Nouns with a Fixed Gender
Most Spanish nouns referring to people change gender to match the person (like el profesor and la profesora). However, epicene nouns (sustantivos epicenos) have a fixed grammatical gender, regardless of the person's biological sex.
For instance, words like la víctima (the victim) and la persona (the person) are always feminine, even when referring to a male.
| We located the victim after the collapse. He was very scared. | Localizamos a la víctima después del derrumbe. Estaba muy asustada. |
| What a heroic operation! The boy was the rescued person. | ¡Qué operativo tan heroico! El niño fue la persona rescatada. |
Masculine Fixed-Gender Nouns
Likewise, words like el bebé (the baby), el individuo (the individual), and el sujeto (the subject) are always masculine, even when referring to a female.
| The baby needs assistance. We have to assist her. | El bebé necesita auxilio. Tenemos que auxiliarlo. |
| During the disaster we saw a very calm individual. It was Marta. | Durante el siniestro vimos a un individuo muy tranquilo. Era Marta. |
Strict Adjective Agreement
Because the noun's gender is fixed, it dictates the grammar for the rest of the sentence. Adjectives and pronouns must strictly agree with the noun's grammatical gender, not the biological sex of the person.
If a man is the victim of a collapse, he is described with feminine adjectives to match la víctima. If a woman is a dangerous subject, she takes masculine adjectives to match el sujeto.
| They assisted the victim of the collapse. He was paralyzed. | Auxiliaron a la víctima del derrumbe. Estaba paralizada. |
| If we locate the subject, we have to call the police. She is very aggressive. | Si localizamos al sujeto, tenemos que llamar a la policía. Es muy agresivo. |