2 Gender and gender agreements
2.1 Masculine and feminine
All nouns in Spanish belong to either the masculine (m.) or the feminine (f.) gender. By
‘gender’ we mean a grammatical property which applies to animate and inanimate
notions alike: gender does not necessarily have anything to do with biological gender
or sex. Pronouns must reflect the gender of the noun for which they stand. Adjectives,
articles, possessives and demonstratives must agree in gender with the noun or
pronoun to which they relate.
un chico (m.) alto (m.) a tall boy
La casa (f.) está limpia (f.). The house is clean.
It is important to remember to make such agreements even when the noun is not
overtly present:
¡Está muy rica (f.)! (a comment on a paella (f.))
It’s quite delicious!
Encantada (f.) de conocerle. (when the speaker is female)
Pleased to meet you.
29.4.2 (p. 156)
¿Listas (f. pl.) ya? (speaking to a group of girls)
Ready?
2.2 Plural
Complications may arise with agreements in the plural (pl.) when agreement has to be
made with a group of nouns of different genders. Normally, the masculine plural is
used if the group refers to or involves one or more masculine nouns:
hombres (m.) y mujeres (f.) muy viejos (m. pl.)
very old men and women
Tengo muy buenos amigos (m. pl.).
I have very good friends. (the friends may be male, or a mixture of male
and female)
