Nouns: gender

A noun is a word used to name a person, place, thing, or idea.

Listen to the following examples:

Person nouns: John, girl, dentist

Place nouns: garden, university, France
Thing nouns: book, car, tomato
Idea nouns: liberty, despair, education

All these words are nouns. In Spanish, all nouns are either
masculine or feminine. Listen to the following examples:

Masculine nouns Feminine nouns

el chico (the boy) la chica (the girl)
el jardín (the garden) la universidad (the university)
el libro (the book) la revista (the magazine)
el turismo (the tourism) la educación (the education)

"El" and "la" both mean "the."

el chico (the boy)

la chica (the girl)

el gato (the male cat)

la gata (the female cat)

The idea that nouns have gender seems perfectly natural when
the noun stands for a living creature. This is because in English,
living creatures often have different names, depending upon
whether they are male or female, as in man-woman, or actor-
actress.

The following Spanish nouns all denote living creatures.

el gato (the male cat)

la gata (the female cat)
el perro (the male dog)
la perra (the female dog)
el chico (the boy)
la chica (the girl)
el abuelo (the grandfather)
la abuela (the grandmother)

As you probably noticed, nouns that end in -o are usually

masculine and nouns that end in -a are usually feminine, but
there are exceptions to these two rules. Notice the following
words:

el problema (the problem), la mano (the hand), el día (the day),

la foto (the picture).

When you learn a new noun, you should also learn its article (el,
la). There are several reasons for this:

1. Because you cannot predict the gender of most nouns.

2. Because not every noun that ends in -o is masculine, and
not every noun that ends in -a is feminine.
3. Because many nouns end in letters other than o or a.
4. Because the article (el, la) is your clue as to whether a
noun is masculine or feminine.

Nouns: plural forms

If a noun ends in a vowel, make it plural by adding -s.

chico: chicos
señora: señoras
libro: libros
casa: casas

The articles (el, la) also change in the plural form. “El” becomes
"los" and “la” becomes "las."
el chico (the boy): los chicos (the boys); la señora (the lady):
las señoras (the ladies); el libro (the book): los libros (the
books); la casa (the house): las casas (the houses).

If a noun ends in a consonant, make it plural by adding -es.

el coche (the car): los coches (the cars); la universidad (the

university): las universidades (the universities); el profesor
(the teacher): los profesores (the teachers); la ciudad (the
city): las ciudades (the cities).

When the plural refers to two or more nouns of different

genders, the masculine plural is used. For a group of teachers
of different genders, we would use los profesores.

Let's review the rules for making nouns plural.

1. If a noun ends in a vowel, simply add -s.

2. If a noun ends in a consonant, simply add -es.
3. If the plural refers to a mixed group, use the masculine.

Adjectives

Adjectives are used to describe a noun. For example, an

adjective might describe the color or size of an object: the
red pen, the small pen.

In Spanish, most adjectives change form, depending upon

whether the word they modify is masculine or feminine. Notice
the difference between "the tall boy" (el chico alto) and "the
tall girl" (la chica alta).

Adjectives also change form if the word they modify is

singular or plural. Notice the difference between "the tall
boys" (los chicos altos); and "the tall girls” (las chicas altas).
Many common adjectives end in -o. These adjectives have four
forms. The following words all mean "tall": alto, alta, altos,
altas.

The correct form of the adjective depends upon the noun it

modifies. Is the noun masculine or feminine? Singular or plural?
Listen to the following examples:

El libro rojo
the red book

La silla roja
the red chair

Los libros rojos

the red books

Las sillas rojas

the red chairs

Adjectives that end in -e also change form for singular or

plural. To form the plural, simply add -s.

el chico inteligente (the intelligent boy)

los chicos inteligentes (the intelligent boys)

Adjectives that end in -e do not, however, change form for

masculine or feminine.

el chico inteligente (the intelligent boy)

la chica inteligente (the intelligent girl)

los chicos inteligentes (the intelligent boys)

las chicas inteligentes (the intelligent girls)

Most adjectives that end in a consonant change form for

singular or plural, but do not change for masculine or feminine.
To form the plural, add -es.
la chica popular (the popular girl)
el chico popular (the popular boy)

las chicas populares (the popular girls)

los chicos populares (the popular boys)

Let's review.

