CSG205

194 Complete Spanish Grammar

• Nouns designating professions and individuals may end in -a, -antę, -e, or -ista, and in generał they may designate either a małe or a female person. The article and adjectives, if expressed, normally agree in gender and number with the noun.

athlete

singer

manager

interpreter

pediatrician

journalist

poet

tourist

el/la atleta el/la cantante el/la gerente el/la interprete

el/la pediatra el/la periodista el/la poeta el/la turista

• Nouns of professions, of people in generał, and names of some animals that end in -es, -m, -ón, and -or are masculine. They add -a to create the feminine form and drop the accent mark (in the case of -on).

champion principal, director lion

professor, teacher

el campeón/la campeona el director/la directora el león/la leona el profesor/la profesora

• Some nouns are spelled the same for the masculine and feminine, and only the article changes.

el j oven/la joven el juez/lajuez el modelo/la modelo el testigo/la testigo el turista/la turista

young man/young woman (małe) judge/ (female) judge małe model/female model (małe) witness/ (female) witness (małe) tourist/(female) tourist

El juez interrogó a la testigo.    The judge interrogated the (female) witness.

In English, the gender of this type of noun would be clarified by the context.

• Other nouns referring to people change both the ending and the article in the masculine and feminine forms.

el muchacho/la muchacha    boy/ girl

el nino/la nina    boy/girl/child

el novio/la novia    fiance/fiancee

• Some nouns are invariable; that is, they designate both małe and female individuals. Some of these end in -a, -ente, and -ista; others have a variety of endings. The article does not change with invariable nouns. “Invariable” or “inv.” will be noted in dictionary entries.

el angel el personaje el ser

angel

character

being

la estrella la \ictima

star

victim

Tu hermana es un angel.

Bob es la estrella de es te espectaculo.

Your sisteris an angel.

Bob is the star of this show.

• Feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a- or ha- are feminine but, for purposes of pronun-ciation, take a masculine definite article in the singular form. Because they are feminine nouns, the feminine forms of the adjective are used to modify them.

el agua (f.)    water

el aguila (f.)    eagle

el alma (f.)    soul

el ar ma (f.)    weapon

el arpa (f.) el aula (f) el hacha (f) el hambre (f.)

harp

classroom

ax

hunger

El agua fria es refrescante.

Cold water is refreshing.