Sustantivos Femeninos y Irregulares Español 4
Metas de Aprendizaje Students will learn about irregular nouns in Spanish
Nouns beginning with a, ha Feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a or the silent h followed by a stressed a take the masculine definite article el or the indefinite article un. The reason such nouns take the articles el and un is that it would be difficult to pronounce the two vowels – la a, una a together. Since the nouns are feminine, the plural articles las and unas are used and any adjective modifying the noun is in the feminine form.
Feminine nouns el agua las aguas water el (un) ave las aves bird el (un) águila las águilas eagle el (un) área las áreas area el (un) arma las armas weapon el (un) hacha las hachas ax el (un) ala las alas wing el hambre hunger El agua es potable. Las aguas turbulentas del mar pueden ser peligrosas.
Irregular Nouns There are several nouns in Spanish that end in –a but are masculine. These are nouns derived from Greek roots. They take the definite article el and the indefinite article un. el clima el mapa el programa el día el planeta el sistema el drama el poema el tema
Irregular Nouns Note that the noun la mano is irregular. Even though la mano ends in –o, it is feminine – la mano. La foto is also used as a shortened version of la fotografía. The noun radio can be either la radio or el radio. The gender varies according to the region.