Spanish Parts of Speech (Part 2)

See also: Spanish Parts of Speech (Part 1)

In Spanish Parts of Speech (Part 1) we did a quick overview of the main parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, etc.). While that information was accurate, we made it look easier than it actually was by glossing over a number of more complicated situations. Now that you’re a little older and wiser, it’s time to take a closer look at at some of these issues.

Spanish Nouns

Gender of Nouns

In Part 1, we determined that nouns ending in “-o” were masculine and nouns ending in “-a” were feminine. There’s a couple of problems with this simple rule: it’s not always true, and there are numerous nouns which don’t end with “-o” or “-a.”

Imposters

First of all, some words are imposters. For instance, moto and foto (“motorcycle” and “photograph”) both end in “-o” but they are feminine: la moto, la foto. There’s a good reason for it. Moto and foto are actually abbreviations of motocicleta and fotografía. Another example is la disco, short for la discoteca.

Rule Breakers

There are also numberous words which break the “-o” and “-a” rules. The following is a list of common trouble makers:

el cometa (comet)
el día (day)

la mano (hand)
el mapa (map)

el planeta (planet)
el sofá (sofa, couch)

Note: Most of the rule breakers are masculine words ending in “-a”.

A substantial number of the words that break the gender rules end in “-ma.” Some examples:

el aroma (aroma)
el clima (climate)
el diagrama (diagram)
el diploma (diploma)

el drama (drama)
el idioma (language)
el panorama (panorama)
el poema (poem)

el problema (problem)
el programa (program)
el síntoma (symptom)
el tema (theme, subject)

Note: Many masculine “-ma” words are of Greek origin.

Nouns Not Ending in “-o” or “-a”

What about nouns that don’t end in “-o” or “-a”? Here are some general guidelines to help you determine the gender.

Most nouns that end with “-d,” “-ión,” “-ie,” and “-umbre” are feminine

For example:

la amistad (friendship)
la actitud (attitude)
la comunidad (community)
la felicidad (hapiness)
la pared (wall)
la salud (health)

la confusión (confusion)
la migración (migracion)
la misión (mission)
la nación (nation)
la tensión (tension)
la tradición (tradition)

la serie (series)
la especie (species)
la superficie (surface)
la certidumbre (certainty)
la costumbre (custom)
la muchedumbre (crowd)

But this isn’t always true. Some notable exceptions:

el avión (airplane)

el camión (truck)

el césped (lawn)

Islands, letters, and illnesses are usually feminine

For example:

la Isla Ellis (Ellis Island)

la hache (h)

la amigdalitis (tonsilitis)

Most nouns that end with “-aje,” “-l,” or “-r” are masculine

For example:

el garaje (garage)
el paisaje (landscape)
el personaje (character)
el traje (suit)

el control (control)
el final (end)
el hotel (hotel)
el papel (paper)

el favor (favor)
el lugar (place)
el temor (fear)
el valor (value)

Some notable exceptions:

la cárcel (jail)

la labor (labor)

la catedral (cathedral)

la miel (honey)

la flor (flower)

la sal (salt)

Months, days of the week, compound words, numbers, oceans, seas, rivers, and mountains are usually masculine

Some examples:

el noviembre (November)
el lunes (Monday)
el sacapuntas (pencil sharpener)
el noventa (ninety)

el Océano del sur (the Southern Ocean)
el Caribe (the Caribbean)
el Amazonas (the Amazon)
el Aconcagua (Mount Aconcagua)

Gender Benders

Many jobs and occupations can be used with people of either gender. The noun itself does not change, the article indicates gender. This is especially true of “-ante” and “-ista” words. For example:

masculine:	feminine:	English:
el artista	la artista	artist
el cantante	la cantante	singer
el ciclista	la ciclista	cyclist
el estudiante	la estudiante	student
el gerente	la gerente	manager
el juez	la juez	judge
el periodista	la periodista	journalist
el pianista	la pianista	pianist

There are also other descriptors which are invariable. Even though it looks like maybe it should, the noun itself doesn’t change.

masculine:	feminine:	English:
el astronauta	la astronauta	astronaut
el modelo	la modelo	model
el piloto	la piloto	pilot
el pirata	la pirata	pirate
el soprano	la soprano	soprano
el testigo	la testigo	witness

Other jobs and occupations have slightly different forms for different genders. This is especially true of “-ero” and “-era” words. For example:

Note: Remember that one male member in a group makes the entire group male: Un banquero + una banquera = dos banqueros.

