Page 499 - diccionario

SPANISH GRAMMAR / GRAMÁTICA ESPAÑOLA
497
ARTICLES
In English and Spanish there era two articles: the definite article (´the´ in English) and the indefinite article (´a´). Spanish, however, has feminine and
masculine forms as well as singular and plural forms for each.
Feminine Masculine
the house la casa
a house una casa
the houses las casas
some houses unas casas
the book el libro
a book un libro
the books los libros
some book unos libros
DID YOU KNOW
There are some ways to tell if a word should have a feminine or masculine form, even if it doesn´t end in the usual –a or –o. For instance,
word derived from ancient Greek are often feminine, such as those ending en –dad (la eternidad) and in –cion (la nación).
NOUNS
In Spanish, nouns always have a feminine or masculine from. Fortunately, there are some rules governing this though, as with all rules, there are
always exceptions.
Feminine
* Nouns descriptive of females:
the woman la mujer
the girl la chica
the teacher la profesora
* Generally, nouns ending in –a:
the house la casa
the mountain la montaña
the food la comida
* Nouns ending in –ción, -sión and –dad:
the song la canción
the university la universidad
the address la dirección
the occasion la ocasión
Masculine
* Nouns descriptive of men:
the man el hombre
the boy el chico
the teacher el profesor
* Generally, nouns ending in –o anr –or:
the book el libro
the glass el vaso
the engine el motor
* Days of the week, months, rivers, mountains, sea and oceans:
Monday el lunes
the Mediterranean el Meditarráneo