definite articles
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Nouns (sustantivos) like table or chair, which are genderless in English, are either masculine or feminine in Spanish. The definite article has four forms.
 
As a general rule, most nouns ending in o are masculine and those ending in a are feminine, but there are exceptions.
 
a. Feminine nouns such as agua, álgebra, and álguila, nouns with a stressed a, are preceded by the masculine el instead of the feminine la in order to avoid the ackward sound of la ... a.
 
b. Nouns ending in -ie, -ad, and -ud are always feminine.
Ex: la bondad, la libertad, la juventud, la universidad, la serie
 
c. Nouns ending in -ción , -sion, and -umbre are always feminine.
Ex: la acción (action), la revolución (revolution), la cumbre (peak), la misión (mission)
 
d. Letters of the alphabet, sicknesses, islands and provinces are feminine.
Ex: la fiebre (fever), la Isla de Pinos, (the Isle of Pines (Cuba)), la hache (h)
 
e. Nouns referring to persons and animals can be masculine or feminine.
el novio boyfriend, bridegroom la novia girlfriend, bride
el primo cousin la prima cousin
el señor gentleman, Mr. la señora lady, Mrs.
el caballo horse la yegua mare
       
f. Nouns referring to a person's profession or social position often end in -ista, -ante, or -ente. These nouns do not change according to gender. The difference in gender is indicated by the masculine or feminine definite article.
el estudiante la estudiante student
el artista la artista artist, performer
el poéta la poéta poet
el orden la orden order
 
g. Nouns referring to numbers, days of the week, musical notes, cardinal points, compound words, names of trees, rivers, lakes, mountains, straits, and seas are masculine as well as nouns ending in -aje.
Ex: el garaje, el naranjo, el siete, el norte, el lunes, el paraguas, el Canal de Panamá, el Caribe.
 
h. Some nouns that end in -ma are masculine.
Ex: el tema (subject), el idioma (language), el problema (problem).

 

definite articles

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Jaime El Sabio