1. Adjectives that end in -o have four forms: alto, alta,

altos, altas
2. Adjectives that end in -e have two forms: inteligente,
inteligentes
3. Most adjectives that end in a consonant have two forms:
popular, populares

The infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir)

A verb is a word that names actions or states. Some examples

in English are: to sing, to run, to be, to think, to wake up etc.
The infinitive is the part of the verb that you will find in a
dictionary.

In Spanish, all infinitives have one of these three endings:

1. –ar ending (as in cantar, to sing or fumar, to smoke)

2. –er ending (as in comer, to eat or beber, to drink)
3. –ir ending (as in vivir, to live or salir, to go out)

To form tenses in Spanish, you usually will have to remove the

infinitive ending and add a different set of endings for each
tense.

The present tense

The present tense is used to say what it usually happens or

what is happening now. In English, the present tense is the
same in all persons except one, the third person singular:
he/she eats. In Spanish, each person of the verb is different.
To form the present tense in Spanish, remove the infinitive
ending (-ar, -er or –ir) and add the following sets of endings.

1. for –ar verbs, the endings are o, as, a, amos, ais, an.
Listen to the present tense of the verb cantar (to sing):
yo canto, tú cantas, él canta, nosotros cantamos, vosotros
cantáis, ellos cantan.
2. for –er verbs, the endings are o, es, e, emos, eis, en.
Listen to the present tense of the verb beber (to drink):
yo bebo, tú bebes, él bebe, nosotros bebemos, vosotros
bebéis, ellos beben.
3. for –ir verbs, the endings are o, es, e, imos, ís, en. Listen
to the present tense of the verb escribir (to write): yo
escribo, tú escribes, él escribe, nosotros escribimos,
vosotros escribís, ellos escriben.

You just listened to the regular forms of the present tense.

There are some verbs which don’t follow this pattern. They are
called irregular verbs.

The preterite tense (simple past)

The preterite or simple past tense describes a completed

action or event in the past, like in the sentences ‘He bought a
book’ or ‘Miriam ate a cake’. To form the preterite in Spanish,
remove the infinitive ending and add these sets of endings:

1. for –ar verbs, the endings are é, aste, ó, amos, asteis,

aron. Listen to the preterite tense of the verb cantar (to
sing): yo canté, tú cantaste, él cantó, nosotros cantamos,
vosotros cantasteis, ellos cantaron.
2. for –er verbs and –ir verbs, the endings are í, iste, ió,
imos, isteis, ieron. Listen to the preterite tense of the
verb beber (to drink): yo bebí, tú bebiste, él bebió,
nosotros bebimos, vosotros bebisteis, ellos bebieron.
Listen to the perfect tense of the verb escribir (to
 write): yo escribí, tú escribiste, él escribió, nosotros
escribimos, vosotros escribisteis, ellos escribieron.

Some verbs have irregular preterites, which have to be learnt.

The perfect tense (past perfect)

The past perfect tense describes what somebody has done or

what has happened at a certain point in the past, as in ‘I have
lost my bag’ or ‘he has lived in madrid’.

As in English, the pluperfect tense in Spanish is formed by two

words. The first one is the appropiate present tense form of
the verb haber (to have). The second one is the past participle
of the verb.

In English, the past participle of regular verbs end in –ed. In

Spanish, you need to add the ending –ado to –ar verbs and –ido
for –er and –ir verbs.

Listen to the perfect tense of the verb cantar (to sing): yo he

cantado, tu has cantado, él ha cantado, nosotros hemos
cantados, vosotros habéis cantado, ellos han cantado.

Listen to the perfect tense of the verb beber (to drink): yo he

bebido, tú has bebido, él ha bebido, nosotros hemos bebido,
vosotros habéis bebido, ellos han bebido.

Some commonly used verbs have irregular past participles

which have to be learnt individually. For example, the past
participle of escribir (to write) is escrito.