masculine:	feminine:	English:
el banquero	la banquera	banker
el cartero	la cartera	mail carrier
el cocinero	la cocinera	cook
el ingeniero	la ingeniera	engineer
el jefe	la jefa	boss
el maestro	la maestra	teacher
el mesero	la mesera	waiter
el presidente	la presidenta	president

Some words can actually be both genders. A change in gender changes the meaning of the following words:

masculine:	feminine:
el capital (as in city)	la capital (as in money)
el corte (cut)	la corte (court)
el cura (priest)	la cura (cure)
el frente (front)	la frente (forehead)
el guía (guide)	la guía (guidebook)
el orden (order)	la orden (command)
el papa (pope)	la papa (potato)
el policía (police officer)	la policía (police force)

And some nouns have completely different words for each gender (just like in English).

Note: While some animals have different words for the male and the female (el oso / la osa, el lobo / la loba), most animals use the same word for both genders.

masculine:	feminine:
el actor (actor)	la actriz (actress)
el caballero (gentleman)	la dama (lady)
el héroe (hero)	la heroína (heroine)
el hombre (man)	la mujer (woman)
el príncipe (prince)	la princesa (princess)
el rey (king)	la reina (queen)
el varón (male)	la hembra (female)

Persona and Víctima

It sounds strange, but persona and víctima are always feminine regardless of who they refer to. Adjectives describing these nouns will always be feminine too.

Su tío fue víctima de un ataque.
His uncle was the victim of an attack.

Nuestro padre es una persona comprensiva.
Our father is an understanding person.

Changing Nouns from Singular to Plural

In Part 1, we said to make nouns plural, add “-s” to words ending in vowels, and add “-es” to words ending in consonants. So teléfono becomes teléfonos, bicicleta becomes bicicletas, papel becomes papeles, etc., etc. But it’s not quite that simple.

Nouns Ending in Vowels

We do add an “-s” to nouns ending in an unstressed vowel:

singular:	plural:
la casa	las casas
el coche	los coches
el taxi	los taxis
el pueblo	los pueblos
la tribu	las tribus

And we also add an “-s” to nouns ending in the stressed vowels -á, -é, and -ó:

singular:	plural:
el café	los cafés
el sofá	los sofás
el bongó	los bongós

Note: The plural names of vowels look like this: las aes, las ees, las íes, las oes, las úes.

But we usually add “-es” to nouns that end in the stressed vowels -í or -ú:

singular:	plural:
el esquí	los esquíes
el rubí	los rubíes
el caribú	los caribúes
el tabú	los tabúes

This rule isn’t always followed: el esquí → los esquís, el champú → los champús, and el menú → los menús.

Nouns Ending in Consonants

Note: Many foreign words adopted into Spanish follow their own plural rules: robot → robots.

We’re supposed to add “-es” to words ending in consonants. But what if the words already ends in “-s”?

To nouns that end in a stressed vowel and “-s” we add “-es.”

singular:	plural:
el autobús	los autobuses
el gas	los gases
el país	los países

Note: The same rules apply to words ending in “-x”: el tórax → los tórax.

But nouns that end in an unstressed vowel and “-s” have the same singular and plural forms. Only the article changes:

singular:	plural:
el martes	los martes
la crisis	las crisis
el salvavidas	los salvavidas

Plural Nouns and Accent Marks

Some words will actually gain an accent mark when they becomes plural. Keep an eye out for nouns where the stress falls somewhere other than the last syllable. When we add a syllable by adding “-es,” we’ll need to add an accent mark to preserve the original stress:

singular:	plural:
el examen	los exámenes
el joven	los jóvenes
el orden	los órdenes

And some words no longer need accent marks when they become plural:

singular:	plural:
la canción	las canciones
la oración	las oraciones
el violín	los violines

Spelling Changes

Nouns that end in “-z” follow the same rules as nouns ending in “-s,” but there is also a z → c spelling change.

singular:	plural:
la actriz	las actrices
el lápiz	los lápices
la voz	las voces

Last Names and Decades

To refer to an entire family in Spanish, we don’t add an “-s” to the last name; we simply change the article.

Nuestros vecinos son los García.
Our neighbors are the Garcias.

Los Ortega son una familia muy simpática.
The Ortegas are a very nice family.

And we do the same thing to refer to decades (sometimes including the word años).

En los ochenta la economía mejoró.
In the eighties the economy improved.

La gente llevaba ropa cómica en los años sesenta.
People wore funny clothes in the sixties.

Spanish Articles

In Part 1, we briefly discussed definite and indefinite articles. Here’s a quick review.

