Nouns I: Nouns that Break the Rules
Review
Remember that Spanish nouns have two properties: number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine).
Also remember the different word endings that can help you determine the gender of a noun.
Masculine endings: -o; -e; consonants other than -d, -z, or -ión; accented vowels
Feminine endings: -a; -d; -z; -ión
Finally, remember articles and that the definite article can frequently be used to determine gender of unfamiliar words. The definite articles are el, la, los, las.
Common exceptions
Like most rules, there are exceptions to these guidelines about gender of nouns. This means that, unfortunately, you will have to memorize the irregular words. However, there are some patterns that even the rule breakers follow. We’ll start with one of the most common patterns.
Words that end with -ma
Words ending in -ma are masculine, even though the last letter is -a. An easy way to remember this is to notice that ma is the beginning of the word "masculine."
Examples: el problema (problem), el tema (topic/theme), el poema (poem), el drama (drama), el idioma (language)
The 9 most common exceptions
These are words that you just have to know cold. They seem crazy, but they are some of the most important and frequently used words you can find. Memorization is the name of the game.
el dÃa (day) [masculine]
el mapa (map) [masculine]
la mano (hand) [feminine]
el planeta (planet) [masculine]
la radio (radio) [feminine]
la mujer (woman) [feminine]
el lápiz (pencil) [masculine]
la gente (people) [feminine]
la parte (part) [feminine]
Next topics:
Some nouns look like they should be one gender but are actually the other.