The Ultimate Spanish Gender Cheatsheet

🛵 Almost all -o nouns are masculine: el caso, el brazo, el hilo, el nido, el trigo.

There are three common feminine exceptions:

• La mano comes from Latin manus, which was already feminine.
• La foto is short for la fotografía.
• La moto is short for la motocicleta.

An easy way to remember them: imagine a photo of a motorcycle in your hand.

Another possible exception is la radio; see the “Special” section. Less frequent shortened feminine nouns include la disco and la polio (la discoteca, la poliomielitis).

🌸 Final -r strongly favors el:

• el amor, el dolor, el honor, el humor, el olor, el sabor, el valor
• el mar, el lugar, el hogar, el azar, el azúcar
• el taller, el deber, el poder, el placer, el carácter, el amanecer

Three common feminine exceptions to remember are la flor, la labor, and la mujer.

🖼️ Final -n strongly favors masculine outside the -ión or -zón families, explained separately in the “Feminine” and “Mixed” sections.

• el jardín, el violín, el pantalón, el cinturón
• el cajón, el sillón, el botón, el jabón, el balcón, el ratón
• el crimen, el origen, el examen, el volumen, el resumen, el régimen

The main feminine exceptions are la imagen, la orden (meaning-dependent), and la sartén (regional differences). Person nouns such as el/la joven are covered in the “Special” section.

🍯 Most final -l nouns are masculine: el animal, el papel, el árbol, el hospital, el perfil, el túnel, el caracol.

You can memorize the six popular feminine exceptions as three sound pairs:

• la miel, la piel
• la sal, la señal
• la cárcel, la catedral

🦠 With the exception of the -is family covered in the “Mixed” section, most final -s nouns are masculine: el gas, el mes, el país, el caos, el virus.

Don’t forget that some -s words need a written accent; without it, the stress would fall on the next-to-last syllable: el revés, el estrés, el interés, el autobús.

Words made from a verb plus a plural noun are almost always masculine: el abrelatas, el cumpleaños, el lanzallamas, el microondas, el parabrisas, el paraguas, el portaviones, el saltamontes.

For a useful health-themed exception pair, remember la tos and la diabetes.

🦣 There are not many words ending in -t in Spanish. Many are loanwords, and almost all of them are masculine: el chat, el robot, el tarot, el ballet, el carnet, el mamut, el déficit, el hábitat, el básquet.

One feminine exception is la tablet, a loanword used instead of the Spanish equivalent la tableta in some regions.

🎋 This is another category made up mostly of loanwords, with just a few common examples: el menú, el bambú, el tabú, el espíritu.

The one feminine exception is la tribu. It comes from Latin tribus, which was already feminine.

⚖️ Nouns ending in -y are masculine: el rey, el buey, el whisky, el hobby, el pony.

The one feminine exception is la ley.

⏰ Final -j words are extremely rare. The only one you’re likely to see, even in advanced Spanish texts, is el reloj.

🪐 The -a ending has several smaller groups with their own exceptions, but the sheer number of words makes it mostly feminine overall.

Nouns ending in -pa are almost always feminine: la ropa, la culpa, la copa, la capa, la papa, la sopa, la chispa, la tapa. The three exceptions are el mapa, el papá, and el papa (the Pope).

The same goes for -ta: most nouns are feminine, as in la cuenta, la puerta, la punta, la pata, and la meta. The exceptions include el planeta, the meaning-changing el/la cometa, and person nouns such as el/la atleta. See the “Special” section for more details.

The three exceptions for -ia/ía are el día, el mediodía, and el tranvía. Another group discussed in the “Special” section can take both: el/la espía, guía, policía. Otherwise, these endings are feminine: la ciencia, la gracia, la alegría, la sandía.

A reliable feminine ending is -za: la tristeza, la belleza, la venganza.

The -ma ending and loanwords have longer exception lists. You’ll find those in the Mixed section of this guide.

⚰️ The -d ending is overwhelmingly feminine and can be divided into four groups:

1. A small group of “plain -d” words: la sed, la red, la pared, la merced, la salud
2. -dad words like la ciudad, la edad, la verdad, la cantidad, la necesidad, la seguridad, la felicidad
3. -tad words like la amistad, la lealtad, la mitad, la voluntad
4. -tud words like la actitud, la inquietud, la juventud, la lentitud, la solicitud, la virtud

The three masculine exceptions you’re most likely to encounter are el césped, el récord, and el ataúd. Another one is a person noun that can be both: el/la huésped.

✈️ Nouns ending in -ión are especially common for concepts, and almost all of them are feminine: la acción, la región, la reunión, la relación, la opinión, la dirección, etc.

The masculine exceptions are:

• More common: el avión, el camión, el guion, el escorpión, el anfitrión
• Less common: el aluvión, el ostión, el sarampión

🐠 Final -z tends towards feminine: la paz, la luz, la vez, la voz. This includes many -ez nouns that describe abstract concepts: la niñez, la madurez, la vejez, la rapidez, la timidez, la validez.