Definite Articles:

	masculine:	feminine:
singular:	el libro	la revista
plural:	los libros	las revistas

Indefinite Articles:

	masculine:	feminine:
singular:	un libro	una revista
plural:	unos libros	unas revistas

Remember that each article needs to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. What we didn’t discuss was contractions, a weird exception, and when to use articles in Spanish.

Contractions

There are two article contractions to be aware of. To avoid pronunciation difficulties, whenever a is followed by el, they combine to become al. Whenever de is followed by el, they become del:

a + el = al

de + el = del

For example:

Voy a ir al mercado.
Quiero saber más del león.

This is only true of el, not la (or los or las).

Voy a ir a la tienda.
Quiero saber más de los osos.
Está cerca de las mesas.

This contraction does not take place with proper nouns, or the subject pronoun él.

Voy a ir a El Salvador.
Quiero saber más de El Salvador.
No voy a decirle a él.

El Agua / Las Aguas (Cacophony)

Note: This is the equivalent of using “an” instead of “a” in English: “an army” (not “a army”).

Note: Since the letter “h” isn’t pronounced in Spanish, ha = a.

It’s strange and it doesn’t happen often, but whenever we have a singular feminine noun that begins with a stressed a sound, we switch its article to the masculine form in order to avoid having to pronounce two a sounds in a row (this is known as “cacophony”). This is true of both definite and indefinite articles:

el agua
el águila
el hada

un agua
un águila
un hada

However, when these nouns are plural, the double a situation doesn’t exist so we revert back to the feminine article:

singular:	plural:
el agua	las aguas
el águila	las águilas
el hada	las hadas

singular:	plural:
un agua	unas aguas
un águila	unas águilas
un hada	unas hadas

Note: Remember to use feminine pronouns too: El agua está sucia. No la bebes. Ésta es mejor.

Remember that regardless of the article used, these are still feminine nouns which require feminine adjectives:

el agua sucia
el águila brava
el hada vieja

un agua sucia
un águila brava
un hada vieja

This rule does not apply to nouns that begin with an unstressed a because they’re easier to pronounce.

la artillería
la agricultura
una avenida

When to Use Definite and Indefinite Articles

Figuring out when to use articles in Spanish can be a bewildering task for an English speaker. Sometimes the two languages correspond beautifully; sometimes they are complete opposites. One general rule of thumb: definite articles are used much more often in Spanish, indefinite articles are used less often.

Using Definite Articles

Use a definite article when using nouns in general or abstract sense (We don’t do this in English):

El amor y la fe son muy importantes.
Love and faith are very important.

Las matemáticas son interesantes.
Math is interesting.

Use a definite article (instead of a possessive adjective) with body parts or clothes, especially when using reflexive verbs:

Me duele el brazo.
Not: ~~Me duele mi brazo.~~
My arm hurts.

Voy a ponerme el abrigo.
Not: ~~Voy a ponerme mi abrigo.~~
I’m going to put on my jacket.

Use a definite article with names of languages:

El español es un idioma muy bonito.
Spanish is a beautiful language.

El inglés es muy difícil aprender.
English is difficult to learn.

Note: Definite articles are also often omitted after aprender, enseñar, entender, escribir, estudiar, saber, and leer.

But don’t use a definite article with languages following de or en or hablar:

Yo sé hablar español muy bien.
I know how to speak Spanish well.

¿Cómo se dice en inglés?
How is that said in English?

Use a definite article with titles when speaking about someone:

Me gustar hablar con el Señor Montes.
I want to talk with Señor Montes.

Necesita ver la doctora Lopez.
He needs to see doctor Lopez.

Note: Definite articles are omitted before Don, Doña, Santo, and Santa.

But don’t use a definite article when talking to someone:

¡Hola, Señor Montes!
Hello, Señor Montes!

Note: Don’t use an article with days following ser: Hoy es martes.

Use a definite article with days, times, and dates:

Me voy el martes a la una el dos de Abril.
I’m leaving on Tuesday, April 2, at one o’clock.

Note: Certain countries usually do include an article: la Argentina,
el Ecuador, el Paraguay,
el Per�, el Uruguay

Generally speaking, we don’t use definite articles with proper nouns:

Quiero estudiar Canadá.
I want to study Canada.

Es un informe sobre México.
It’s a report about Mexico.

But we do use definite articles with proper nouns if they are modified by an adjective or descriptive phrase:

Quiero estudiar el Canadá colonial.
I want to study colonial Canada.

Es un informe sobre el México precolombino.
It’s a report about pre-Columbian Mexico.

