6 Easy Rules for Masculine and Feminine Gender in Spanish

Spanish, like other Romance languages, is a gendered language. It’s why you’ll learn buenos días (good morning) but buenas tardes (good afternoon), and why a man will say encantado (nice to meet you), but a woman will say encantada. 

You may have already studied concepts like adjective agreement or the gender of nouns. Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey to learn Spanish or you just need to see all of the simplified Spanish gender rules in one place, this easy guide to gender in Spanish can help simplify an important concept. Learn what grammatical gender is (and isn’t), how to tell if a noun is masculine or feminine, and how and when to change other Spanish parts of speech to match your noun.

Table of Contents

• What is grammatical gender in Spanish? 
• 6 ways to identify the gender of Spanish nouns
• How adjective agreement works in Spanish
• Nouns that change meaning in each gender
• Spanish gender and inclusive language
• Key takeaways about gender in Spanish

What is grammatical gender in Spanish? 

All Spanish nouns have a grammatical gender of either masculine or feminine. If you’ve studied any other Romance language, such as French, Italian, or Portuguese, you’ll be familiar with this classification system. Grammatical gender is also a feature of some non-Romance languages like German, Greek, and Russian.

Some masculine nouns in Spanish: 

• un huevo (an egg)
• un periódico (a newspaper) 
• un abrigo (a coat)

Some feminine nouns in Spanish: 

• una manzana (an apple) 
• una bicicleta (a bicycle) 
• una camisa (a shirt) 

Spanish grammatical gender does not necessarily correspond with human sex or gender. For instance, un coche (a car) is a masculine noun no matter who is driving it, and una casa (a house) is a feminine word no matter who lives there. 

Even nouns that have a stereotypical association with one gender or the other can break these expectations. 

• un vestido (masculine) = a dress
• una corbata (feminine) = a necktie

Many words for people will fit into gender categories as one might expect, such as un hombre (a man) which is masculine, and una mujer (a woman) which is feminine, but some notable exceptions are: 

• una persona (a person) is feminine, no matter who you’re referring to
• un ser humano (a human being) is masculine, no matter who you’re referring to

Some objects or concepts have more than one name in Spanish. For instance, the word “hat” in Spanish completely depends on the region and style. And a simple pen can either be referred to as: 

• un bolígrafo (masculine) = a pen
• una pluma (feminine) = a pen

Even though it’s the same item/word in English, the two different nouns have different grammatical genders.

In summary, the gender in the Spanish language is an assigned part of the noun that never switches. It’s a good idea to learn the gender each time you learn a new Spanish noun, but there are lots of helpful tips to make this easier that you can explore below. 

6 ways to identify the gender of Spanish nouns

Fortunately, there are a few grammar rules to help you learn which nouns are which gender in Spanish. Here are six helpful tips to identify the gender of a Spanish noun as you’re learning the words.

1. Check a trustworthy resource

Physical or online dictionaries in Spanish, such as SpanishDictionary.com, will include this information with each entry. It’s designated with an (f) or (m) after the word you search.

The Diccionario de la lengua española (Dictionary of the Spanish language) from the Real Academia Española is a comprehensive source of vocabulary. Before each entry for a noun, you will either see “m.” or “f.” to let you know the gender in Spanish.

2. Look at the noun’s article

Tiny words called articles often precede nouns in sentences or vocabulary lists. In English, they are “a,” “an,” and “the” but there are variations in any language that has gender grammar rules. Articles can give you information about the noun such as gender or number (singular or plural). 

When you encounter one of the following articles you will know the noun is masculine.

Masculine Article	Meaning	Number	Type
el	the	singular	definite
los	the	plural	definite
un	a	singular	indefinite
unos	some	plural	indefinite

There are corresponding articles that tell you that the noun is feminine. 

Feminine Article	Meaning	Number	Type
la	the	singular	definite
las	the	plural	definite
una	a	singular	indefinite
unas	some	plural	indefinite

3. Nouns that end in “o” are generally masculine

If you don’t have a reliable resource on hand, look at the ending of the noun. If it ends in “o,” it’s likely that the noun is masculine. 

Spanish Word	Meaning
un apartamento	an apartment
un baño	a bathroom
un fregadero	a sink
un inodoro	a toilet

Be aware that some feminine words in Spanish end in “o” like una foto (a photo) and una moto (a motorcycle) which are shortened forms of fotografía and motocicleta. Because of the Latin roots of Spanish words, there are yet a few more exceptions of feminine nouns like una mano (a hand), which isn’t a shortened version of a word.

