOR MASCULINE NOUNS:
As we just said (in the previous section):
Nouns that end with the letter -O are usually masculine:
El alumno (the student)
El cuello (the neck)
El teléfono (the telephone)
El sombrero (the hat)
El tejado (the roof)
2.- THE EXCEPTIONS:
But we can also find many other words that don’t end with the letter -O and are masculine nouns.
1.- Some nouns that end with the letter -A are masculine.
For instance:
| Some words ending in – ÍA: | el día, el tranvía, el vigía |
| Some words ending in – MA: | el sintagma, el estigma, el fantasma |
| Some words ending in – AMA: | el pijama, el crucigrama, el programa |
| Some words ending in – EMA: | el dilema, el emblema, el problema |
| Some words ending in – OMA: | el idioma, el diploma, el aroma |
2.- Nouns with the following endings are usually masculine:
| – AJE: | el abordaje, el garaje, el paraje, el peaje |
| – AMBRE: | el hambre, el alambre, el estambre |
| – ÁN, – ÉN, – ÍN, – ÓN, – ÚN: | el chaflán, el andén, el espadín, el camión, el atún |
| – AR, – ER, – OR: | el colmenar, el taller, el corredor |
| – ATE, – ETE, – OTE: | el arrate, el cachete, el cogote |
| – ÉS: | el arnés, el ciprés, el envés |
| – MIENTO: | el cumplimiento, el sufrimiento |
3.- Many other nouns ending in a consonant
like L, N, R, S, T and X are also masculine
| – L: | el farol |
| – N: | el cartón |
| – R: | el calor |
| – S: | el compás |
| – T: | el cénit |
| – X: | el tórax |
4.- Regardless the letter they end with,
certain groups of nouns belonging to a theme
are masculine. These include:
| – Numbers: | el cuatro, el cinco, el cien |
| – Days of the week / Months of the year: | el lunes, el martes / enero, febrero |
| – Compass points: | el norte, el sur, el este, el oeste |
| – The names of many trees: | el manzano, el pino |
| – Some compound nouns: | el abrelatas, el lavaplatos, el parabrisas |
| – Rivers, lakes, mountains, straits, seas, oceans: | el Duero, el Everest, el Mediterráneo |
| – Names to designate colors: | el rojo, el amarillo, el azul, el verde |
| – Infinitives used as nouns: | el comer, el beber, el caminar |
| – Languages: | el inglés, el francés, el alemán, el español |
3.- THE IMPORTANCE OF DAILY PRACTICE:
To summarize, we can say that, in general:
Nouns that end with the letter -O are usually masculine
and
Nouns that end with the letter -A are usually feminine.
But we also have many exceptions and many particular cases like the ones that we have studied in this lesson.
So, in the end, the only feasible way to know whether a noun is masculine or not is using the language day after day, memorizing these words or using them very often until you get used to the correct form.
Memorization and frequent practice will help you learn their gender more than any rule.
That is why reading, watching movies and having conversations with Spanish people is so important. You should be doing it from the get-go because this is not something that you will be able to learn in only a couple of days.
This is the way we learn it here, in Spain, when we are kids; we listen to our families, we get used, in this case, to the uses of masculine in our mother tongue and practice a lot until we make no mistakes.
So, don’t be shy, listen, speak and practice as much as you can. And remember, you are not alone because I’m always here to help.
And this is the end of this section.
Thank you for watching!
I’ll see you in the next video!
Lesson 1: gender of nouns in Spanish
1.0.- Gender of nouns in Spanish: Introduction
1.1.- Gender of nouns in Spanish
1.2.- Masculine nouns and their endings in Spanish
1.3.- Feminine nouns and their endings in Spanish
1.4.- Forming the feminine nouns in Spanish
1.5.- Lesson 01 Evaluation Test