Chapter 2 Closing the Gender Gap In This Chapter Specifying with definite articles Generalizing with indefinite articles Demonstrating with adjectives Selecting a gender Being possessive Using object pronouns et the battle of the sexes begin! Gender is a battle that English speakers don't fight. In English, a noun is simply a noun; you don't have to worry about a noun having a gender (a masculine or feminine designation). In Spanish, however, a noun has a gender, and the gender of a noun very often deter- mines the spelling of other words in the sentence. In this chapter, we help you to correctly mark the gender of a noun by using definite articles (which express the), indefinite articles (which express a, an, or some), or demonstrative adjectives (which express this, that, these, or those). You can also read up on two different ways to show possession of things and how to replace direct and indirect object nouns with their respective pronouns. Being Specific with Definite Articles A definite article expresses the English word fhe and indicates a specific person or thing, such as “the boy” or “the book.”You must choose the correct definite article to “mark” a noun in order to say the. Identifying the definite articles Spanish features four distinct definite articles that correspond to the in English. The following table lists these articles: Masculine Feminine Singular el la Plural los las Here are some examples of these definitive articles in action: El muchacho es grande. (The boy is big.) Los libros son interesantes. (The books are interesting.) La muchacha es alta. (Tie girl is tall.) Las casas son blancas. (The houses are white.) Using definite articles You come across many instances in Spanish where you use the definite article even though you may or may not use it in English. The rules in the following list show how you use the definite articles in Spanish: ¥ With nouns in a general or abstract sense: + El amor es divino. (Love is divine.) J With nouns in a specific sense: + La tia Maria trae regalos. (Aunt Maria brings gifts.) J With names of languages (except after the verb hablar and alter the prepositions de and en): + Me gusta el espamol. (J like Spanish.) + gDénde esta mi libro de espaiiol? (Where's my Spanish book?) + Escribame en espaiiol. (Write to me in Spanish.)\ With parts of the body (when the possessor is clear) in place of the possessive adjective: * Me duelen los pies. (My feet hurt.) With titles and ranks when you aren't addressing the person: + Lasefiora Rivera esta aqui. (Mrs. Rivera is ere.) * Siéntese, Sefiora Rivera. (Have a seat, Mrs. Rivera.) 1 With last names: * Los Gémez viven en Colombia. (The Gémezes live in Colombia.) 1 With days of the week (except after the verb ser): + El domingo voy a México. (On Sunday I'm going to Mexico.) + Hoy es miércoles. (Today is Wednesday.) 1 With seasons (you may omit the article after en): + No trabajo en (el) verano. (I don't work in the summer.) With dates: + Es el cinco de mayo. (it’s May 5th.) With the hour of the day and other time expressions: * Son las once y media. (It’s 1:30.) * Salgo por la tarde. (I'm going out in the afternoon.) 1 With the names of many cities and countries (though there's a tendency to omit the article in current usage) + el Brasil, el Ecuador, El Escorial, el Paraguay, el Pert, El Salvador, el Uruguay, la Argentina, la China, La Habana, la India, La Paz, los Estados Unidos * Visitamos (el) Brasil. (We visited Brazil.) Capitalized articles are actually parts of the names of the countries, whereas articles in lowercase are not. For example, Yo naci en El Salvador pero pasé muchos afios en la Argentina. (/ was born in El Salvador but I spent many years in Argentina.)abe q & With rivers, seas, and other geographical locations: * El Orinoco es un rio. (The Orinoco is a river.) The definite article precedes the noun it modifies and agrees with that noun in number and gender. For example, El mucha- cho es rubio y las muchachas son morenas. (The boy is blond and the girls are brunette. ) Omitting the definite articles You omit the definite articles in the following situations in Spanish: 1 Before nouns in apposition (when one noun explains another): Madrid, capital de Espafia, es una ciudad popular. (Madrid, the capital of Spain, is a popular city.) Before numerals that express the title of rulers: Carlos Quinto (Charles the Fifth) Contracting with definite articles Spanish features only two contractions. They occur when the definite article el is joined with the preposition a (@ + el = al) or de (de « el = del). The only exception to the rule is when the definite article is part of the title or name. Here are some examples of this construction: Voy al Uruguay. (I'm going to Uruguay.) Voy a EL Salvador. (I'm going to El Salvador. ) Soy del Uruguay. (I'm from Uruguay.) Soy de El Salvador. (i'm from Et Satcador.) Being General with Indefinite Articles An indefinite article, which expresses the English words a, an, or some, refers to persons or objects not specifically identifiedom (such as “a boy” or “some books"). Just like with definite arti- cles, when you know whether a noun is masculine or feminine (and singular or plural), you can choose the correct indefinite article to mark