Feminine With -a

Forming the Feminine with -a

Level 1

To make many words feminine, change -o to -a (neno → nena) or add -a after a consonant (profesor → profesora).

How It Works

Change -o to -a. neno → nena (boy, girl), fillo → filla (son, daughter), galego → galega (Galician), alto → alta (tall).

Add -a after a consonant. profesor → profesora (teacher), español → española (Spanish), rapaz → rapaza (boy, girl). Nationality words in -és add -a and lose the accent: portugués → portuguesa, francés → francesa.

Many words ending in a stressed vowel add -a. bo → boa (good), avó → avoa (grandfather, grandmother), cru → crúa (raw). Note that avó means grandfather; grandmother is avoa.

A few words in -e change too. Most words in -e have one form for both genders (o estudante, a estudante), but some add -a: presidente → presidenta. See Adjectives With One Form for Both Genders.

Other patterns. Words in -án and -ón have their own feminines, such as irmán → irmá (Feminine of Words in -án and -ón), and a few are irregular, such as actor → actriz and rei → raíña (Irregular Feminine Forms).

This applies to people, animals and adjectives. A noun for a thing has one fixed gender and no feminine form: o libro, a mesa. See Noun Gender.

Examples (6)

  1. Ela é profesora de inglés.

    She is an English teacher.

    Profesor ends in a consonant, so the feminine adds -a.

  2. A miña avoa é portuguesa.

    My grandmother is Portuguese.

    Avó → avoa; portugués → portuguesa, without the accent.

  3. Temos un gato e unha gata.

    We have a male cat and a female cat.

    Gato → gata: -o changes to -a.

  4. O neno é alto e a nena tamén é alta.

    The boy is tall and the girl is tall too.

  5. A sopa está moi boa.

    The soup is very good.

    The feminine of bo is boa.

  6. A miña veciña é española.

    My neighbour is Spanish.

    Veciño → veciña and español → española.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving a job title in the masculine for a woman.

    Ela é profesor de inglés.
    Ela é profesora de inglés.

    Profesor has a feminine form, profesora, and Galician uses it for a woman.

  • Using avó for grandmother.

    A miña avó é portuguesa.
    A miña avoa é portuguesa.

    Avó is the masculine, grandfather. The feminine adds -a: avoa.

  • Keeping the accent of -és in the feminine.

    A miña amiga é portuguésa.
    A miña amiga é portuguesa.

    Portuguesa is stressed on the next-to-last syllable and ends in a vowel, so it needs no written accent.

How It Connects

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

Feminine With -aLevel 1Forming the Feminine with -a

Learn This First

Many person nouns and adjectives form a feminine in -a.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.