Definite articles and Nouns

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Spanishbread

Cards (34)

All nouns in Spanish have a gender, meaning that they are either
Masculin or feminine
Most nouns that end in -o are
Masculine
most that end in -a are
Femenine
Beyond gender, nouns also have a number, meaning that they are either
Singular or plural
in Spanish there are (__) forms of the definite article
Four
in Spanish there are four forms of the definite article (masculine,singular)
el
in Spanish there are four forms of the definite article (masculine, plural)
los
in Spanish there are four forms of the definite article (femenine, plural) 
las
in Spanish there are four forms of the definite article (femenine, singular) 
la
Examples of definite articles used with nouns (masculine, singular)
el libro
Examples of definite articles used with nouns (femenine, singular)
La mesa
Examples of definite articles used with nouns ( masculine, Plural) 
los cuadernos
Examples of definite articles used with nouns (femenine, Plural)
Las señoras
Definite articles have a variety of uses in Spanish. As is the case with English, they can refer to something specific.
For example, “The class is interesting” is
La clase es interesante
definite articles are also used when talking about a noun in a general sense. To say, for example, “Freedom is important,” you would say
La libertad es importante
Definite articles are also needed when speaking or writing about people with titles, such as 
señor, señora, señorita, profesor, profesora, doctor, and doctora.
Definite articles are also needed when speaking or writing about people with titles. For example to say "Professor Ana Cano is popular," you would say
La profesora Ana Cano es popular
No def i nite article is needed when talking directly to a person with a title, so “Hello, Professor Cano” is
Hola, Profesora Cano
However, if you want to be more specific, then you will need to add a definite article. This is especially true if you are using a title. If you were to say “the professor,” you would say “el/la profesor(a).”
You have learned that nouns ending in (-?) are usually feminine 
a
Words ending in the suffixes (-?), (-?) and (-?) are also almost always feminine 
-ión, -ad, and tud
Examples of feminine nouns with these suffixes include [lesson], 
la lección
Examples of feminine nouns with these suffixes include [possibility]
La posibilidad
Examples of feminine nouns with these suffixes include [Virtue]
La virtud
In the way that nouns ending in (-o) are usually masculine, nouns ending in (-?) and (-?) are also usually masculine 
-r, -l
Examples of masculine nouns ending in -r [television set]
el televisor
Examples of masculine nouns ending in -l [hotel]
el hotel
Words ending in -ista look feminine because they end in -a. But these words actually can be either masculine or feminine, as seen, for example, in [male soccer player] 
El futbolista
Words ending in -ista look feminine because they end in -a. But these words actually can be either masculine or feminine, as seen, for example, in [female soccer player]
la futbolista
Spanish words ending in -ma also look feminine because of the -a ending, but many of these words are actually masculine, including [system] 
el sistema
Spanish words ending in -ma also look feminine because of the -a ending, but many of these words are actually masculine, including [problem] 
el problema
The three rules for making a noun plural in Spanish are as follows.
If a noun ends in a vowel, add -s: la silla [chair] -> ?
las sillas
The three rules for making a noun plural in Spanish are as follows.
If a noun ends in a consonant other than z, add -es: el papel [paper]->(?)
los papeles
The three rules for making a noun plural in Spanish are as follows.
If a noun ends in a z, change the z to c and add -es: el lápiz [pencil]-> (?)
los lápices