Spanish nouns that end in a consonant and refer to inanimate objects are generally masculine, although there are some exceptions. Look at these examples:
Remember that you cannot predict the gender of inanimate objects, it needs to be memorised.
Whatever the gender, they all form their plural by adding -es.
Read and listen to these examples:
El clavel. Los claveles.
The carnation. The carnations.
El portal. Los portales.
The hallway. The hallways.
La coliflor. Las coliflores.
The cauliflower. The cauliflowers.
See also:
- Forming regular masculine and feminine nouns (singular and plural)
- Gender of nouns ending in -umbre, -ión, -dad, -tad, -tis and -sis and their plural
- Gender of living creatures
Zia
Kwiziq community member
3 June 2019
1 reply
Predictability
To me it sounds a bit contradictive in this lesson: first, you say "nouns that end in a consonant and refer to inanimate objects are generally masculine" and then you continue with "you cannot predict the gender of inanimate objects".
I have no problem with having to memorize things, but I think that first part may be confusing to some, so it might be better to just leave it out.
I'm very much enjoying the lessons in general though. ¡Gracias!
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
3 June 2019
3/06/19
Hola Zia,
I understand what you are saying, but with gender in Spanish, we always talk about a specific ending of a word being generally masculine or feminine, although there are exceptions in pretty much all cases. Generally speaking, there are a lot more masculine nouns that end in consonant (except for -d and -z), this is why we chose to use the word "generally", but we always mention any very commonly used noun in the lesson if that is an exception to the rule. We also try to avoid testing on exceptions unless it has specifically been mentioned in the lesson.
We really appreciate your comments and suggestions, and we are glad to hear you are enjoying learning with Kwiziq.
Saludos
Inma