ELONIO

Noun gender and definite articles (el, la)

Noun Gender

In Spanish, every noun has a gender: it is either masculine or feminine. For words describing people, the gender of the noun usually matches the gender of the person.

  • Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine.
  • Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine.

Definite Articles (el, la)

In English, we use "the" for everything. In Spanish, "the" must match the gender of the noun:

  • Use el before singular masculine nouns.
  • Use la before singular feminine nouns.
He is the boy and she is the girl.
Él es el niño y ella es la niña.
The grandfather is from Mexico and the grandmother is from Colombia.
El abuelo es de México y la abuela es de Colombia.

Notice how the article and the ending of the noun match.

Negation and Contrast

To say someone is not something, put no right before the word or phrase you are negating:

You are the brother, not the friend.
Eres el hermano, no el amigo.

Use the word pero (but) to connect contrasting ideas:

The boy is from Mexico, but the girl is from Colombia.
El niño es de México, pero la niña es de Colombia.
He is the friend, but he is not from Mexico.
Él es el amigo, pero no es de México.
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