Spanish Gender Talk
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Spanish Gender Talk
If you want to learn to speak Spanish correctly it is essential to learn the gender of Spanish nouns. Every noun in Spanish is either masculine (el chico - the boy) or feminine (la chica - the girl). In some cases this is denoted by a change in ending as in the example given. However, not every noun that ends in 'a' is feminine. Many words of Greek or Latin origin, such as 'el sistema - system' are masculine. Similarly, words such as 'la radio - radio' are feminine even if they end in 'o'. It is easiest to learn Spanish gender as you learn each noun. However, there are a few rules that will make it easier: * Most nouns that end in 'o' are masculine' and most nouns that end in 'a' are feminine. * Nouns ending in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine. * Gender in Spanish is also shown by use of the definite article. This is 'el' for masculine nouns and 'la' for feminine nouns.
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| Patricia Walters-Fischer |
