Lesson 2 – Nouns, Nouns, Articles, Gender and Number Mi nombre es _______________
Hoy es __________________ ___________________________________ ____________________ ___
NOUN, n: the name of things, places or people. – Apple, chair, jeans, Kuala Lumpur, etc. GENDER: feminine, f or or masculine, m. ARTICLE: ARTICLE: the qualifier of the noun. – The, a, an. NUMBER: singular, sg or plural, pl . – apple - apples The Plural Form of Nouns 1. If a noun ends with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), make it plural by adding – s. a.
Plato (singular) = _______________ _______________ (plural)
b. Cama (sg (sg)) = _______________ ( pl ( pl ) c.
Baño (sg (sg)) = _______________ ( pl ( pl )
2. If a noun ends with a consonant, make it plural by adding – es es. a.
Reloj (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl )
b. Pared (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl ) c.
Papel (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl )
3. If a noun ends with – ión ión, add – es es and drop the written accent. a.
Institución (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl )
b. Sección (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl ) c.
Avión (sg (sg)) = __________________ ( pl ( pl )
4. If a noun ends with – z, add – es es and change the z to c. a.
Lápiz (sg (sg)) = _______________ ( pl ( pl )
b. Voz (sg (sg)) = _______________ ( pl ( pl ) c.
Actriz (sg (sg)) = _______________ ( pl ( pl ) 1
When there is an accent on the last syllable of the word in singular form, it will disappear in the plural form. For example: común (sg) – comunes (pl) ratón (sg) – ratones (pl)
Activity: Pluralise the nouns below using the rules above. 1.
Guitarra
- __________________________________
2.
Tarde
- __________________________________
3.
Hermano
- __________________________________
4.
Arroz
- __________________________________
5.
Conclusión
- __________________________________
6.
Pingüino
- __________________________________
7.
Zapato
- __________________________________
8.
Azul
- __________________________________
9.
Televisión
- __________________________________
10. Pregunta
- __________________________________
11. Refresco
- __________________________________
12. Altavoz
- __________________________________
13. Nariz
- __________________________________
14. Ilustración
- __________________________________
15. Queso
- __________________________________
16. Actividad
- __________________________________
17. Ojo
- __________________________________
18. Goma
- __________________________________
19. Bicicleta
- __________________________________
20. Ordenador
- __________________________________
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The Articles – Los Artículos
Each noun has an article which agrees with the gender of the object. The Definite Articles – Los Artículos Definidos (El/La/Los/Las) The DEFINITE ARTICLE/ ARTÍCULO DEFINIDO is the Spanish form of ‘THE’, which is used to refer to a specific object.
Masculino Feminino
singular el la
plural los las
For example: (a)
Book –libro. It is an object which is masculine. Therefore, its article will be the masculine ‘el’. The book = El libro (sg.) The books = Los libros (pl.)
(b)
Ruler –regla. It is a feminine object. Therefore, the article will also be feminine. The ruler = La regla (sg.) The rulers = Las reglas (pl.)
The Indefinite Articles – Los Artículos Indefinidos (Un/Una/Unos/Unas) The INDEFINITE ARTICLE/ ARTÍCULO INDEFINIDO is the Spanish form of ‘A’ or ‘AN’, which is used to refer to a non-specific object, i.e. a general object.
Masculino Feminino
singular un una
For example: (a)
Book –libro (m) A book = Un libro (sg.) Some books = Unos libros (pl.)
(b)
Ruler –regla (f) A ruler = Una regla (sg.) Some rulers = Unas reglas (pl.)
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plural unos unas
The Gender of Nouns
Nouns (people, places, things) in the Spanish language have a grammatical gender. It is only a convention. The gender of a noun NEVER CHANGES. There are 2 genders in Spanish – the masculine (masculino) and the feminine ( femenino). Masculine Nouns 1.
Those that end with –o. - El queso, el pingüino, el zapato, el libro
2. Remember N O R S E L . Generally nouns that end with these letters are masculine. - El ordenador, el puente, el papel, el cinturón 3. All the days of the week are masculine. - El lunes, el martes, el miércoles, el jueves, el viernes, el sábado, el domingo 4. Nouns that end in –ma, pa or –ta and is of Greek origin generally are masculine. - El clima, el idioma, el problema, el planeta, el mapa Feminine Nouns 1. Those that end with –a. - La guitarra, la pregunta, la goma, la bicicleta, etc. - Exception: el día 2. Those that end with –ión, -dad, -tad, -is, -ie and –umbre. - La conclusión, la actividad, la dificultad, la crisis, la serie, la costumbre - Exception: el avión, el análisis, el pie 3. There are words which seem to be exceptions, but really are words which have been cut short. La disco – la discoteca
La moto – la motocicleta
La foto – la fotografía
La radio – la radiodifusión
BUT! A true exception is: La mano – las manos 4
4. Nouns that begin with an emphasised a- or ha- require the ‘el’ to maintain the sound balance of the word. However, they maintain the feminine gender of the words. In plural form, the feminine plural article, ‘las’ is used. El agua clara – las aguas claras El hacha fina – las hachas finas Activity – Write the article for each noun below in singular (el, la) and plural (los, las) form .
Singular Form
Plural Form
La
manzana
Las
________
almohada
________
__________________________
________
teléfono
________
__________________________
________
dedo
________
__________________________
________
universidad
________
__________________________
________
tenedor
________
__________________________
________
ratón
________
__________________________
________
camiseta
________
__________________________
________
sábana
________
__________________________
________
día
________
__________________________
________
mes
________
__________________________
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Manzanas
When we talk about nouns that refer to people, the noun ending changes according to the gender of the person.
Masculino el niño el chico el amigo el hijo el mexicano
Femenino la niña la chica la amiga la hija la mexicana
little boy boy friend (male) son Mexican man
little girl girl friend (female) daughter Mexican woman
The same occurs when we talk about occupations. However, those that end with – ta or – ista remain the same for both genders.
El maestro
____ enfermero
La maestra
____ _____________
____ científico
____ bombero
____ _____________
____ _____________
____ taxista
____ dentista
____ _____________
____ _____________
Sometimes, there is a different word for the masculine noun and the feminine one. For example: el hombre – la mujer man – woman
el toro – la vaca bull – cow
el caballo – la yegua stallion – mare
el gallo – la gallina rooster – hen
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