Nouns, articles, and adjective agreement

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Learn the article with the noun

A Spanish noun usually has a grammatical gender: masculine or feminine. For objects, this is a grammatical category, not a statement that an object is male or female. Memorize el libro and la revista together with their small words.

El and la mean the; un and una mean a or an. Many nouns ending in -o are masculine and many ending in -a are feminine. Do not turn that useful pattern into an absolute rule: el día and la mano are common exceptions.

Form plural nouns and articles

For many nouns ending in a vowel, add -s: libro becomes libros. For many ending in a consonant, add -es: papel becomes papeles. Other spelling patterns exist, so learn the plural when a word is unfamiliar.

The articles change too. El and la become los and las; un and una become unos and unas. Those last two often mean some. Keep the whole phrase together: las revistas, not la revistas.

Match adjectives to nouns

Many adjectives ending in -o use -a with a feminine noun and add -s for the plural: nuevo, nueva, nuevos, nuevas. Adjectives such as grande keep the same singular form for either gender; their plural is grandes.

In these descriptions, put the adjective after the noun. Word order can vary for reasons you will learn later, but a phrase such as una revista nueva follows the pattern used in this lesson. Practice by describing two objects you can actually see.

Lesson vocabulary

Listen once, say it aloud, and try to recall the Spanish before looking.

Practice questions

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Independent practice

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