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Beginner Level Nouns in Spanish Unlike English, Spanish has only 2 genders. All nouns are either masculine or feminine. Nouns like ‘book’ which are considered to have no gender in English (neuter gender) are either masculine or feminine in Spanish. When you learn a new word in Spanish it is important to learn what gender it is as well. For example when you learn that ‘mesa’ means table, try to remember it as ‘la mesa’ so you also remember that it is a feminine noun. It is hard to memorize the gender of every single word you learn so here are some general rules that will help you.  GENERAL RULES FOR GENDER IN SPANISH  In general, nouns ending in –o are masculine and nouns ending in –a are feminine (although there are some exceptions).

Masculine
El muchacho The boy
El chico The boy
El perro The dog
El gato The cat
El hermano The brother
El tío The uncle
El abuelo The grandfather
El libro The book
El plato The dish
El vaso The glass
El carro The car
El pollo The chicken
El toro The bull
Now some examples of feminine nouns in Spanish:
Feminine
La muchacha The girl
La chica The girl
La perra The dog
La gata The cat
La hermana The girl
La tía The aunt
La abuela The grandmother
La playa The beach
La plata The silver
La mesa The table
La puerta The door
La silla The chair
La casa  The house
‘El’ and ‘La’ are the Spanish definite articles. The Spanish indefinite articles are ‘un’ and ‘una’. El libro – the book Un libro – a book La playa – the beach Una playa – a beach El toro – the bull Un toro – a bull La casa – the house Una casa – a house There are some exceptions to the rule above. The following are some exceptions to the previous rule:
Masculine
El problema The problem
El sistema The system
El clima The climate
El tema The theme/subject
El día The day
El programa The program
El mapa The map
El agua The water
 
Feminine
La mano The hand
La radio The radio
Some nouns change their ending depending on whether they are masculine or feminine:
Masculine
El maestro The teacher
El profesor The teacher/professor
El bailador The dancer
El mesero The waiter
El camarero The waiter
El actor The actor
Feminine
La maestra The teacher
La profesora The teacher/professor
La bailadora The dancer
La mesera The waitress
La camarera The waitress
La actriz The actress
Some nouns remain the same whether they are masculine or feminine:
El periodista La periodista The journalist
El socialista La socialista The socialist
El pianista La pianista The pianist
El dentista La dentista The dentist
El piloto La piloto The pilot
El novelista La novelista The novelist/writer
El artista La artista The artist
  Spanish Words, Common Phrases, and Grammar  
English Spanish Pronunciation
Good morning. Buenos días. booEHN-os DEE-as
Good afternoon. Buenas tardes. booEHN-as TAR-dehs
Good evening. (greeting) Buenas noches. booEHN-as NO-chehs
Hello, my name is John. Hola, me llamo Juan. OH-la meh YA-mo Wahn
What is your name? ¿Cómo se llama usted? KOH-moh seh YA-mah oos-TEHD
How are you? ¿Cómo está usted? KOH-moh ehs-TA oos-TEHD
I am fine. Estoy bien. ehs-TOY bee-EHN
Nice to meet you. Mucho gusto. MOO-choh GOOS-toh
Goodbye. Adiós. ah-dee-OHS
See you later. Hasta luego. AHS-ta looEH-go
I am lost. Where is the restroom? Estoy perdido. ¿Dónde está el baño? ehs-TOY pehr-DEE-doh. DOHN-deh ehs-TA el BAH-neeo
Excuse me. Con permiso. OR Perdóname kohn pehr-MEE-soh OR pehr-DOH-nah-meh
Please. Por favor. pohr fah-VOR
Thank you. Gracías. gra-SEE-ahs
I’m sorry. Lo siento. low see-EHN-to
Bless you. Salud. sah-LOOD
You are welcome (it was nothing). De nada. deh NA-da
How much does it cost? ¿Cuánto cuesta? kooAN-to KWEHS-ta
How many are there? ¿Cuántos hay? kooAN-tohs eye
There are many. Hay muchos. eye MOO-chohs
Do you want to buy this? ¿Quiere comprarlo usted? kee-EHR-eh kohm-PRAR-loh oos-TEHD
What time is it? ¿Qué hora es? keh OR-ah ehs
How do you say maybe in Spanish? ¿Cómo se dice maybe en Español? KOH-mo seh DEE-seh maybe ehn ehs-pahn-YOL
Yes. Sí. see
No. No. no
I do not understand. Yo no comprendo. yoh no kom-PREN-doh
Would you speak slower, please. Por favor, habla mas despacio. pohr fah-VOR, AH-blah mahs dehs-PAHS-ee-oh
Who? ¿Quièn? kee-EHN
Why? ¿Por què? pohr keh
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