Noun Gender

Level 1

Every noun has a gender. Most nouns in -o are masculine (o libro) and most in -a are feminine (a casa). Learn every other noun with its article: o leite, a ponte, a flor.

How It Works

Two genders. Galician nouns are either masculine or feminine. The gender shows in the article (o or a) and in the adjectives that go with the noun (Adjective Agreement).

Endings that usually tell you:

  • -o is usually masculine: o libro (the book), o prato (the plate). A few are feminine, such as a tribo (the tribe) and short forms like a foto, a moto.
  • -a is usually feminine: a casa, a mesa. Some very common ones are masculine: o día (the day), o mapa, o problema, o idioma.
  • -axe is feminine: a viaxe (the trip), a paisaxe (the landscape), a mensaxe. The exceptions are o traxe, o paxe and o garaxe.
  • -dade and -ción are feminine: a cidade (the city), a canción (the song).

Endings that do not tell you. Nouns in -e or a consonant can be either gender: o leite (the milk), a ponte (the bridge), o nariz (the nose), a flor (the flower), a man (the hand). Learn each one together with o or a.

Watch for Spanish. Some nouns have a different gender from their Spanish look-alikes: o leite, o sangue, o costume are masculine, while a dor, a cor, a orixe and all the -axe nouns above are feminine. See Gender Differences From Spanish.

For people and many animals, gender usually follows the person: o neno, a nena. See Forming the Feminine With -a.

Examples (6)

  1. O libro está na mesa.

    The book is on the table.

    Libro ends in -o and is masculine; mesa ends in -a and is feminine. Na is en + a.

  2. A ponte é moi vella.

    The bridge is very old.

    Ponte ends in -e, so you learn it as a ponte. The adjective vella is feminine too.

  3. O leite está frío.

    The milk is cold.

    Leite is masculine in Galician, so the adjective is frío.

  4. A flor é amarela.

    The flower is yellow.

    Flor ends in a consonant and is feminine.

  5. A viaxe é longa.

    The trip is long.

    Nouns in -axe are feminine.

  6. O día está moi bonito.

    The day is very nice.

    Día ends in -a but is masculine.

Common Mistakes

  • Giving leite the feminine gender of Spanish leche.

    A leite está fría.
    O leite está frío.

    Leite is masculine in Galician, so both the article and the adjective change.

  • Treating nouns in -axe as masculine.

    O viaxe foi moi longo.
    A viaxe foi moi longa.

    Almost every noun in -axe is feminine. Only o traxe, o paxe and o garaxe are masculine.

  • Assuming every noun in -a is feminine.

    A problema é grave.
    O problema é grave.

    Problema, día, mapa and idioma end in -a but are masculine.

How It Connects

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Noun GenderLevel 1

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