Feminine Nouns in -a

Level 1

A final -a usually means a feminine noun.

How It Works

The ending -a is the clearest sign of a feminine noun.

Feminine in -aMeaning
la femnathe woman
la tèrrathe land
la pòrtathe door
la taulathe table
la cadièrathe chair

A few nouns that end in -a are masculine. Learn them one by one: lo problèma (the problem) and lo poèta (the poet).

The adjective that goes with a feminine noun usually ends in -a too: una pòrta nòva (a new door).

Remember that the final a sounds close to o. The spelling still has the a.

Examples (5)

  1. la femna

    the woman

    Femna ends in -a, so it is feminine.

  2. la tèrra

    the land

    Tèrra ends in -a, so it is feminine.

  3. la pòrta

    the door

    Pòrta ends in -a, so it is feminine.

  4. la taula

    the table

    Taula ends in -a, so it is feminine.

  5. lo problèma

    the problem

    A masculine exception: problèma ends in -a but takes lo.

How It Connects

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

Feminine Nouns in -aLevel 1

Learn This First

Nouns in -a are a rule of thumb for feminine nouns, so the idea that every noun has a gender comes first.