Questions about grammatical (and natural) gender and agreement in the Spanish noun, adjective, and pronoun.
32
votes
3answers
781 views
Why is “agua” masculine in singular form and feminine in plural? “El agua” / “Las aguas”
English
Is there any rule that says that feminine nouns that start with "A" are converted to masculine or is it just done for phonetic (ie beauty) reasons?
Does this happen in all Spanish speaking ...
15
votes
1answer
445 views
¿Por qué es la palabra «mano» femenina?
En español, tenemos una regla en la cual, generalmente, se puede tener fé. Si una palabra termina con -o, es masculina. Sin embargo, palabras que terminan en -e o -a también pueden ser palabras ...
13
votes
3answers
151 views
Is the use of @ instead of 'a' or 'o' in order to refer to both masculine and femenine accepted?
I have seen several times the use of @ instead of 'a' or 'o' for refering masculine and femenine words at the same time. For example:
Hola a tod@s.
Is this an accepted use?
13
votes
1answer
293 views
Why are certain words ending in “a” masculine?
English:
I'm referring to words like "el tema" or "el lema". Most words ending in "a" are feminine.
This is actually the opposite of a similar question,
¿Por qué es la palabra ...
6
votes
2answers
249 views
¿Cuál es el diminutivo de mano, foto, moto, etc.?
Para las palabras que son femeninas pero terminan en o, ¿cuál es la forma diminutiva? O sea, ¿es el diminutivo de foto fotito o fotita? Y para mano, ¿es manito o manita? En el caso de mano, creo que ...
6
votes
3answers
428 views
Determining gender of words ending in “e”
When learning Spanish, there are basic rules taught about word gender: words ending in o are usually masculine, words ending in a are usually feminine.
What about words ending in e? Are there any ...
5
votes
3answers
433 views
¡Buenas! greeting in morning
Another question brings up the fact that in many countries, ¡Buenas! is used as a greeting (as an abbreviation of Buenas tardes or Buenas noches). In regions where this is the case, what should be ...
5
votes
3answers
129 views
¿Por qué mis amigas dicen “listo” en vez de “lista” cuando están listas para ir?
He tenido la impresión de que debo de usar "lista" cuando me refiero a una mujer. Por ejemplo:
Ella está lista para ir.
Pero es común oír a mis amigas decir solo listo en este contexto. ¿Por ...
5
votes
2answers
84 views
Convention for group-recited, gender-specific, self-referencing pronouns
What convention (or conventions) exist for words that are recited by a group of people, but refer to oneself using gender-specific pronouns? The most common context is probably group worship in a ...
5
votes
1answer
69 views
What adjective ending to use with “algo masculino y/o algo femenino”
When you're using y/o with options of different genders, what's the correct ending to use for an adjective that modifies both?
Specifically, I was writing:
Si entras un usuario y/o contraseña ...
5
votes
3answers
122 views
¿Cómo se usa la forma femenina de tema?
He leído que la palabra tema se puede usar en la forma femenina: la tema. ¿Qué significa la tema, y cómo se usa? ¿Es común? ¿Cuál es la diferencia entre el tema y la tema?
4
votes
2answers
579 views
What are the differences between “el mar” and “la mar”?
Another question touched on this issue, but I wanted to ask in more detail. Mar is a noun that can be masculine or feminine. I have heard that there are subtle differences in connotations between the ...
4
votes
2answers
77 views
Género de derecha/o e izquierda
¿Por qué las palabras derecha e izquierda (en oraciones como "doblar a la derecha") tienen el género femenino y no el masculino? Y ¿por qué derecho (en masculino) significa "recto," pero derecha (en ...
4
votes
1answer
72 views
Using female nouns to refer to males, how are adjectives affected?
Here is an English example where someone is referring to a man as a turtle:
That turtle is slow. He is angry because he will not win. (calling that man a turtle)
In Spanish, the referenced ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
Gender illusions?
This is a multiple question about genders.
Recently I just wondered about this subject while writing and thought:
Why is juez or concejal considered masculine while agente and detective are not?
...
3
votes
3answers
327 views
Las palabras definidas como genero ambiguo como “internet” ¿se deben utilizar con artículo femenino o masculino?
Para el caso de la palabra "internet", tenía un profesor en preparatoria que comentaba que debería ser "la internet" puesto que "internet" es "la red de redes". Sin embargo aquí en México cuando ...
2
votes
2answers
96 views
Identifying Male and Female words
Are there any tips to quickly identify words in Spanish as 'male' or 'female'?
I am a new learner and have trouble with this.
Thanks for all your help!
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Why is the phrase “¡Hasta la próxima!” feminine?
Español
Trad. de la pregunta: ¿Por qué es femenina la frase "¡Hasta la próxima!"?
En la frase "¡hasta la próxima!, ¿por qué el género es femenino en lugar de masculino? ¿Es el género arbitrario, o ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views
Are there other “feminine only” adjectives in Spanish besides “embarazada”?
In most if not all Spanish dictionaries I've checked, embarazada is only ever listed in its feminine form unlike all other adjectives I can think of.
Is this semantic because it's considered that ...
2
votes
2answers
143 views
What is the rule for cualquier, cualquiera, and cualesquiera?
I remember learning the rule for when to use cualquier, cualquiera, and cualesquiera, but was always confused about the exact differences. When should each be used, and what role do number, gender, ...
