Nouns ...                                                            

In Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine.  Most nouns ending in -o,-or, -ma, -l, -r, -s are masculine and most of those ending in -a, -d, -ad, -iσn are feminine.

Masculine                                             Feminine

El calor – heat                                       la vida – life

El dinero – money                                  la rosa – rose

El amor – love                                        la jaula – cage

El otoρo – Fall                                       la verdad – truth

Many masculine nouns become feminine by changing the –o ending to –a or by adding an –a if the words ends in a consonant. 

  Masculine                                             Feminine

El escritor – the writer                            la escritora – the woman writer

El doctor – the doctor                              la doctora – the woman doctor

El hijo – the son                                       la hija – the daughter

El muchacho – the young man                  la muchacha – the young woman

  Exceptions

A few common words ending in –o are feminine

La mano – the hand

La foto (la fotografνa) – the photo, picture

La moto (la motocicleta) – the motorcycle

By the same token, a few common words ending in –a are masculine:

  El dνa – the day                                             el idioma – the language

El poema – the poem                                      el poeta – the poet

El drama – the play, drama                              el problema – the problem

El fantasma – the ghost                                   el mapa – the map         

  Nouns of Invariable Gender

  Some nouns can be either masculine or feminine depending on their content or reference, without undergoing any formal alterations.

  Masculine                                                         Feminine

El artista – the male artist                                 la artista – the woman artist 

El estudiante – the student                                la estudiante – the female student

El joven – the young man                                   la joven – the young woman
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