Use a definite article with units of weights and measurements:

La gasolina cuesta $4.00 el galón.
Gasoline costs $4.00 a gallon.

Cincuenta centavos la docena.
Fifty cents (for) a dozen.

Using Indefinite Articles

Use an indefinite article to introduce a noun that has not been previously identified (once the noun is introduced, a definite article is used):

Hay un artículo en el periódico sobre mi escuela.
There is an article in the newspaper about my school.

¿De veras? ¿Y que dice el artículo?
Really? And what does the article say?

Don’t use an indefinite article with nouns following ser or hacerse that refer to occupation, nationality, religion, or political affiliation:

Mi amigo es hondureño.
My friend is Honduran.

Su hermana quiere ser abogada.
His sister wants to be a lawyer.

But do use an indefinite article with nouns following ser or hacerse modified by an adjective or descriptive phrase:

Mi amigo es un hondureño viejo.
My friend is an old Honduran.

Su hermana es una abogada maravillosa.
His sister is an amazing lawyer.

Use an indefinite article with numbers to indicate approximate amounts:

Tengo unos libros que se trata de arte.
I have some books that are about art.

Unos cinco mil van a venir.
Approximately five thousand are going to come.

Don’t use indefinite articles with cien, cierto, medio, mil, otro, semejante, and tal:

Necesito mil dólares y otro coche.
I need a thousand dollars and another car.

Indefinite articles are not required after sin or con:

¡No salgan sin paraguas!
Don’t leave without an umbrella.

Vive en una casa con piscina.
She lives in a house with a pool.

Indefinite articles are not necessary in negative sentences and after verbs like tener, haber, and buscar when the concept of un or una is not important:

No tengo lápiz y por eso busco lápiz.
I don’t have a pencil, and that’s why I’m looking for a pencil.

No hay mesa.
There isn’t a table.

The Neuter Article Lo

Definite articles don’t end with el, la, los, and las. There’s also a neuter (non-gender) article, lo. How is it used? Lo can be combined with a masculine singular adjective to create an abstract noun. English translations usually involve the words, “thing” or “part”:

Lo mejor fue el final.
The best part was the ending.

Lo bueno es que no hay tarea.
What’s good is that there’s no homework.

Lo más importante es ser sincero.
The most important thing is to be sincere.

Spanish Adjectives

Adjectives Forms

In part 1 we learned that adjectives have four forms based on the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the nouns they modify. For example:

	masculine:	feminine:
singular:	el chico alto	la chica alta
plural:	los chicos altos	las chicas altas

Note: The rules for making adjectives plural are the same as the rules for nouns:
atriz → actrices,
feliz → felices.

But once again, this isn’t always the case. Not every adjective has four forms. Some only have only two forms, singular and plural. These adjectives are known as “invariable” adjectives because they don’t change with gender. Many of these adjectives end in “-a” (like azteca, indígena, marina, maya, and violeta). And “-ista” adjectives (like comunista, deportista, optimista, pesimista, realista, etc.) are invariable too. For example:

El imperio azteca era impresionante.
The Aztec empire was impressive.

A los chicos deportistas les gustó el voleibol.
The athletic boys liked volleyball.

Adjectives that end in “-e” or a consonant have only two forms as well. The Spanish words for courteous, younger, tropical, and green are examples:

masc. sing.:	masc. plural:	fem. sing.:	fem. plural:
cortés	corteses	cortés	corteses
menor	menores	menor	menores
tropical	tropicales	tropical	tropicales
verde	verdes	verde	verdes

Notice how the masculine and feminine forms are the same? Another example:

Quiero un traje azul con una corbata azul.
I want a blue suit with a blue tie.

The adjective azul modifies both the masculine traje and the feminine corbata.

Of course there are exceptions to the rules above. Some nationality adjectives have distinct feminine forms even if they end in consonants. Some examples are the Spanish words for German, Spanish, French, and Japanese:

masc. sing.:	masc. plural:	fem. sing.:	fem. plural:
alemán	alemánes	alemána	alemánas
español	españoles	española	españolas
francés	franceses	francesa	francesas
japonés	japoneses	japonesa	japonesas

Also, adjectives that end in “-án,” “-ín” “-ón,” or “-or,” (don’t worry, they’re rare) have different feminine forms also. Below are the Spanish words for “talkative,” “lazy,” “playful,” and “tiny”:

masc. sing.:	masc. plural:	fem. sing.:	fem. plural:
hablador	habladores	habladora	habladoras
holgazán	holgazanes	holgazana	holgazanas
juguetón	juguetones	juguetona	juguetonas
pequeñín	pequeñines	pequeñina	pequeñinas

Adjective Placement

In Part 1 we learned that adjectives come after nouns in Spanish, but of course this isn’t always true. The following “limiting adjectives” come in front of the nouns they’re modifying:

alguno
some

bastante
enough

cada
each

mucho
a lot

otro
another

poco
little

suficiente
sufficient

varios
various

The words mejor (best) and peor (worst) and numbers used as adjectives also come before the nouns they modify. Some examples:

Quiere otra hamburguesa.
He wants another hamburger.

