Understand the grammatical gender of Spanish nouns

-o and -a as a hint

Many nounsnounsA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun. ending in -o are masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish.: el gato🔊, el libro🔊. Many nounsnounsA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun. ending in -a are femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish.: la manzana🔊, la estrella🔊.

This shows up clearly with words for people: el hermano🔊/la hermana🔊, el abuelo🔊/la abuela🔊 - the same root, but a different gendergenderThe grammatical class of a Spanish noun: masculine or feminine. depending on the ending.

This is a helpful hint, but not a rule without exceptions. Do not rely on the ending alone.

Important exceptions

el día🔊 (the day) ends in -a but is masculinemasculineA noun's gender that typically takes el or un in Spanish.. la mano🔊 (the hand) ends in -o but is femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish..

It is best to simply memorize such exceptions together with their articlearticleA short word placed before a noun that shows its gender and number, such as el or la., like el día🔊 and la mano🔊.

GenderGenderThe grammatical class of a Spanish noun: masculine or feminine. can differ from English

A Spanish nounnounA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun.'s grammatical gendergenderThe grammatical class of a Spanish noun: masculine or feminine. often has nothing to do with its English translation, since English nounsnounsA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun. generally have no grammatical gendergenderThe grammatical class of a Spanish noun: masculine or feminine. at all. Learn every nounnounA word that names a person, thing, place, or idea, such as house or sun. directly with its Spanish articlearticleA short word placed before a noun that shows its gender and number, such as el or la..