Spanish Lesson 5 (Feminine and Clothes)
Duration: 30 mins
The 5th Spanish lesson teaches the use of the gender by creating the feminine from the masculine form. In addition to that, I included a vocabulary list about clothes and finally common phrases about origins. I will try to give examples using both vocabulary and grammar. That way it will be easy for you to see the words when they are separate and when they are in a sentence. Going through the whole page should take about 30 min. Make sure to read the pronunciation and hear the audio as well. If you have any question about this course, please email me directly at Spanish Classes.
Feminine
Knowing how to derive the feminine from the masculine form is very useful. It can make it easy to have a conversation about family members, pets, or professions. An example would be: "man", "woman", "Cat (fem.)", "cat (masc.)" etc.
Grammar Rule
- In Spanish, usually words ending in ~o or ~os are masculine, and words ending in ~a or ~as are feminine.
- Words associated with gender (sex of people, animals, occupations, adjectives ...) can be converted from masculine to feminine by changing their endings.
- For example gender words ending in -o have four forms ~o (masculine), ~a (feminine), ~os (plural masc.), ~as (plural fem.). For example the word "friend" in Spanish: amigo (masculine), amiga (feminine), amigos (plural masc.), amigas (plural fem.)
- Gender words ending in (~e) can be both feminine and masculine. Their plural form is made by adding (~es). For example the word "car": coche (singular masc.), coches (plural masc.)
- Most words ending in a consonant have 4 forms (original word, ~a, ~es, ~as). For example the noun "professor": professor (singular masculine), professora (singular fem.), professores (plural masc.), professoras (plural fem.)
- Please note that there are some exception to these rules. There are words which cannot be converted to the feminine and vice versa. For example if a word is NOT gender related. Hence it can only be masculine or feminine. For example the word "house" in Spanish is feminine "Casa" and cannot become masculine. The word Mujer (woman) is feminine even if it does not end in "~a".
- Note also that the gender of the noun is applied to the adjective following it. For example if the noun is singular feminine, then the adjective will also be singular feminine. Example: una paloma blanca (a white dove).
Below is a list of 12 masculine and feminine forms that you might come across or use very often. The table contains 3 columns (English, Spanish, and Audio). Make sure you repeat each word after hearing it by either clicking on the audio button or by reading the pronunciation. That should help with memorization as well as improving your pronunciation.
Masculine vs. Feminine in Spanish
Now we will try to implement some of the forms above into full Spanish sentences. That way you will be able to use the word not only by itself but embedded in a structure.
Spanish Gender in a Sentence
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact me If you simply want to ask a question, please Spanish contact form on the header above.
Vocabulary List about Clothes
Below is a list of 20 words related to clothes and wearable accessories. Memorizing them by heart can make it easy for you to shop for clothes and maybe get some good bargains.
Clothes List in Spanish
Daily Conversation in Spanish
Finally, these are a couple of phrases used in conversations to express where you are from or where you live etc. For a complete list of commonly used sentences, please visit our Spanish Phrases page.
Common Expressions in Spanish
Fun Facts
Language Quote: It has been estimated that the number of actively spoken languages in the world today is about 6,000..
Congratulations! You finished your 5th lesson in Spanish about masculine, feminine, and clothes. Are you ready for the next lesson? We recommend Spanish Lesson 6. You can also simply click on one of the links below or go back to our Learn Spanish homepage.