1. GenderGender
 In this presentation,
we will look at two
very important
concepts in Spanish:
gender and agreement.

2. GenderGender
 Look at these English
words and guess whether
they refer to male or
female:
 Bull
 Hen
 Husband
 Niece
 Cousin
 Calculator
 Love

3. GenderGender
 Some are obvious:
 Bull (m.)
 Hen (f.)
 Husband (m.)
 Niece (f.)
 Others are unknown:
 Cousin (m. or f.)
 While others are neither
(“neuter”):
 Calculator, love

4. GenderGender
 In English, nouns and
pronouns fall into
three grammatical
groups:
 Masculine: man,
husband, rooster, he
 Feminine: woman,
wife, hen, she
 Neuter: child, bird, it

5. GenderGender
 In Spanish, all nouns fall
into just two categories:
 Masculine (“masculino”)
 Feminine (“feminino”)
 There is no “neuter” class
in which to place nouns
such as “table” and
“chair.”

6. So what does this mean?So what does this mean?
 You should start
thinking about Spanish
nouns as being either
masculine or
feminine.

7. Let’s take a look!Let’s take a look!
 Here are some nouns with
their corresponding
definite article (“the”):
 el niño (the boy)
 la niña (the girl)
 el profesor (the professor)
 la profesora (the professor)
 el amigo (the friend)
 la amiga (the friend)

8. Let’s reorganize these words.Let’s reorganize these words.
 Put all of the “el” words
together:
 el niño
 el profesor
 el amigo
 And all the “la” words
together:
 la niña
 la profesora
 la amiga

9. That’s easy!That’s easy!
 Masculine nouns use
the definite article “el”
while feminine nouns
use “la.”
 Let’s look at a few
more:
 La mesa (the table)
 El libro (the book)
 La pluma (the pen)
 El teléfono (the phone)

10. Just a minute!!Just a minute!!
 Words that are neuter in
English are either
masculine or feminine in
Spanish.
 This does not mean that
these words have
masculine or feminine
characteristics! It is just a
purely grammatical
classification.

11. Let’s practice!Let’s practice!
 Do you think these nouns are
masculine (“el”) or feminine
(“la”)? Don’t worry about
the meanings for now.
 ___ hermano
 ___ mamá
 ___ trabajo
 ___ historia
 ___ planta
 ___ taco

12. How did you do?How did you do?
 el hermano
 la mamá
 el trabajo
 la historia
 la planta
 el taco
 Generally speaking, nouns that end in –o are
masculine, while those that end in –a are
feminine. There are exceptions, but we will
worry about them on a case-by-case basis.

13. Here are some different ones:Here are some different ones:
 la ciudad
 la universidad
 la religión
 la división
 el actor
 el doctor
 el español
 el túnel

14. Do you see the pattern?Do you see the pattern?
 Not all Spanish nouns end
in –o and –a, but they still
must be either masculine
or feminine.
 Nouns that end in –ión are
usually feminine.
 Nouns that end in –dad are
always feminine.
 Nouns that end in –l and –r
are usually masculine.

15. What about…?What about…?
 Nouns that end in –e can
be either masculine or
feminine:
 la clase; el presidente
 Some nouns can be both,
depending on the
meaning:
 el presidente (a man)
 la presidente (a woman)

16. What’s the bottom line?What’s the bottom line?
 Learn every Spanish
noun with its article.
It will pay off soon,
because you will be
able to classify new
nouns as you see the
patterns develop.

17. AgreementAgreement
 Look at these sentences
(alto = tall; guapo = good-
looking):
 El niño es alto y guapo.
 La niña es alta y guapa.
 Words that describe “niño”
also end in –o: alto, guapo
 Words that describe “niña”
also end in –a: alta, guapa

18. What’s going on here?What’s going on here?
 Other words in the
sentence also change to
“agree” (match the form
of the noun they describe).
Here’s another one:
 El profesor es bajo,
anciano, y gordo.
 How would you change
this sentence to talk about
a woman professor?

19. AgreementAgreement
 La profesora es baja,
anciana, y gorda.
 What if there is more
than one male teacher?

20. AgreementAgreement
 Los profesores son bajos,
ancianos, y gordos.
 What is happening??
 Los > “the” plural
 Profesores > plural
 Son > “are”
 Bajos, ancianos, gordos > adjectives
match the ending of the nouns, too.
 This doesn’t happen in English
(except for “this/these” and
“that/those”). But it’s an
important feature in Spanish!

21. Let’s try one!Let’s try one!
 Put the correct ending
on each word.
 La chica es bonit__ y
delgad__.
 Mi auto es antigu__ y
fe__.

22. The envelope, please!The envelope, please!
 La chica es bonita y
delgada.
 Mi auto es antiguo y
feo.
 Now make these
sentences plural!

23. Your final answer…Your final answer…
 Las chicas son bonitas
y delgadas.
 Mis autos son antiguos
y feos.
 How about this
sentence in the plural?
 El estudiante es
inteligente y
trabajador.

24. How did you do?How did you do?
 Los estudiantes son
inteligentes y
trabajadores.
 Adjectives that end in –e
can be used with either
masculine or feminine
nouns. To make them
plural, just add –s.
 Adjectives that end in –r
add –es for plural.

25. That’s enough for now!That’s enough for now!
 This is a very tricky concept
for learners of Spanish, mainly
because it is so different from
English.
 However, it is extremely
important and requires a lot of
concentration on your part!
Keep your eyes and ears open
for gender and agreement, and
soon the patterns will become
clearer.