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LEARN SPANISH NOUNS OVERVIEW

Nouns are naming words. We use them to give names to people, objects, thoughts, feelings, substances, etc.

Example

María, mesa, alegría, oro. etc. (María, table, happiness, gold, etc)

In Spanish nouns distinguish between masculine and feminine. Generally if a noun ends in "-o" it is masculine and if it ends in "-a" is feminine, although there are many exceptions to this rule.

Example

Éste es mi niño. (This is my child)

In this example the noun "niño" names a boy.

Ésta es mi niña. (This is my child)

In this example the noun "niña" names a girl.

Tienes que beber más agua. (You have to drink more water)

In this example although the noun "agua" ends in "-a" is not feminine but masculine.

Spanish nouns also distinguish between singular and plural.

PLURAL RULES

We are going to explain some rules that will help you to form the plural forms of the nouns. The general rule is to add "-s" to the noun in singular.

Example

Una mesa. Tres mesas. (one table. Three tables)

If the singular noun ends in "-z" we do its plural en "-ces"

Example

Tengo un pez. Tengo tres peces. (I have a fish. I have three fish)

When the singular noun ends in "-s" and it is formed by only one syllable, we add "-es" to form the plural. This rule also applies to nouns of more than one syllable ending in "-s" and with the accent in the last syllable.

Example

No tengo compás. (I do not have a compass)

Yo tengo dos compases. (I have two compasses)

Nouns ending in "-i" with "tilde" or in "-y" do their plural by adding "-es"

Example

el rey - los reyes. (the king - the kings)

Un Israelí - dos Israelíes. (An Israeli - two Israelis)

We can divide Spanish nouns into two big groups: countable nouns and uncountable nouns. The diagram below will provide a high level overview of the Spanish noun structure.

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