-a

Gender After a Consonant

Level 1

Many consonant-final masculine forms add -a, sometimes with a stem change.

How It Works

Alt becomes alta and verd becomes verda. A noun referring to a person can behave similarly: amic/amiga. The adjective must agree with the noun regardless of the person's grammatical role in the sentence.

Do not assume that the final consonant is always preserved. Compare amic/amiga and nebot/neboda with blanc/blanca and públic/pública. Sound and spelling patterns belong to particular words and families.

Some consonant-final adjectives have one gender form: gran and fàcil remain unchanged in the feminine singular. Their number can still change. Learn the feminine alongside the masculine rather than treating added -a as a universal rule.

Examples (3)

  1. La paret és alta.

    The wall is tall.

  2. És una amiga simpàtica.

    She is a nice friend.

  3. La porta és verda.

    The door is green.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-aLevel 1Gender After a Consonant

Learn This First

Recognize the gender contrast the feminine ending expresses.

Words in This Pattern

-a-a