Examples of masculine and feminine nouns in Spanish
| Masculine nouns in Spanish | Feminine nouns in Spanish |
|---|---|
| el camarero - the waiter | el camarero - the waiter |
| el maestro - the teacher | la maestra - the teacher |
| el señor - the gentleman | a señora - the lady |
| el árbitro - the referee | la árbitra - the referee |
There are a few exceptions, with masculine nouns that end in -a:
- el aroma - the aroma, the scent
- el Canadá - Canada
- el clima - the climate
- el cometa - the comet
- el cura - the priest
- el día - the day
- el diagrama - the diagram, the outline
- el dilema - the dilemma
- el diploma - the diploma
- el drama - the drama
- el enigma - the enigma
There are also some exceptions where feminine nouns end in -o:
- la dinamo - the dynamo
- la foto - the photo
- la mano - the hand
- la moto - the motorcycle
- la radio - the radio
To find out more about Spanish feminine and masculine nouns, read our easy guide on genders and nouns.
Number
In Spanish, nouns also have a number, which means that a word can be singular or plural.
Singular nouns in Spanish are those that name a single element.
Plural nouns in Spanish name more than one element.
How do you know if a noun is singular or plural? Again, look at the end of the word. If the noun ends in ‘s’ it is a plural. Much like in English.
For example: casas - houses, árboles - trees, lámparas - lamps.
To make singular nouns plural you have to add an “s” or “es” at the end.
What are the different types of Spanish nouns?
There are eight different types of nouns in Spanish.
Spanish nouns are classified into different categories that we'll explore below.
Common nouns and proper nouns
Common nouns allow us to name things, people or animals of the same class or species in a general way.
For example: padre - father, perro - dog, mujer - woman and mesa - table.
Proper nouns allow us to name a subject or object in an individual way, differentiating it from the rest of the group to which it belongs.
They can name people like Mary, Andrea, García or Smith and geographical places, such as Argentina, Mexico City or America.
Remember that proper nouns are always written with the initial capital letter.
Concrete and abstract and nouns
Concrete nouns name tangible elements, in other words, items which can be perceived with the five senses.
For example: foto - picture, motocicleta - motorcycle, and puerta - door.
Abstract nouns name elements that cannot be perceived with the five senses.
For example: felicidad - happiness, dolor - pain, esperanza - hope and maldad - evil.
Individual and collective nouns
Individual nouns are those that name an individual being or thing, even if it´s plural.
For example: perro - dog, cerdo - pig, mesa - table, silla - chair, and their plurals (perros - dogs, cerdos - pigs, mesas - tables, sillas - chairs).
Collective nouns are words that name a collection or group of people, animals or things without using the plural. So “perros” is an individual noun (plural) while "jauría" is a collective noun.
Here's a list of collective nouns:
- Bandada - Flock: A group of birds; also used to discuss small hoofed animals such as sheep or goats.
- Cardúmen- Shoal: A group of fish.
- Clase - Class: A group of students who are taught together at school, college, or university.
- Colonia- Colony: A group of ants.
- Conjunto - Set: A tidy group of matched objects such as dishes; also used to describe rules or a social group of people.
- Coro - Choir: A large, organized group of singers.
- Enjambre- Swarm: A group of insects.
- Equipo - Team: Several people or animals who do something together as a group.
- Familia - Family: A group of people who are related to each other, such as a mother, a father, and their children.
- Grupo - Group: A very general term used to describe people, places, things, and animals.
- Junta - Board: A group of people, usually professionals, who take on an advisory role.
- Manada- Pack: A group of canine animals such as wolves or dogs; also used to describe playing cards and packages containing multiple objects.
- Montón - Heap: A mounded collection of items; used interchangeably with “pile.”
- Multitud - Crowd: Usually used to describe a group of people.
- Orquesta - Orchestra: A large, organized group of instrumentalists, led by a conductor.
- Otoño - Fall: Often used to discuss weather, such as rain, snow or hail.
- Pandilla - Gang: Usually used to describe a group of criminals; also used to describe a group of workers, particularly sailors or dock workers.
- Panel - Panel: A group of experts.
- Personal - Staff: A group of people who work in the same place.
- Pila - Pile – An untidy collection of items such as rubbish.
- Pila - Stack: A group of items neatly laid one on top of another, such as a stack of books.
- Racimo - Bunch: Usually a group of smallish objects such as grapes, flowers, keys, or bananas.
- Rebaño - Herd: A group of herbivore animals.
- Series – Series: Used to discuss movies, books, or events that follow one after another.
- Tripulación - Crew: Usually used to denote a group of workers; also used to describe aircraft and ships personnel.
- Tropa - Troupe: A group of actors or acrobats; also used to describe a group of monkeys.
Countable and uncountable nouns
Countable nouns name elements that can be counted, so they can be described using collective nouns (nouns that can be made plural)
For example: avión - airplane, barco - ship, gallina - hen and perro - dog.
Uncountable nouns name elements that cannot be divided in units or counted individually.
For example:calor - heat, lluvia - rain, naturaleza - nature and arroz - rice.
We always refer to rice -arroz - as a whole, never as individual rice grains: a bag of rice, a pound of rice, a bowl of rice, etc.
Gente- people is a collective noun and uncountable.
Gente is a singular noun that refers to a group of individuals. For this reason, it is not used as a plural. You can say mucha gente (too many people), bastante gente (a lot of people) or poca gente (a few people), but not una gente, dos gentes, seis gentes (one people, two peoples, six peoples).
There are only two justified reasons to use the plural “gentes:"
- It is a stylistic or expressive plural (almost exclusively restricted to the literary language).
An example of this is the book title of Ephraim George Squier “Nicaragua, sus gentes y paisajes” (1852). - “Nicaragua, its people and landscapes.”
- It is an American usage, typical of areas where gente is a countable and not a collective noun, synonymous with persona (persona).
For example: “Qué se siente cambiar a alguien malo como yo y hacerlo buena gente” (“Noreh - Buena Gente” 00:47-53) - “How does it feel to change someone bad like me and make them good people.”