Hay muchas flores allí
There are a lot of flowers there.

¡Ése fue el peor día!
That was the worst day!

Su familia tiene tres coches.
Her family has three cars.

Possessive and demonstrative adjectives also precede nouns:

Mi perro es muy viejo.
My dog is very old.

Esta chaqueta es cara.
This jacket is expensive.

Sometimes an adjective that emphasizes an inherent characteristic can be placed in front of a noun for stylistic reasons. This is especially true in poetry. Examples:

la bella flor
the beautiful flower

la blanca nieve
the white snow

la dulce miel
the sweet honey

el azul cielo
the blue sky

And sometimes an adjective can be placed in front of a noun for emphasis. Notice the difference in the following sentences:

Es una jefa buena.
She’s a good boss.

Es una buena jefa.
She’s a really good boss.

Some adjectives can come before or after nouns. The position of the adjective actually changes its meaning:

adjective:	before noun:	after noun:
antiguo	former, old	ancient, old
cierto	same, certain	sure, certain
diferente	various	different
grande	great	large
mismo	same	itself, very
nuevo	different, another	new
pobre	pitiful	poor
propio	own	proper
raro	rare	strange
triste	dreadful	unhappy
único	only	unique
viejo	former	old, aged

For example:

Mi viejo maestro es muy joven.
My former teacher is very young.

El maestro viejo es muy simpático.
The old teacher is very nice.

Shortened Forms

Some adjectives have different (shortened) forms when they are used before masculine singular nouns. In these cases the meaning of the adjective doesn’t change.

Note: Santo does not change before words starting with “Do-” or “To”: Santo Domingo.

adjective:	becomes:
Santo	San Antonio
uno	un coche
bueno	un buen amigo
malo	un mal trabajo
primero	el primer capítulo
tercero	el tercer día
alguno	algún momento
ninguno	ningún libro

Note: Adjectives based on these adjectives have different forms too: vientiuno → vientiún coches.

And some adjectives have different (shortened) forms when they are used before either masculine or feminine nouns.

adjective:	becomes:
ciento	cien mujeres
cualquiera	cualquier persona
grande	una gran escritora

Using Multiple Adjectives

Everything we’ve studied to this point is based on the notion that we’re only going to use one adjective per noun, but like English we’re not actually limited to the number of adjectives we use:

Jugaron con un balón rojo, blanco, y azul.
They played with a red, white, and blue ball.

Furthermore, when using multiple adjectives, we have several options for where to put them. Place adjectives before then noun for emphasis, or to stress inherent characteristics:

Era un valiente y fuerte caballero.
He was a valiant and strong knight.

Place adjectives after the noun that narrow, restrict, or clarify the noun:

Escogí un libro pequeño y negro.
I chose a small black book.

And you can split your adjectives too. When doing so, place the more subjective (opinion) adjectives in front, and the more objective (factual) adjectives behind:

Gloria Estefan es una maravillosa cantante cubanoamericana.
Gloria Estefan is a fantastic Cuban American singer.

Spanish Conjunctions

In Part 1 we learned that “and” and “or” are y and o in Spanish, but that’s not always the case.

If y is followed by an “i” sound, then we use an e instead so that we can avoid having to say two “i” sounds in a row. The meaning does not change:

Tomo clases de francés e inglés.
I’m taking French and English classes.

Prometemos campañas de salud e higiene.
We promise health and hygiene campaigns.

Note: Since the letter “h” isn’t pronounced in Spanish, hi = i and
ho = o.

If o is followed by an “o” sound, then we use a u instead so that we can avoid having to say two “o” sounds in a row. The meaning does not change:

Estudian matemáticas u ortografía.
They study math or spelling.

Prefiero beber café u horchata.
I prefer to drink coffee or horchata.

If we change the order of the words in the examples above, we’ll return to the more familiar y and o: Tomo clases de inglés y francés. Prometemos campañas de higiene y salud. Estudian ortografía o matemáticas. Prefiero beber horchata o café.