Spanish articles, gender and agreement, explained
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the words around it agree: el coche nuevo, la casa nueva, los coches nuevos.
Endings are a reliable guide: most nouns in -o are masculine and most in -a are feminine, with a few exceptions worth learning early (el día, la mano, el problema).
The essentials
- The: el, la, los, las. A, some: un, una, unos, unas.
- Plurals: add -s after a vowel (casas), -es after a consonant (ciudades), and z becomes c (lápiz → lápices).
- Adjectives usually follow the noun and agree with it: una camisa roja, unos zapatos rojos.
- Two contractions are compulsory: a + el = al, de + el = del.
- A few adjectives shorten before a masculine noun: buen, mal, primer; grande becomes gran before any singular noun.
Every lesson on this topic
Each lesson has a full explanation, examples you can listen to, and exercises with answers.
A0 (the A0 course)
- Masculine and feminine nouns: -o, -a and the exceptions to learn early
- Articles: el, la, los, las; un, una, unos, unas: Words for 'the', 'a' and 'some', matching gender and number
- Making plurals: -s, -es, z → ces: Add -s after a vowel, -es after a consonant, and z becomes c: lápiz → lápices.
- Adjectives agree and usually follow the noun: un coche nuevo, una casa nueva, unos coches nuevos: adjectives match the noun and come after it.
- Colours and agreement: rojo, verde, azul, rosa…: colours are adjectives, follow the noun and agree with it.
A1 (the A1 course)
- a + el = al, de + el = del: The two compulsory contractions: voy al cine, vengo del trabajo
- Shortened adjectives: buen, mal, gran, primer: bueno → buen, malo → mal, grande → gran, primero → primer before a noun
In the app, these lessons are taught one idea at a time with audio, practised with questions that explain the rule when you slip, and brought back for review on later days.
Other topics
- Ser vs estar, explained
- Por vs para, explained
- Preterite vs imperfect, explained
- The Spanish subjunctive, explained
- Gustar and verbs like it, explained
- Spanish reflexive verbs, explained
- Spanish object pronouns, explained
- Spanish commands (the imperative), explained
- Spanish future and conditional, explained
- The Spanish present tense and stem-changing verbs
- Spanish perfect tenses: he hablado, había hablado and more
- Tú vs usted (and vosotros vs ustedes), explained
- Spanish pronunciation and accent marks, explained