4. Nouns that end in “a” are generally feminine

Many Spanish nouns that end in “a” are feminine. If there’s no other way to tell or remember a noun’s gender, use this guideline to choose the correct gender in Spanish—most of the time.

Spanish Word	Meaning
una cocina	a kitchen
una computadora	a computer
una puerta	a door
una ventana	a window

Of course, there are exceptions. Some common words ending in “a” are masculine in Spanish. These include words of Greek origin, like

• un idioma (a language)
• un mapa (a map)
• un planeta (a planet)
• un tema (a topic)

In addition, words that end in “-ista” can be either masculine or feminine, with the article changing depending on who or what you are referring to. 

• La dentista me ayudó. = The dentist helped me. 
• El dentista es inteligente. = The dentist is intelligent. 

5. Learn the patterns of other word endings

Other groups of nouns tend to follow patterns, making it easier to guess the gender if you’re not able to check a source. 

Spanish Word Ending	Grammatical Gender	Spanish Examples
-ción	feminine	la canción (the song) la educación (education) la motivación (motivation)  la publicación (the publication)
-dad	feminine	la ciudad (the city)  la electricidad (electricity) la generosidad (generosity) la verdad (the truth)
-e	depends on the word	el arte (art) el coche (the car) el pie (the foot)  la calle (the street) la gente (people) la leche (the milk)
-l, -r, or -s	masculine	el papel (the paper) el lunes (Monday)
-or	masculine	el amor (love)  el calor (heat) el sabor (the flavor)
-umbre	feminine	la cumbre (the summit) la muchedumbre (the crowd)

6. Look for contextual clues within the sentence 

Other Spanish parts of speech can give you a clue about the gender of the noun they are modifying. In each of these examples, other words in the sentence follow Spanish gender rules and indicate that the noun they are modifying is masculine. 

• Este es mi sombrero en el verano. = This is my hat in the summer. 
• Estos son nuestros invitados. = These are our guests. 
• Hoy es nuestro cumpleaños. = Today is our birthday. 
• Estos vestidos son caros. = These dresses are expensive. 

These sentences contain clues that the noun is feminine. Can you see the clues based on the tips discussed above?

• Esta es nuestra casa. = This is our house. 
• Esta escalera es de metal. = This ladder is made of metal.
• Estas joyas son caras. = This jewelry is expensive.
• Sí, es nuestra hija. = Yes, she is our daughter.

How adjective agreement works in Spanish

Now that you can identify the gender of nouns in Spanish, you’ll notice that this can affect multiple parts of your sentence. Other words, Spanish adjectives in particular, will adjust to match the noun’s gender. This is called la concordancia (agreement). A noun in Spanish will not change its gender. You must adjust the adjective ending. 

• Este televisor es pesado. = This television is heavy.
• Esta mesa es pesada. = This table is heavy. 

This subject-adjective agreement is not optional. An error in agreement will be considered a grammatical mistake, even though you’ll still be understood. Is Spanish hard to learn if you have to follow so many rules? Thankfully, adjective agreement is fairly simple.

Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in both gender and in number, so you’ll also need to form a plural adjective any time the noun is plural. That means many descriptive adjectives will have up to four spellings (or forms) to match the situation. Review this chart of adjectives that change by number and gender in Spanish.

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural	Meaning
artístico	artística	artísticos	artísticas	artistic
creativo	creativa	creativos	creativas	creative
dormilón	dormilona	dormilones	dormilonas	sleepy
feliz	feliz	felices	felices	happy
honesto	honesta	honestos	honestas	honest
interesante	interesante	interesantes	interesantes	interesting
realista	realista	realistas	realistas	realistic
tímido	tímida	tímidos	tímidas	timid
trabajador	trabajadora	trabajadores	trabajadoras	hard-working

• Adjectives that end in “-e,” “-z,” or “-ista” can match either masculine or feminine nouns. 
• Adjectives that end in “-or” or “-ón” will add an “-a” in the feminine form. 

Remember, it’s the noun being modified or replaced that will affect the gender in Spanish. Some sentences have more than one noun, so you’ll need to pay careful attention.

• Ella vende un carro antiguo. = She is selling an old car.

When you’re discussing people, remember, it’s still the noun that is being modified that affects the gender of the adjective. The gender of the person only matters if they are the noun being described. 

• Mi padre es generoso. = My father is generous. 
• Mi padre es una persona generosa. = My father is a generous person. 
• Mi madre es rubia. = My mother is blond. 
• Mi madre tiene pelo rubio y ojos castaños. = My mother has blond hair and brown eyes.