that noun, Identifying the indefinite articles Four Spanish indefinite articles correspond to a, an, and one in the singular and to some in the plural. The following table presents these articles: Masculine Feminine Singular un una, Plural unos unas Here are some examples of the indefinite articles in action: Compré un abrigo. (She bought an fone} overcoat.) Es una mujer muy astuta. (She is @ very astute woman.) Necesito unos limones y unas limas. (J need some lemons and some limes.) h definite articles, the indefinite article precedes the noun it modifies and agrees with that noun in number and gender. Omitting indefinite articles You omit the indefinite article from your Spanish construc- tions in the following situations: 4 Before unmodified nouns that express nationality, profes- sion, or religious or political affiliation: + El sefior Robles es profesor. (Mr. Robles is a teacher.) However, you use the indefinite article when the noun is modified: * El sefior Robles es un profesor liberal. (Mr. Robles is a liberal teacher.)» Before the following nouns: * cien (one hundred): cien niios (one hundred children) * cierto (ceriain): ciertos idiomas (certain languages) * mil (one thousand): mil délares (one thousand dollars) * otro (other): otra clase (another class) * qué (what a): qué lastima (what a pity) * semejante (similar): problema semejante (a similar lem) * tal (such a): tal cosa (such a thing) Being Demonstrative with Adjectives Personally, we're not content with just anything or anyone; we like to make our requirements and needs known! We do so by specifically referring to this, that, these, or those things or people. If you're like us, you need to make use of the Spanish demonstrative adjectives that enable you to express exactly what or whom you're seeking. Demonstrative adjectives indicate or point out the person, place, or thing to which a speaker is referring, such as “this shirt” or “that pair of pants.” Demonstrative adjectives pre- cede and agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. In Spanish, you select the demonstrative adjective according to the distance of the noun from the speaker. Table 2-1 presents demonstrative adjectives and addresses this distance issue. Table 2-1 Demonstrative Adjectives Singular este esta this Near to or directly Plural estos estas these concemed with speakerNumber Masculine Feminine Meaning Distance Singular ese esa that Not particularly Plural esos esas those hear to or directly concemed with speaker Singular aquel aquella that Far from and not Plural aquellasaquellas— those directly concerned with speaker The following list shows these demonstrative adjectives in action: Estos pantalones son cortos y esta camisa es larga. (These pants are shart and this shirt is large.) Tengo que hablar con esa muchacha y esos muchachos ahi. (have to speak to that girl and those boys there. ) Aquellos paises son grandes y aquellas ciudades son pequefias. (Those countries are large and those cities are small.) Here's what you need to know about demonstrative adjectives in Spanish: J You use them before each noun: * este abogado y ese cliente (this lawyer and that client) 4 You can use adverbs to reinforce location: * esta casa aqui (this house here) * esas casas ahi (ifose houses there) * aquella casa alla (that house over there) Clarifying Gender Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine. Nouns that refer to males are always masculine, and nouns that refer to females are feminine, no matter their endings. You can't always be sure when it comes to places or things, though.Determining the gender of nouns In Spanish, certain endings are good indications as to the gender (masculine or feminine designation) of nouns. For instance, nouns that end in -o (except la mano [the hand} and la radio {the radio) often are masculine. Nouns that end in -a, -ad (la ciudad [city/), “ie (la serie /the series), cién (la eaneién /the song), -sién (la discusiin [discussion ]),-ud (la salud /feaith}), and -umbre (la costumbre /custorn/) generally are feminine. Here are more rules that deal with gender in Spanish: + Certain nouns belonging to a theme are masculine. These include * Numbers: el cuatro (four) * Days of the week: el jueves (Thursday) * Compass points: el norte (north) * Names of trees: el manzano (apple tree) * Some compound nouns: el sacapuntas (pencil sharpener) * Names of rivers, lakes, mountains, straits, and seas: el Mediterraneo (tfie Mediterranean) » Certain nouns belonging to a theme are feminine. These include * Many illnesses: la gripe (the flu), la apendicitis (appendicitis) * Islands and provinces: la Cérsega (Corsica) Reversing gender Some Spanish nouns are tricky because they end in -a but are masculine, while others end ino but are feminine. These nouns may be referred to as reverse-gender nouns. For instance, some nouns that end in -ma and -eta are masculine, as are the words el dia (the day) and el mapa (the map). The following table outlines these masculine words:x ma eta el clima (the climate) el planeta (the planet) el drama (the drama) el idioma (the language) el poema (ihe poem) el problema (the problem) el programa (the program) el sistema (the system) el telegrama (the telegram) el tema (the