Day 2: Spanish nouns, masculine and feminine
Oh, let's just get this out there and over with, shall we?
In English, we are used to people being generally male or female, and to most animals being male or female, and that's biologically true regardless of what language you are speaking, really.
In Spanish, however, you can pretty much count on every noun (noun = a word that is the name of a person, place, or thing) being either masculine (male) or feminine (female). Sometimes you might even be able to make some kind of sense out of why something would be considered masculine or feminine, but more often than not there is no real rhyme or reason for it; it's just whatever gender it is, and you will do best to just try to learn it and remember it, without trying to find a logical reason for it.
It can be tempting to not worry about learning the gender of each noun, but if a noun is feminine (for example), then the Spanish word for "the" has to be feminine, and any words that describe the noun (adjectives) also have to be feminine, as well as any words that substitute for the noun (pronouns, like "it" or "that"). Trust me. If you don't bother to learn the gender of each noun, your Spanish will be very hard to understand later!
Here are some nouns, followed by "f." if they are feminine or by "m." if they are masculine. It's best to learn them with the preceding "la" (feminine "the") or "el" (usually masculine "the") as a way to remember the gender of each noun.
el hombre [ehl-OHM-bray] = the man (m.)
la mujer [lah-moo-HAIR] = the woman (f.)
el niño [ehl-NEE-nyoh] = the boy (m.)
la niña [lah-NEE-nyah] = the girl (f.)
el papá [ehl-pah-pAH] = the dad (m.)
[pronounce the "p"s more lightly than in English!]
la mamá [lah-mah-MAH] = the mom (f.)
el padre [ehl-pAH-dray] = the father (m.)
la madre [lah-MAH-dray] = the mother (f.)
el hijo [ehl-EE-hoh] = the son (m.)
la hija [laEE-hah] = the daughter (f.)
[no consonant separates the "la" and the "EE," so they are pronounced together (as one syllable)]
el hermano [ehl-ehr-MAH-noh] = the brother (m.)
la hermana [laehr-MAH-nah] = the sister (f.)
el perro [ehl-peh-RROH] = the (male) dog (m.)
la perra [lah-peh-RRAH] = the (female) dog (f.)
el gato [ehl-gAH-toh] = the (male) cat (m.)
[light pronunciation on the "g"s and "t"s, too!]
la gata [lah-gAH-tah] = the (female) cat (f.)
el amigo [ehl-ah-MEE-goh] = the (male) friend (m.)
la amiga [lah-MEE-gah] = the (female) friend (f.)
[no consonant separating "la" and "ah," so pronounced together as "lah"]
la persona [lah-per-SOH-nah] = the person (f.)
No matter whether someone is male or female, he or she is "una persona (f.)" [a person] and the word for person, in either case, is always female.
To say "the sisters," you would say "las hermanas"; "the brothers" is "los hermanos." To say brothers and sisters, you would traditionally say "los hermanos," and that is true of other nouns as well. As long as there is at least one male in the group, the plural (more than one) form used is the masculine plural form. So, your girl friends are "las amigas," your guy friends are "los amigos," and any group of your friends that has at least one guy as part of the group are "los amigos."
(There are other ways to handle this, especially if you are a Latin American politician giving a political speech, but they sound as natural and pleasant in Spanish as always saying "he or she" and "him or her" and "his or her" sounds in English. Even in writing, if you want to say "los amigos" to describe your mixed-gender group of friends and yet still be "gender inclusive," you can write it as "l@s amig@s" [which means "los amigos y las amigas"], and is similar in its effect to using "s/he" as a pronoun in English, so generally better avoided.)
Some other common words and their genders:
el animal [ehl-ah-nee-MAHL] = the animal (m.)
la planta [lah-pLAHN-tah] = the plant (f.)
el árbol [ehl-AHR-bohl] = the tree (m.)
el insecto [ehl-een-SEHK-toh] = the insect (m.)
la bacteria [lah-bahk-TEH-ryah] = the bacterium (f.)
el virus [ehl-bEE-roohs] = the virus (m.)
el cielo [ehl-SYAY-loh] = the sky (m.)
[el Cielo = Heaven (m.)]
la tierra [lah-tYEH-rrah] = the dirt, the land, the earth [i.e., "the soil"] (f.)
[la Tierra = the Earth]
la estrella [laehs-tRAY-yah] = the star (f.)
[on my pages I use the English "y" for the pronunciation of "ll," which is the Mexican way to do it; some countries pronounce the "ll" more like "zh" (like the second "g" in the English word "garage," Costa Rica [laehs-tRAY-zhah]) or "sh" (Argentina [laehs-tRAY-shah])]
el planeta [ehl-plah-NAY-tah] = the planet (m.)
[ends in "-a," but still masculine; it's a Greek word]
el cometa [ehl-koh-MAY-tah] = the comet (m.)
[another Greek word]
la cometa [lah-koh-MAY-tah] = the kite (f.)
[I'm sure there's an explanation, but I don't know it.]
el sol [ehl-SOHL] = the sun (m.)
la luna [lah-LOO-nah] = the moon (f.)
el aire [ehl-EYE-ray] = the air (m.)
el viento [ehl-bYEN-toh] = the wind (m.)
el fuego [ehl-FWAY-goh] = the fire (m.)
el agua [ehl-AH-gwah] = the water (f.)
[uses "el" only because the word begins with an accented "AH" sound, and it is not permitted to say "lah-AH," though "la-ah" (unaccented, which becomes "lah") is allowed]
las aguas [lahs-AH-gwahs] = the waters (f.)
la arena [lah-RAY-nah] = the sand (f.)
el alga [ehl-AHL-gah] = the alga (f.)
[see "agua"]
el alma [ehl-AHL-mah] = the soul (f.)
el organismo [ehl-ohr-gah-NEES-moh] = the organism, the (living) body (m.)
el hongo [ehl-OHN-goh] = the fungus (m.)
el liquen [ehl-LEE-kehn] = the lichen (m.)
[granted, not a common word, but I felt it should be mentioned once I mentioned the words for "alga" (plural = "algae") and "fungus"]
Don't be too concerned about learning all these words right away. There will be time later. Mostly I am just using them to introduce you to the concept of masculine and feminine words in Spanish, and to a few of the weird rules that make it all just a little more complicated than one might hope. There are some rules around gender in Spanish that I still don't have straight, and I deal with Spanish for a living, so if you haven't figured it all out by tomorrow, don't worry about it. Learn what you can, and then later learn some more. That's all you can do.
Something New by Vallejo, one of my favorite bands
