Nouns And Articles Flashcards
How to know the gender of nouns?
Masculine noun endings:
Nouns ending in -o are masculine with a few exception e.g. La foto, La Mano, La Moto, La radio, La modelo
Most nouns ending in -e are masculine, but there are some exceptions, La Calle, La carne, La frase, La gente, la leche, la llave, la muerte, la noche, la parte, la sangre, la suerte, la tarde
Other common masculine noun endings are: -i, -l, - r, -u
El is used with feminine nouns that start with a stressed a such as: El agua, el acro, el hambre (still femenino nouns plural = las)
Feminine noun endings:
Almost all nouns ending in -a are feminine however most words ending in -ma are masculine (el problema, el programa, el tema) and el día, el mapa, el planeta
Other common feminine noun endings = -cion,- dad, - tad, - tud, - dez, - ed, -ie (except el pie), -iz(except el lápiz), - sis (except el análisis, el énfasis, el paréntesis), - umbre
How to use the plural forms of nouns?
Most nouns end in an unstressed vowel and these just add -s for the plural
Nouns ending in a constant add -es
Los presentadores no respetan a los concursantes
The presenters don’t respect the competitors
Words whose last syllable is unstressed and ends in -s do not change the plural
Los lunes hay tres autobuses para Sevilla
On Mondays there are three buses to Seville
What are affective suffixes?
Many suffixes can be used to express an attitude when describing a noun such as affection or to indicate small size. These suffixes include -ito/-ita for masculine and feminine
What are definite articles and use? (Definite article el, La, los, las)
The definite article
Use a definite article when the noun refers to a specific object or phenomenon
Me duele La cabeza - my head hurts
La television es Una herramienta educativa - televisión is as educational resource
… or to a general group
Los niños ven programas que fomentan la agresividad - children watch programmes that provoke aggression
Los domingos - on Sundays
You also need the definite article to give time :
a las 13.00 horas - at 1 o’clock
Leave the article out before a country ….
Telebasura es un termino despectivo usado en España - Telebasura is a pejorative term used in Spain
… unless the country is qualified (described) by a phrase or an adjective :
La España del siglo veintiuno - 21st century Spain
What are indefinite articles and use? (Un, Una, unos, unas)
Leave the article out before nouns of occupation or nationality
Mi padre es electricista - my father is an electrician
La presentadora es mejicana - the presenter is Mexican
In its plural form, unos/unas means some but it is often not translated at all
La telebasura crea unos arquetipos indeseables
Junk TV creates (some) undesirable stereotypes
What is the neuter article and its use? (Lo)
Use lo with an adjective to form an abstract thing
Lo malo es que emiten el programa muy tarde
The bad thing is they put the programme on very late
Lo fundamental es navegar con prudencia
the main thing is to surf (the internet) with caution
The adjective after lo is always masculine and singular
