Grammar Nouns Flashcards
What is a noun?
Nouns anwer the question ¿Quién es? and ¿Qué es? They are the labels we attach to everything in the world around us or in our own minds: people, animals, things, events, processes, ideas.
What is a noun phrase?
The noun phrase often consists of more than just a noun – it is extended so as to provide more information from: determiners, adjectives and adjectival phrases, relative clauses, and prepositional phrases. To avoid repetition, noun phrases are often represented by pronouns.
What is a proper noun?
A proper noun is the name of a particular individual person, animal, place or thing. Proper nouns in Spanish always begin with a capital letter except for: names of days, months, and seasons; and titles.
Mi hija Julia estudia física en la Universidad de Salamanca.
All other nouns are common nouns.
Mi hija estudia física en la universidad.
What are the genders in Spanish?
Masculine
Feminine
What gender are human beings and animals?
masculine or feminine El hombre El hijo El panadero El toro El león La mujer La hija La panadera La vaca La Leona
What gender are fruit trees?
masculine El cerezo (cherry tree)
What gender are rivers, oceans, seas, lakes, and mountains?
masculine
El Atlántico
El Amazonas
What gender are numbers, months and dats?
masculine
Un setenta y cinco por ciento
What gender are the infinitives of verbs?
masculine
El fumar es malo para la salud.
What gender is the fruit of the tree?
feminine La cereza (cherry)
What gender are the letters of the alphabet?
feminine
Una g
What gender are islands?
feminine
(as “isla” is understood)
Las Canarias
what gender are medical terms ending on -osis or -itis?
feminine
La diagnosis
what gender are most countries?
masculine
El Canadá
El México
What genders are countries if they’re not stressed?
feminine
La España
La Argentina
What gender are words that end in -ma
masculine
El clima
El tema
what gender are words that end in -ión?
feminine
La revolución
what gender are words that end in -dad, -tad, -tud
feminine
La bondad
what gender are words that end in -umbre?
feminine
la cumbre
what gender are words that end in -ie?
feminine
la superficie
what gender are words that end in -is?
feminine
la crisis
In changing to the feminine, some nouns that refer to people or some animals change their article but not their form.
list some
El / la agente El / la artista El / la atleta El / la cantante El / la dentista El / la joven El / la mártie El / la tigre
Sometimes the feminine form of a noun is not predictable from the masculine.
list some
El actor la actirz
El emperador la emperatriz
El principe la princesa
El rey la reína
What is the general rule for making plurals out of unstressed vowels
add -s
El cine > los cines
La empresa > las impresas
what is the general rule for making plurals out of -é,
add -s
what is the general rule for making a plural when the noun ends in a consonant (including y)
add -es
El asesor > los asesores
El examen > los exámenes
what is the general rule for making a plural when the noun is a stressed vowel?
add -es
El rubí > los rubíes
how do you pluralise an unstressed -es or -is?
No change
El lunes > los lunes
how do you pluralise a compound noun ending in -s?
No change
El rescacielos > los rascacielos
how do you pluralise certain foreign words?
Add –s (unless unpronounceable)
El barman > los barmans
El coñac > los coñacs
what happens to nouns that end in -z in the plural?
Change to –c before –es
Una vez > dos veces
what happens to nouns that end in a stressed accent on final syllable when they are made plural
Lose accent when –es added
El inglés > los ingleses
what happens to nouns that are stressed on penultimate syllable and end in -en when they are made plural?
Add an accent
El examen > los exámenes
When do we use the definite article?
The definite article (el, la, los, las) is used when we know precisely what the noun refers.
when is the masculine article el used before feminine nouns?
The masculine article el is used for the sake of sound before feminine nouns beginning with stressed a- or –ha in the singular.
is the definite article used When referring to nouns in a general sense
USED
Los españoles son famosos por la acogida que dan a los extranjeros.
is the definite article used with titles
USED (except when directly addressing)
-Buenos días, señora Ramírex. Veo que el rey Juan Carlos va a visitor esta cuidad.
is the definite article used With a proper name when it is qualified by an adjective?
USED
Mi hija Isabel es un buen ejemploy para la joven Carmencita.
is the definite article used With body parts or clothing?
USED
Abre la boca.
is the definite article used When expressing percentages
USED
El noventa por cienta de los que van al dentist tienen que ser atendidos.
is the definite article used With weights or measures to express per kilo, etc.
USED
Los tomates están a siete pesos el kilo.
is the definite article used To express on a day / date / time
USED
Tengo que ir al dentist el nueve de enero. No trabaja los sábados.
son las cuatro y media.
EXCEPT when day is followed by date
Viernes, cinco de agosto
is the definite article used With de to express possession
USED
Mi case y la de mi hermano son grandes.
is the definite article used with colours?
USED
El verde es el color que más me gusta.
is the definite article used with languages?
USED
Hablamos el español
EXCEPT After hablar, aprender, enseñar, leer, practicar, saber and before a language
Te presto el diccionario de chino
Saber hebereo y estudian japonés.
is the definite article used after SER
NOT USED
Eso fue el domingo
EXCEPT
After ser meaning to happen / take place
Eso fue el domingo
is the definite article used Before infinitives that function as nouns
USED
El estafar es también un vicio.
El robar es malo.
EXCEPT
Before infinitives that function as nouns when the infinitive is the subject of a sentence
Robar es malo.
is the definite article used with Names of rivers, oceans, and mountains
USED
El Sena pasa por París y el Támesis por Londres.
is the definite article used When two nouns are joined by de to form a compound noun
NOT USED
La chuleta de ternera