Content
The gender and the number They are two qualities inherent to nouns, and also to noun modifiers such as articles, adjectives, participles, and pronouns.
- Gender can be female (home) or masculine (the tree).
- The number can be singular (the flower) or plural (flowers).
The gender
Gender is the characteristic that gives the word a feminine or masculine condition. In general, it will be female when it ends in A and male when it ends in O, but there are several exceptions.
Also, in general terms, a series of rules are considered to identify masculine and feminine words:
- The numbers are called in masculine form. For example: the sixteen, the twelve, the third.
- Rivers, mountains, volcanoes or canals are often called in the masculine way. For example: el Seine, Sinai.
- The months and days of the week are called masculine. For example: Thursday, next February.
- The letters are called in feminine form. For example: the ax, see it.
- Musical notes are called in masculine form. For example: a sun, the sustained fa.
- The cardinal points are called in masculine. For example: the east, the northwest.
- The sciences and disciplines are called feminine. For example: biology, medicine.
- Magazines and newspapers are called in masculine. For example: el Clarín, the Washington Post.
For the words that can be personified by a man or a woman, we must take into account:
- When two genders admit two forms. This is the case of words that end in masculine O and feminine in A (architect / architect), masculine in E and feminine in -INA (hero / heroin), masculine in O or E and feminine in -ESA (vampire / vamp, duke / duchess).
- When two genders admit a single form. The words that can be preceded by a masculine or feminine article without losing meaning are examples of this case. For example: guru, dentist, student.
- When the word is unchanged. The same word is used to refer to a man or a woman. For example: a person (It can refer to a man or a woman).
See also:
- Masculine and feminine nouns
- Male and female adjectives
The number
The grammatical number is the condition that divides the singular from the plural. Unlike gender, it is a much sharper and more observable division, since the number of elements that are being designated will always be visible: the number will be singular if it designates a single unit, or plural if it designates more than one unit. .
In addition to applying to nouns and noun modifiers, the number applies to verbs.
How is the plural formed?
- Words that end in a vowel. A final S is added. For example: dog Dogs, lamp / lamps.
- Words that end in I or U. The ending -es is added. For example: ombú / ombúit is, mannequin / mannequinit is.
- Words that end in S or X. They stay the same. For example: wednesdays / Wednesdayss, cariess, the cavitiess.
- Words that end in Y (which sounds like I). They keep the Y but it sounds like LL. For example: reY / reAnd it is, buhey / bueAnd it is.
- Words that end in Z. Change the Z to C and add -es. For example: arroz / arroces, pez / peces.
See also:
- Singular words
- Nouns in singular and plural
Concordance in gender and number
Words that have a certain gender and number are nouns, and also all modifiers. An elementary condition of modifiers with respect to their nouns is that they must coincide in gender and number, in the grammatical phenomenon called "concordance". For example: the white shirt / the huge room.
