Typically, Spanish nouns have endings that change according to the gender of the person they refer to, and the number of people being talked about.

nouns typically end in a


la música

​Feminine

nouns typically end in o


el músico

​Masculine

Gender

​Gender

There are many nouns with masculine forms that end in a consonant.

• These forms can be made feminine by adding an a to the end of the masculine form.

el escritor la escritora

Gender

​There are many nouns that always have the same form.

• If a noun ends in -ista, -ía, or -e, only the article (el/la) changes to match the gender of the person.

  el/la dentista el/la policía el/la cantante

• There are also some nouns that always end in a, regardless of whether they are masculine or feminine. Most of these end in -ta.

  el/la poeta el/la atleta

will add es to the end.

pintor → pintores

Nouns that end in a consonant

will just add s to the end.

músico → músicos
cantante → cantantes

​Nouns that end in a vowel

Number (Singular vs Plural)

​Number (Singular vs Plural)

If a singular noun ends in z, you must change the z to a c before adding -es.

actriz → actrices

Para conversar

• ¿Quién es él? Who is he?

• Él es doctor. He's a doctor.

• ¿Quién es ella? Who is she?

• Ella es doctora. She's a doctor.

​w/ subject pronouns

Para conversar

• ¿Quién es tu profesor de matemáticas? Who is your math teacher?

• Mi profesor de matemáticas es el Sr. Hess. My math teacher is Mr. Hess.

• ¿Sabes el nombre de la profesora de computadoras?

  • Do you know the name of the Computers teacher?

• Sí, yo sé. Se llama Sra. Sedgwick. Yes, I know. Her name is Mrs. Sedgwick.

​w/ specific people