theme) Here are a couple of nouns that end in -o and are feminine: la mano (the hand) v= la radio (the radio) Note that la foto is the abbreviation for la fotografia (the photograph) and la moto is the abbreviation for la motocicleta (the motorcycle). Using the same noun for both genders Some nouns have the same spelling for both genders. For these nouns, all you have to do is change the definite article to reflect whether the person in question is male or female. The following table presents the most common of these nouns: Masculine Translation el artista la artista the artist el dentista la dentista the dentist el periodista la periodista the journalist el telefonista a telefonista the operator el modelo la modelo. the model eljoven lajoven the youth el estudiante la estudiante the student The following nouns, however, always remain feminine, regardless of the gender of the person being described:v la persona (the person) la victima (the victim) Changing the meaning of nouns Some nouns change meaning according to their gender. A noun in this category can mean one thing in the masculine form but have a totally different meaning in the feminine form. Knowing the proper usage is the difference between pray- ing to the Pope or to a potato! You simply must memorize nouns in this category. The following table presents some of the high-frequency Spanish words whose meanings change according to gender: Masculine Meaning Feminine —_ Meaning elcapital — the capital,“ lacapital —_ the capital (money) (country) el cura the priest la cura the cure elfrente the front’ —_—ila frente the forehead el guia the male Ia guia the female guide; guide the guidebook el Papa the Pope la papa the potato elpolicia the police lapolicia _the police force; officer the police woman Understanding special nouns When it comes to languages, you can always find some excep- tions to the rule. In Spanish, for instance, masculine nouns that refer to people and end in -or, és, or -m require the addi- tion of a final -a to get the female equivalent. And if the mascu- line noun has an accented final syllable, you drop that accent in the feminine form. Here are some examples: el profesor — la profesora (the teacher) el francés — Ia francesa (the French person) el alemén Ia alemana (the German person)om Of course, you must watch out for two exceptions to this rule: 1 el actor (the actor) = la actriz (the actress) » el emperador (the emperor) — la emperatriz (the empress) Some nouns have distinct masculine and feminine forms. The following table presents a list of these nouns, which you simply have to memorize: Masculine Meaning Feminine Meaning elhéroe the hero laheroina the heroine elhombre the man la mujer the woman elmarido the husband la esposa. the wife el principe the prince laprincesa the princess el rey the king lareina the queen elyemoe — the sonintaw la nuera the daughter- inlaw To prevent the clash of two vowel sounds, the Spanish lan- guage uses the masculine singular article el (un) with femi singular nouns that begin with a stressed a sound (a or ha). In the plural, you use las (unas) for these nouns. Here are some commonly used words with this designation: el agua (the water); las aguas (the waters) elave (the bird); las aves (the birds) el hambre (the hunger); las hambres (the hungers) Forming Plural Nouns You use noun plurals to refer to more than one person, place, thing, quality, idea, or action. Not surprisingly, just as you do in English, you use the letters -s and -es to form the plurals ‘of Spanish nouns. The following list outlines the many plural variations you see in Spanish nouns and the rules for forming plurals: You add -s to form the plural of nouns ending in a vowel: * el mango (the mango); los mangos (the mangoes) + la manzana (the apple); las manzanas (the apples)You add -es to form the plural of nouns ending in a con- sonant (including -¥): + el emperador (the emperor); los emperadores (the emperors) * el rey (the king); los reyes (the kings) You add or delete an accent mark in some nouns ending inn or -8 to maintain the original stress: + el examen; los exiimenes (the tests) * la canci6n; las canciones (the songs) * el francés; los franceses (the Frenchmen) * el inglés; los ingleses (ihe Englishmen) * el lim6n; los limones (the lemons) J Nouns that end in -z change z to -« before you add -es: * Ia luz (the light); las luces (the lights) J Nouns that end in -es or -is don’t change in the plural, except for el mes (ie month), which becomes los meses (the months): * el lunes (Monday); los lunes (Mondays) * la crisis (the crisis); las crisis (the crises) Compound nouns (nouns composed of two nouns that join together to make one) don’t change in the plural: * el abrelatas (can opener); los abrelatas (can openers) J You express the plural of nouns of different genders (where one noun is masculine and the other[s] is femi- nine) with the masculine plural: * el rey y la reina (the king and queen); los reyes (the kings or the king[s} and the queen[s]) * el muchacho y la muchacha (the boy and the girl): los muchachos (the boys or the boy{s] and the girl[s]) Some nouns are always plural, such as * las gafas/los espejuelos (eyeglasses) * las matematicas (mathematics) # las vacaciones (vacation)