Spanish Nouns, Articles,

and Adjectives

Cognate

• a word that sounds similar in English

and Spanish

• Examples: Universidad interesante

False-Cognate

• word that looks like a cognate, but it is

not.

• Examples: parientes embarazada

Spanish Nouns

• All Spanish nouns are either

MASCULINE or FEMININE.

Everything is either a male or female.

• There is no “it.”

“o” & “a”

• A noun ending in “o” will usually be

male. A noun ending in “a” is usually

feminine.

• However, there are exceptions.

Example: la mano (hand)

Article

• The only real way to know for sure if a

noun is a boy or girl is by it’s “article.”

• An article is the 2 or 3 letter word that

comes before the noun.

Articles

• There are two types of articles:

• Definite Articles

• Indefinite Articles

4 Articles

• The 4 Definite Articles are:

• el la los las

4 articles

• Article meaning example

• el male singular (el amigo)

• los male plural (los amigos)

• la female singular (la amiga)

• las female plural (las amigas)

4 indefinite articles

• un

• una

• unos

• unas

4 indefinite articles

• un - means “a” (male, singular)

• una - means “a” (female singular)

• Examples: un gato = a cat

• una puerta = a door

4 Indefinite Articles

• unos - means “some” (male, plural)

• unas - means “some” (female, plural)

• Examples: unos gatos = some cats

• unas puertas = some doors

Difference between articles

• The definite articles (el, la, los, las)

mean “the” when used with a noun.

• The indefinite articles (un, una, unos,

unas) mean “a” or “some”when used

with a noun.

• Example: el gato (the cat)

• un gato (a cat)

Adjectives

• Adjective - word that describes a noun

• Examples: pretty, ugly, tall, short, etc...

Spanish Adjectives

• Spanish ad jectives always go after the

noun.

• Examples:

el amigo guapo la escuela grande

Adjectives

• In Spanish, the ad jective must agree

with the noun it describes.

3 categories

• There are 3 categories of ad jectives:

• ends in “o”

• ends in “e”

• ends in a consonant

Adjective ending in “o”

• Adjectives ending in “o” will have four forms:

• El amigo bueno (male singular)

• La amiga buena (female singular)

• Los amigos buenos (male plural)

• Las amigas buenas (female plural)

Adjectives ending in “e”

• If an ad jective ends in “e” it will only

have 2 forms: singular & plural

• Examples:

• el curso interesante

• las clases interesantes

Adjectives ending in

consonants

• If an ad jective ends in a consonant, it

will only be singular or plural. To

make it plural, add “es” at the end .

• El curso d ificil Las clases d ificiles

vowels consonants

Checking for Understanding

What is a cognate?

• a word that sounds similar in English

and Spanish

• Examples: Universidad interesante

What is a false cognate?

• word that looks like a cognate, but it is not.

In Spanish, every noun is

either a ___ or ___.

• Male or female

What is the only thing that

can tell you for sure if a

noun is a male or female?

• the article

How many categories of

articles are there?

What are the 2 categories

of articles?

• Definite

• Indefinite

What are the 4 definite

articles?

• el

• la

• los

• las

What are the 4 categories

of indefinite articles?

• un

• una

• unos

• unas

Do Spanish adjectives go

before or after a noun?

• after

How many categories of

adjectives are there?

What are the 3 adjective

categories?

• ends in “o”

• ends in “e”

• ends in consonant

el fin