Demonstrative adjectives in Spanish

There are several types of adjectives in Spanish that will need to agree in both gender and number with the noun they modify. These demonstrative adjectives in Spanish each have four forms. 

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural	Meaning
este	esta	estos	estas	this/these
ese	esa	esos	esas	that/those
aquel	aquella	aquellos	aquellas	that/those (further away)

How Spanish gender affects other parts of speech

Whenever you’re learning other Spanish parts of speech, you’ll note that there are different forms depending on gender rules in Spanish. These may include adjectives, numbers, and Spanish pronouns.

• possessive adjectives: nuestro/nuestra (our) 
• object pronouns: lo/la (it) 
• numbers: un/una (one)
• personal/subject pronouns: él/ella (he/she)
• possessive pronouns: el mío/la mía (mine) 

As you learn sentences and phrases, take special note of the words that are affected by Spanish gender. Your brain will naturally begin to notice when it sounds more accurate. 

• Encantada de conocerla. = Pleased to meet you. (woman meeting a woman)
• Encantada de conocerlo. = Pleased to meet you. (woman meeting a man)
• Encantado de conocerlo. = Pleased to meet you. (boy meeting a man)
• Encantado de conocerla. = Pleased to meet you. (man meeting a man) 

Spanish verbs are not affected by grammatical gender, but by subject-verb agreement called “conjugation.” 

Nouns that change meaning in each gender

Similar looking and sounding words in Spanish, like Spanish cognates, can be helpful for learners. But the opposite can be true. Pairs of lookalike nouns can have very different meanings depending on their gender. Learn these common examples and you’ll avoid confusion.

Spanish Masculine Noun	English Meaning	Spanish Feminine Noun	English Meaning
el capital	financial capital/investment	la capital	capital city
el coma	the coma	la coma	the comma
el cometa	the comet	la cometa	the kite
el cura	the priest	la cura	the cure
el frente	the front	la frente	the forehead
el orden	tidiness/organization	la orden	the order/command
el papa	the pope	la papa	the potato

Spanish gender and inclusive language

What do you do when you have a mixed group of nouns with different genders? How do you address an entire group of people to welcome them to a large event, for example? 

In traditional standard Spanish, if you are referring to a mixed group of nouns, including at least one masculine noun, you will use the masculine plural form. It’s considered the “inclusive” form.

• Ellos (they) can be a group of only masculine nouns or a mixed group of nouns of different genders.
• Nosotros (we) can refer to a mixed group of people.
• Amigos (friends) can include men, women, boys, and girls. 
• Mis padres (my parents) can include both mi padre (my father) and mi madre (my mother).
• Mis hermanos (my siblings) can include both mi hermano (my brother) and mi hermana (my sister). 

By contrast, in traditional standard Spanish, the feminine plural noun (and any adjective agreeing with it) indicates that the group is made up exclusively of feminine nouns. 

• Ellas (they) is for a feminine-only group. 
• Nosotras (we) is only used when the entire group is female.
• Amigas (friends) only refers to women and girls.
• Mis tías (my aunts) would indicate only a group of aunts and exclude uncles. 

Some governments and organizations have published guides to make official language more inclusive when speaking about people, using intentional language to put men and women on more equal ground. These recommendations, such as in a recent publication by Spain’s Ministry of Justice, range from shifts in vocabulary to changing the structure of the sentence.

The recommendations discourage outdated vocabulary for gender (such as señorita) in Spanish language documents and encourage making an effort (in instances like welcoming addresses) to specifically include both compañeros y compañeras (colleagues) instead of defaulting to the masculine plural. In some cases it’s best to use more inclusive nouns like personas to direct the sentence where appropriate. 

Beyond what are considered “official” gender rules in Spanish, there are various other ways that Spanish speakers adjust their speech and text to their experiences, using different shorthands, word endings, pronouns, and notations to express more linguistic inclusivity. 

Key takeaways about gender in Spanish

The concept of gender in Spanish is important at all levels of learning this beautiful Romance language. Here are a few key takeaways to keep in mind. 

• Gender in Spanish is an essential concept, as it can affect much of how a sentence is formed.
• All nouns are either grammatically masculine or feminine.
• Discover the gender of a noun by using a dictionary, identifying the article that precedes the noun, or paying attention to its ending.
• Other parts of speech, such as adjectives, will adjust to match the gender of the noun they modify.

Learning gender for every Spanish word is easiest when you encounter words in meaningful context, like in Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method. 

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