Every Spanish noun has two things going on at once, a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural). The article in front of the word, el, la, los, las, un, una, unos, unas, always matches both. Learn the patterns below and the matching gets automatic.
Nouns that refer to people usually match the person's gender. For everything else, the ending is your best clue.
Most nouns about males are masculine, most about females are feminine.
el hombre / la mujer — the man / the woman
el chico / la chica — the boy / the girl
el profesor / la profesora — the teacher
A handful of people-words stay exactly the same. Only the article tells you the gender.
el turista / la turista — the tourist
el estudiante / la estudiante — the student
el joven / la joven — the young man / woman
Three rules cover almost every noun you'll ever pluralize.
If the word ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), just add -s.
el chico → los chicos
la palabra → las palabras
If the word ends in a consonant, add -es instead of just -s.
el país → los países
la ciudad → las ciudades
If the word ends in -z, the z becomes c before you add -es.
el lápiz → los lápices
Once you see these, you won't miss them again.
When a singular noun has a written accent on the last syllable, that accent is usually dropped in the plural, because adding a syllable shifts where the stress naturally falls.
la lección → las lecciones
el autobús → los autobuses
If a group has at least one male in it, the masculine plural covers the whole group, even one boy among many girls.
1 pasajero + 2 pasajeras = 3 pasajeros
el/la become los/las, and un/una become unos/unas. Article and noun always match in both gender and number, together.
Spanish has four ways to say the and four ways to say a / an / some, depending on gender and number.
The key vocabulary from this lesson. Cover the right side and quiz yourself.
Tap any card to check your answer, or type your own and hit check.
Give the opposite gender form of each word, then tap to check.
Say the plural out loud, then tap to check your spelling.
Decide if it's vowel, consonant, or -z, then tap to check.
Type the correct definite article for each word, then check your answers.
Type the correct indefinite article for each word, then check your answers.
Write the plural noun with its article (los/las), then tap to check.