📖LearnModule 1 · Lesson 6 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 2 · ¿El o la? First nouns
¿El o la? Every noun has a gender
Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 6 of 30: Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine: el libro but la mesa. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
el libro
the book
ehl LEE-broh
la mesa
the table
lah MEH-sah
el chico
the boy (teen)
ehl CHEE-koh
la chica
the girl (teen)
lah CHEE-kah
el amigo
the friend (male)
ehl ah-MEE-goh
la amiga
the friend (female)
lah ah-MEE-gah
el parque
the park
ehl PAR-keh
la ciudad
the city
lah syoo-DAHD
el día
the day
ehl DEE-ah
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La regla · The rule
Every Spanish noun is masculine or feminine: el libro but la mesa. Most nouns ending in -o take el and most ending in -a take la, which makes Spanish gender far more guessable than French.
Y también · And also
The word and its article are ONE thing — say el libro, never libro alone. The two exceptions worth knowing on day one are el día and la mano: learn them as a pair.
Ojo · Watch out
el día ends in -a but takes el; la mano ends in -o but takes la. The o/a shortcut is a guide, not a guarantee — the article you learn with the word is the truth.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with el libro.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 6 in Module 1 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.