Gender Exceptions | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

The patterns in Masculine Noun Patterns and Feminine Noun Patterns cover the majority of Spanish nouns, but every pattern has a few stubborn exceptions. Because they tend to be very common words, these exceptions are worth memorizing as a fixed list.

The good news is that the list is short. Once you have seen each of these words a few times in context, the "wrong" gender stops feeling wrong.

Masculine Nouns Ending in -a

The ending -a is normally feminine, but a small group of masculine nouns ends in -a. Many of them come from Greek and ended in -ma or -pa in their original language; Spanish preserved their original masculine gender.

El problema es que el sistema no funciona sin un buen programa.

The problem is that the system doesn't work without a good program.

Este idioma tiene un mapa fonético muy interesante.

This language has a very interesting phonetic map.

Nouns of Greek Origin (-ma)

These are all masculine: el problema, el sistema, el tema, el idioma, el programa, el clima, el drama, el poema, el dilema, el diploma, el síntoma, el lema, el diagrama, el fantasma, el enigma, el teorema.

El clima de la región cambió mucho en el último siglo.

The region's climate has changed a lot in the last century.

Not every -ma noun is masculine, however. La cama (bed), la llama (flame), la fama (fame), la forma (form, shape), and la palma (palm) follow the normal feminine pattern. The masculine -ma words are the ones with Greek roots and usually with more "intellectual" meanings.

Other Common Masculine -a Words

A few more masculine nouns in -a are not Greek but just happen to be masculine:

el día — "day" — possibly the most common exception
el mapa — "map"
el planeta — "planet"
el cometa — "comet" (but la cometa = "kite")
el tranvía — "tram"
el sofá — "sofa"

Cada día miro el mapa y sueño con otros planetas.

Every day I look at the map and dream of other planets.

Feminine Nouns Ending in -o

Masculine is the default for -o endings, but a small and very common group is feminine. Most of these are shortenings of longer feminine words, and they kept the gender of the original full form.

La foto que tomé con mi mano tembló un poco.

The photo I took with my hand shook a little.

The Core List

la mano — "hand" — the most important one to memorize
la foto — "photo" — short for la fotografía
la moto — "motorcycle" — short for la motocicleta
la radio — "radio" — short for la radiodifusión
la polio — "polio" — short for la poliomielitis
la disco — "disco" / "dance club" — short for la discoteca
la libido — "libido"

La radio tocaba una canción vieja mientras la moto pasaba.

The radio was playing an old song while the motorcycle went by.

In some Latin American countries, la radio refers specifically to the medium (broadcasting), while el radio can refer to the device. Usage varies by region.

Feminine Words Starting With Stressed á- or ha-

This is not really an exception to gender — the nouns remain feminine — but it looks like one because of the article. Singular feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a- or ha- take the article el (not la) in the singular to avoid the awkward sound of la a.

El agua está fría, pero las aguas del lago son cálidas.

The water is cold, but the lake's waters are warm.

The noun is still feminine, so adjectives use feminine forms: el agua fría, not el agua frío. In the plural, the normal las returns: las aguas.

Common examples: el agua, el águila, el alma, el ala, el arma, el hambre, el hacha, el aula.

El águila blanca vuela sobre el aula vacía.

The white eagle flies over the empty classroom.

Note: this only applies when the a- is stressed. La arena ("sand") has an unstressed first a, so it takes la as normal. And it only applies in the singular with the article right before the noun — an adjective in between blocks the effect: la misma agua, not el misma agua.

Summary Table

Word	Gender	Meaning	Why It's Unusual
el día	masculine	day	Ends in -a
el mapa	masculine	map	Ends in -a
el planeta	masculine	planet	Ends in -a
el problema	masculine	problem	Greek -ma
el sistema	masculine	system	Greek -ma
el tema	masculine	theme, topic	Greek -ma
el idioma	masculine	language	Greek -ma
el programa	masculine	program	Greek -ma
el clima	masculine	climate	Greek -ma
el drama	masculine	drama	Greek -ma
el poema	masculine	poem	Greek -ma
la mano	feminine	hand	Ends in -o
la foto	feminine	photo	Short for fotografía
la moto	feminine	motorcycle	Short for motocicleta
la radio	feminine	radio	Short for radiodifusión
el agua	feminine	water	Stressed a-
el alma	feminine	soul	Stressed a-
el hambre	feminine	hunger	Stressed ha-

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A useful mnemonic for the Greek -ma words: most of them are "thinking" or "abstract" words (sistema, problema, tema, programa, dilema, poema). If a -ma word sounds intellectual or technical, it is probably masculine.

💡

The feminine -o words are a small, closed list: mano, foto, moto, radio (and a few rarer ones). There are no others you are likely to meet as a learner, so once you know these, you can safely treat any other -o noun as masculine.

Why It Matters

Getting these exceptions right is important because every one of them is high frequency. You will say el día, el problema, and la mano over and over, and a mismatched article or adjective will stand out immediately.

Tengo un problema serio con mi mano izquierda.

I have a serious problem with my left hand.

Notice how problema takes masculine un and serio, while mano takes feminine mi (invariable in form but definitely pairing with a feminine noun here) and izquierda.

What Comes Next

For nouns that can be either gender depending on meaning — el capital vs. la capital, el cura vs. la cura — see Ambiguous and Dual-Gender Nouns. For the special case of nouns referring to people, see Gender for People and Professions.