El agua, la mano, el mapa. Nouns that break the rules and how to handle them.
el agua (water) — but: las aguas, el agua fría (feminine adjective!)
el águila (eagle) — but: las águilas, el águila negra
el alma (soul) — but: las almas
el hambre (hunger) — but: mucha hambre (feminine!)
el aula (classroom) — but: las aulas
el arma (weapon) — but: las armas
la agua sounds bad → el agua sounds better
But: la amiga is fine (stress is on -mi-, not on a-)
Rule: only when the A/HA is STRESSED: el águila, but la araña
| Word | Gender | Why |
|---|---|---|
| el problema | Masculine | Greek origin (-ma) |
| el sistema | Masculine | Greek origin (-ma) |
| el tema | Masculine | Greek origin (-ma) |
| el programa | Masculine | Greek origin (-ma) |
| el mapa | Masculine | Greek origin |
| el día | Masculine | Latin origin |
| el sofá | Masculine | Arabic origin |
| el clima | Masculine | Greek origin (-ma) |
| Word | Gender |
|---|---|
| la mano | Feminine (most important exception!) |
| la radio | Feminine (short for radiodifusión) |
| la foto | Feminine (short for fotografía) |
| la moto | Feminine (short for motocicleta) |
| Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|
| el capital (money/capital) | la capital (capital city) |
| el orden (order/arrangement) | la orden (command/order) |
| el frente (front/battlefront) | la frente (forehead) |
| el cura (priest) | la cura (cure) |
| el papa (the Pope) | la papa (potato — Latin America) |
| el cometa (comet) | la cometa (kite) |
1. El agua is actually _____ gender.
2. El problema is _____.
3. La mano is _____.
4. El mapa is _____.
5. El día is _____.
6. El capital = money. La capital = _____.
7. El cura = priest. La cura = _____.
8. La foto is feminine because it's short for _____.
9. "El águila negra" — negra is feminine because águila is _____.
10. Greek -ma words are usually _____.
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