In Spanish, all nouns have gender. They can be masculine or feminine.

There are rules that can help you identify the gender of nouns in Spanish. Do you know them?

To learn the rules about the gender of objects, people and animals in Spanish visit the post called Gender of Nouns in Spanish: Masculine or Feminine?.
A few Spanish nouns are rebel and don’t follow the rules. Here they are!

Special Masculine Nouns

The general rule is that Spanish nouns that end in -a are feminine.

However, there are a few masculine nouns that end in -a. You will find them in the list below.

Also, notice that there are masculine nouns that end in “l,” “z,” and “n.” I would recommend you learn the following by heart.

• el clima (the weather)

• el día (the day)

• el idioma (the language)

• el mapa (the map)

• el planeta (the planet)

• el programa (the program)

• el sofá (the armchair)

• el esquema (the outline)

• el poema (the poem)

• el problema (the problem)

• el sistema (the system)

• el tema (the topic)

• el café (the coffee)

• el coche (the car [in Spain])

• el champú (the shampoo)

• el pie (the foot)

• el sobre (the envelope)

• el taxi (the taxi)

• el árbol (the tree)

• el lápiz (the pencil)

• el lavavajillas (the dishwasher)

• el móvil (the cell phone [in Spain])

• el celular (the cell phone [in Latam])

• el microondas (the microwave)

• el país (the country)

• el papel (the paper)

• el paraguas (the umbrella)

• el salón (the room/hall)

• el sillón (the chair)

• el sol (the sun)

Special Feminine Nouns

The general rule is that Spanish nouns that end in -o are masculine.

However, there are a few feminine nouns that end in -o. Here they are!

Also, I would suggest you learn the rest of irregular feminine nouns by heart.

• la foto (the picture)

• la mano (the hand)

• la moto (the motorcycle)

• la radio (the radio)

• la clase (the class)

• la carne (the meat)

• la fiebre (the fever)

• la frente (the forehead)

• la gente (the people)

• la llave (the key)

• la muerte (the death)

• la nave (the ship)

• la noche (the night)

• la nube (the cloud)

• la parte (the part)

• la suerte (the luck)

• la tarde (the afternoon)

• la cárcel (the jail)

• la cicatriz (the scar)

• la crisis (the crisis)

• la hipótesis (the hypothesis)

• la imagen (the image)

• la nariz (the nose)

• la sal (the salt)

• la sed (the thirst)

• la tesis (the thesis)

Nouns that Can Be Masculine and Feminine

A few Spanish nouns used to describe people can be both masculine and feminine.

Note that objects only have one gender. The nouns that can be both masculine and feminine are the ones that refer to people.

• el/la paciente (the patient)

• el/la teniente (the lieutenant)

• el/la cantante (the singer)

• el/la estudiante (the student)

• el/la artista (the artist)

• el/la testigo (the witness)

• el/la periodista (the journalist)

• el/la deportista (the athlete)

• el/la estadounidense (the American [man/woman])

• el/la cónyuge (the spouse)

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