gÉnero Y nÚmero

1. gÉnero Y nÚmero repaso

2. gÉnero • Spanish nouns have gender and number (singular and plural). • Some Spanish nouns end in “o”, which typically means the word is masculine; or “a”, which typically means the word is feminine. • THERE IS AN EXCEPTION: words that end in “ma” are usually masculine. E.g. el tema, el idioma, el programa, el problema • Some nouns end in letters other than “o” or “a”. You just have to memorize the gender of these nouns.

3. gÉnero • Masculine nouns need masculine adjectives. • El coche negro • Un hombre gordo • Feminine nouns need feminine adjectives. • La mujerbonita • Unamiradafría

4. nÚmero • When a noun is plural, all of the adjectives that modify it have to be plural as well. • If the noun and its adjectives are masculine and end in “o”, you add “s” to the end: los escritoriosnegros • If the noun and its adjectives are feminine and end in “a”, you add “s” to the end: unas mesas antiguas • The same thing goes for any noun or adjective ending in an unstressed vowel: los nombresgrandesLa salsa picante-> las salsas picantes • Un temainteresante->unostemasinteresantes

5. nÚmero • If a noun or adjective ends in a consonant, add “es” to make it plural. • E.g. la florazul -> lasfloresazules • Un programa formal-> unosprogramasformales

6. nÚmero • When a Spanish adjective describes two nouns, one feminine and one masculine, the masculine plural form is used. • La casa y el coche son rojos. The house and the car are red.

7. www.wikipedia.org

8. EXCEPTION: nationality adjectives. • E.g. inglés->ingleses • inglesa->inglesas

9. gÉnero, nÚmero • Remember that we show gender and number in our article adjectives as well. • The- masculine, singular- “el” • The- masculine, plural- “los” • The- feminine, singular- “la” • The-feminine, plural- “las”

10. gÉnero, nÚmero • A- masculine, singular- “un” (this is also what we use when we put the number “one” in front of a noun). • A- masculine, plural- “unos” • A- feminine, singular- “una” • A-feminine, plural- “unas”

11. gÉnero, nÚmero • Another set of adjectives that are important to know: DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES: • Can touch: • This- este, esta, estoThese-estos, estas, • Can’t touch: • That-ese, esa, esoThose-esos, esas • Waaaaayyyy far away: • That-aquél, aquella Those- aquellos, aquellas

12. gÉnero, nÚmero • Be careful! Many people make the mistake of using too many modifiers before the noun. • E.g. Mi la casa • Su el carro • Another common mistake: showing possession in front of the noun…NO! NO! • Miabuela’s casa-DUMB • La casa de mi abuela-SMART!

13. Where do the adjectives go? • Spanish adjectives normally follow the noun they are describing: • La manzanaverdethe green apple • un librodificíla difficult book • However, Spanish adjectives can sometimes be used before a noun, when they describe something intrinsic or given. • la blancanievethe white snow • el primer hijothe first son/child

14. Where do the adjectives go? • Be aware of the following anomalies when Spanish adjectives are placed before the noun: • Some male singular adjectives drop the final –o: • Bueno->buen • Malo->mal • Uno-> un • Primero->primer • Tercero->tercer

15. Where do the adjectives go? • Some Spanish adjectives drop the –o and add an accent: • algunosome, any - algúndinerosome money • ningunono, none - ningúndinerono money • ciento100 drops the –o before masculine or feminine plural nouns: • cienaños100 years • grande changes to gran before either a feminine or masculine noun. • el gran opera the great opera • la gran mujerthe great woman

16. And be careful! Some adjectives change meaning depending on where they are placed: http://www.learn-spanish-help.com/spanish-adjectives.html

17. Let’s Practice • These blue eyes • A funny person • My crazy hair • The lucky dog • Some strange things • Another (nuevo) rainy day

18. Let’s Practice • That (way over there) green frog (rana, sapo) • Her beloved (caro) boyfriend • Those poor, unfortunate souls (almas) • A pure pain • The only child • Some old friends of mine