Sustantivos (Nouns)

1. Sustantivos (Nouns)

2. Sustantivos (Nouns) A noun is a word used to indicate a person, place, thing, idea, or feeling. • Person:John, girl, dentist. • Place:garden, university, RepúblicaDominicana. • Thing:book, car, tomato. • Idea:liberty, despair, intelligence. • Feeling:love, pain, hapiness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERfHA958nc0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49jpaV-GM8M Interesting link:

3. Sustantivos • In Spanishnouns have numberand gender. Number, as in English, refers to whether a noun is singular or plural. Ex: 'Horse' is singular, while 'horses' is plural. Genderis a system of grammar noun classification that includes masculine and feminine categories. Before thinking that everything is “girlish” or “boyish”, we have to understand that the fact that a noun is masculine or feminine, other than those that denote living creatures, has nothing whatever to do with biological attributes. It is just a grammar classification, so don’t beat your brain trying to understand it. Just learn it and accept it!

4. Sustantivos • One cannot predict the gender of a noun, except in the case of people or animals. Do not try to analyze the nature of the object, looking for some inherent masculinity or femininity. It won't work! A noun is not necessarily grammatically feminine if used by females. For example, the word vestido, meaning dress, is grammatically a masculine noun, even though dresses are used by women. And the word for “necktie” is grammatically a female noun: corbata. • vestido • corbata How can I know the gender of nouns? Spanish has numerous guidelines that can usually be followed. Also, articles in Spanish give information about nouns. For this reason, when you learn a new word in Spanish, it is very useful to learn it with an article.

5. Artículos (Articles) In Spanish, the article gives us information about the number and the gender of the noun, because the article has to agree with them. • As well as English, Spanish has definite and indefinite articles, but in Spanish, articles are more common than in English. Indefinite Article It is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example: "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about anymovie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind. • a

6. Artículos Indefinite Article • In English they are two indefinite articles: a + an. Also some is used with a plural nouns. • In Spanish there arefour indefinite articles that distinguish between feminine or masculine nouns, and also with just one thing or singular, or two or more things or plural.

7. Artículos Definite Article It points someone or something in particular. It is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. For example: "I just saw themost popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the. In English there is one definite article: the. Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children. • the

8. Artículos Definite Article In Spanish there are four definite articles that distinguish between feminine or masculine nouns, and also with just one thing or two or more things. • Note: You can tell the difference between "el" (article "the") and "él" (personal pronoun "he") because the wordélhas an accent mark.

9. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns First pattern: Nouns that denote male beingsaregrammatically masculine. To identify masculine Spanish nouns, we will use the definite masculine articles el. SingularPlural el niño theboy los niños theboys el padre thefather los padres theparents el papá the dad los papás thedads el actor the actor los actores the actors el señor Mr.or sir los señores sirs el abuelo the grandfather los abuelos the grandparents

10. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • This pattern is applicable to animals: • SingularPlural • el gato the male cat los gatos the cats • el castor the beaver los castores the beavers Note: To compound the plural form of a noun with a plural article we follow these rules: el changes to los • If a NOUN ends in a vowel, add “s” el gatolos gatos • If a NOUN ends in a consonant, add “es” el castor los castores

11. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns Second pattern: Nouns ending in o arenormally masculine SingularPlural el libro the book los libros the books el auto the car los autos the cars el vestido the dress los vestidos the dresses Of course, there are exceptions andla mano (a hand) la foto(a photo) must be memorized. This doesn’t mean that the book or the car are physically masculine, but in a grammatical sense, the ending is. la radio(a radio)

12. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • Third pattern: Normally, nouns ending in í, úor a consonant are grammatically masculine • SingularPlural el rubí the ruby los rubíes the rubies el menú the menu los menús the menus el reloj the clock los relojes the clocks el hotel the hotel los hoteles the hotels el lápiz the pencil los lápices the pencils • el color the color los colores the colors • el pez the fish los peces the fish / the fishes • Note: To compound the plural form of a NOUN that end in a Z, change de z to c and add – “es” el lapiz los lápices

13. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • Third pattern: Normally, nouns ending in a consonant are grammatically masculine Of course, there are exceptions: Singular la flor the flower la nariz the nose la paz the peace la miel the honey la sal the salt la piel the skin la hiel the bile

14. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • Fourth pattern: Somenouns that end in-maare grammatically masculine • SingularPlural el problema the problem los problemasel programa the program los programas el sistema the solar system los sistemas el poema the poem los poemasel tema the theme lostemas el clima theclimate los climas el idioma thelanguage los idiomas • Note: A few nouns that end in -ma are grammatically feminine, such as • la cama and • la pluma.

15. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • Fifth pattern: Somenouns that end ineare grammatically masculine • Singular el perfume the perfumel estante the shelf el estanque the pond el corage the courage el mensaje the message el espionaje the espionage el hambre the hunger el calambre the cramp

16. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Masculine nouns • Fifth pattern: Somenouns that end ineare grammatically masculine • Singular la llave the key la calle the street la gente the people la nieve the snow la noche the night la nube the cloud la tarde the afternoon la fuente the source etc……

17. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns To identify feminine Spanish nouns, we will start with the feminine article la. First pattern: Nouns that indicate female beingsarenormallyfeminine. • SingularPlural la niña the girl lasniñas the girls la madre the mother lasmadres the mothers la mamá the mom lasmamás the moms la actriz the actress lasactrices the actresses la señora Mrs. or lady las señoras the ladies la señoritaMiss or young lady lasseñoritas the misses la abuela the grandmother lasabuelas thegrandmothers

18. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns • This pattern is applicable to animals: • la gata the female cat lasgatas the cats • la leona the lioness lasleonas the lioness Note: To compound the plural form of a noun with a plural article we follow these rules: la changes to las • If a NOUN ends in a VOWEL, add “s” La leonalas leonas • If a NOUN ends in a Z, change z to c and add -“es” La actrizlas actrices

19. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns Second pattern: Normally, nouns ending in a are grammatically feminine. • SingularPlural la casathehouse las casas thehouses la ventanathewindow las ventanas thewindows la computadorathecomputer las computadoras thecomputers la corbatathenecktie las corbatas theneckties la puertathedoor las puertas thedoors • el mapa (themap) el día (theday) • el sofá (thecouch) elplaneta (the planet) • el agua (thewater) Of course, there are exceptions:

20. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns Third pattern: Normally, nouns ending in ción,and siónare grammatically feminine • SingularPlural la conversacióntheconversation las conversaciones la habitacióntheroom las habitaciones la televisiónthe televisión las televisiones la decisiónthe decisión las decisiones Note: To compound the plural form of a noun that ends in a ión, add “-es” and eliminate the accent mark. La conversaciónlas conversaciones La decisión las decisiones ón ==ones

21. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns Four pattern: Normally, nouns ending in dad, tad,andtud,are grammaticallyfeminine • SingularPlural la ciudad thecity las ciudades la universidadtheuniversity las universidades la dificultadthedifficulty las dificultades la libertadthefreedom las libertades la actitudtheattitude las actitudes la gratitudthegratitude las gratitudes Note: To compound the plural form of a noun that ends in a consonant, add “es” la actitudlasactitudes

22. General pattern of Spanish gender nouns • Feminine nouns • Fifth pattern: Somenouns that end ineare grammatically masculine • Singular la llave the key la calle the street la gente the people la nieve the snow la noche the night la nube the cloud la tarde the afternoon la fuente the source

23. Different gender, same meaning Certain nouns, usually referring to an occupation, can be used in the same meaning as either feminine or masculine, depending on who you refer to. These nouns indicate gender by the article un / una or el / la MasculineFeminine el estudiante la estudiante thestudent el pianista la pianista the piano playerel artista la artista theartist el doctor la doctora the doctor el testigo la testigo thewitness el cliente la cliente theclient el modelo lamodelo themodel

24. Different gender, same meaning • In some cases masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a. MasculineFeminine el doctor la doctora the doctor el abogado la abogada theattorney • el profesor la profesora theteacher el biólogola bióloga thebiologist el cocinero la cocinera thecook el geólogo la geóloga thegeologist • el joyero lajoyera thejeweler

25. Review of the Rules • Nouns that denote male beingsaregrammatically masculine and nouns that denote female beingsaregrammatically feminine • Most nouns that end in -o are masculine. • Most nouns that end in -a are feminine. • Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a. • Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la). • Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine. • Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine. • A few nouns that end in -o are feminine • You now know most of the rules for determining the gender of a noun. • Remember, whenever you learn a new noun, learn it complete with its definite article (el, la).

26. Let's review the rules for making nouns plural. • If a noun ends in a vowel, simply add -s. • carro = carros • If a noun ends in a consonant, simply add -es. • flor = flores • If a noun ends in a -z, change the z to c before adding -es. • lápiz = lápices • If a noun ends in ión, drop the written accent before adding –es • televisión= televisiones • If the plural refers to a mixed group, use the masculine. ByMaria Henao-Richelsoph http://www.studyspanish.com