Masculine and feminine in Spanish (gender)
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 9:25 am
La color or el color? La sal or el sal? Discover the masculine and feminine forms in Spanish!
I often hear my students say “the problem is…” or “the video…” , but I have to tell you something, it is not correct.
Although in many cases words have the same gender in Spanish as in French (la nation, el articul, etc.), this is not always the case.
Today I'm going to give you several "tricks" to recognize when a word is feminine or masculine in Spanish.
You might also be interested in: 5 Spanish Words to Speak Like a Native
masculine words
Words ending in -o are typically masculine in Spanish. But there are also other endings that you should know.
As I mentioned in the video, we have to remember three techniques to recognize masculine words in Spanish.
1.- “LYRONES”
The first is the “Lyrones” technique (like the animal “dormouse” which would mean “loir” in French).
This technique tells us that words enderally masculine words. Remember, though, that there are many exceptions. For this reason, I insist that you check the gender of the word in a dictionary if you are sms gateway switzerland not sure.
But if you find yourself in a presentation with your boss or in a situation where you can't review, then use the “Lyrones” technique.
2.- MAPATA
Generally, words that end in “a” are feminine in Spanish, except for words that end in the syllables -Ma -*Pa -Ta.
Many words that end in -Ma in Spanish are of Greek origin, and as in Greek they were masculine words, when they are passed to Spanish they continue to be masculine words, even if they end in -a.
Words that end in -Pa are mostly feminine, but since there are numerous exceptions, I decided to add it to this list for you to take into account.
I often hear my students say “the problem is…” or “the video…” , but I have to tell you something, it is not correct.
Although in many cases words have the same gender in Spanish as in French (la nation, el articul, etc.), this is not always the case.
Today I'm going to give you several "tricks" to recognize when a word is feminine or masculine in Spanish.
You might also be interested in: 5 Spanish Words to Speak Like a Native
masculine words
Words ending in -o are typically masculine in Spanish. But there are also other endings that you should know.
As I mentioned in the video, we have to remember three techniques to recognize masculine words in Spanish.
1.- “LYRONES”
The first is the “Lyrones” technique (like the animal “dormouse” which would mean “loir” in French).
This technique tells us that words enderally masculine words. Remember, though, that there are many exceptions. For this reason, I insist that you check the gender of the word in a dictionary if you are sms gateway switzerland not sure.
But if you find yourself in a presentation with your boss or in a situation where you can't review, then use the “Lyrones” technique.
2.- MAPATA
Generally, words that end in “a” are feminine in Spanish, except for words that end in the syllables -Ma -*Pa -Ta.
Many words that end in -Ma in Spanish are of Greek origin, and as in Greek they were masculine words, when they are passed to Spanish they continue to be masculine words, even if they end in -a.
Words that end in -Pa are mostly feminine, but since there are numerous exceptions, I decided to add it to this list for you to take into account.