There aren’t many masculine exceptions: el pez, el arroz, el maíz, el matiz, el lápiz, el disfraz, el ajedrez.

☕️ While most nouns ending in -e are masculine, there are dozens of feminine words with this ending.

For most of them, there are no hard rules: it’s el valle but la calle, el norte but la suerte, so you’ll simply have to memorize them one by one. Compare:

• el ambiente, el presente, el accidente, el continente vs. la gente, la fuente, la serpiente, la corriente
• el nombre, el timbre, el cobre vs. la liebre, la fiebre, el hambre (feminine despite el; see the Special section)

Fortunately, there are some patterns:

1. -aje is one of the safest endings in Spanish: you can almost always assume it’s masculine. Examples include el viaje, el pasaje, el traje, el paisaje, el mensaje, el reportaje, and el aprendizaje.
2. Stressed -é nouns are generally masculine loanwords: el té, el café, el paté, el comité.
3. -porte is also masculine with no exceptions: el aporte, el deporte, el soporte, el transporte.
4. -que is almost always masculine: el bosque, el parque, el choque, el cheque, el ataque. The two exceptions are la psique and la boutique.
5. Common words ending in -umbre are all feminine: la cumbre, la legumbre, la costumbre, la incertidumbre.
6. -ie is reliably feminine: la serie, la especie, la superficie. The exception is el pie, along with some loanwords written with English spelling: el/la hippie, el zombie (Spanish spelling: el/la jipi, el zombi).

👻 There are two big -ma groups. The masculine group is mostly Greek-derived, and many of its words sound somewhat academic or philosophical:

• el clima, el lema, el tema, el trauma, el drama, el dogma, el síntoma
• el poema, el problema, el dilema, el sistema, el emblema, el esquema
• el aroma, el diploma, el idioma, el programa, el panorama
• el enigma, el estigma, el fantasma

The feminine group is dominated by more everyday words:

• la crema, la pluma, la goma, la llama, la espuma
• la cama, la calma, la fama, la rama, la trama
• la forma, la reforma, la plataforma

A tricky case is asma: it’s feminine but takes el because of the stressed a (see the Special section).

🧪 The -is ending is a mixed bag. Medical terms ending in -itis and -osis are reliably feminine:

• la artritis, la bronquitis, la hepatitis
• la dosis, la neurosis, la diagnosis

The rest are less predictable and mostly have to be memorized:

• el iris, el oasis, el tenis, el brindis
• el análisis, el énfasis, el paréntesis, el apocalipsis
• la crisis, la pelvis, la tesis, la síntesis, la hipótesis

🔀 The -zón family is also mixed, but its two groups form useful associations:

1. Nouns for concrete things tend to be masculine: el corazón, el buzón, el tazón, el pezón, el caparazón.

2. Nouns that can be paired with verbs tend to be feminine: la razón, la sazón, la hinchazón, la picazón, la quemazón (razonar, sazonar, hinchar, picar, quemar).

🐨 Borrowed nouns tend to be masculine:

• Animals: el gorila, el koala, el panda, el puma
• From Japanese: el anime, el karaoke, el manga, el sushi, el tsunami
• From Sanskrit: el nirvana, el yoga, el chakra
• Stressed final -é words: el té, el café, el paté, el comité
• Others: el menú, el sofá, el whisky, el vodka, el tequila

There are some feminine loanwords too: la boutique, la baguette, la élite, la pizza, la tempura, la llama, and la alpaca. One unusual case is sauna: it’s la sauna in Spain, while el sauna is more common in Latin America.

Many popular feminine loanwords are recent borrowings from English. Their gender is influenced by an existing Spanish noun:

• la playlist (la lista)
• la sitcom (la serie)
• la webcam (la cámara)
• la web (la página)
• la app (la aplicación)
• la startup (la empresa)

Finally, foreign proper names can also take their gender from implied nouns:

• el (río) Volga
• el (vino) Borgoña
• el (monte) Etna
• las (islas) Azores
• una (avioneta) Cessna
• un (automóvil) Mazda, but una (camioneta) Mazda

One common word with variable gender is Wi-Fi: some regions use el wifi, while others use la (red) wifi.

💧 A feminine noun beginning with a stressed a- or ha- uses el or un when the article comes directly before it:

• el agua, águila, ala, alma, alza, alga, ancla
• el ave, arca, arpa, arma, asma, aula
• el hacha, el hada, el hambre

There are three rules to keep in mind:

1. The adjective follows the feminine gender: el agua fría, un águila blanca, el asma crónica.
2. In the plural, the article returns to its regular feminine form: las aguas, las águilas, unas armas.
3. If there’s another word between the article and the noun, the article also takes its regular feminine form: la misma arma, la pequeña águila.

👩‍✈️ Many nouns for people keep the same form, with the article showing the person’s gender.

Some are exceptions to the usual -o/-a pattern:

• -o: el/la modelo, piloto, soldado, testigo
• -a: el/la colega, monarca, ninja
• -ía: el/la espía, guía, policía

Other common endings usually work with both el and la:

• -ta: el/la astronauta, atleta, poeta
• -ista: el/la artista, periodista, turista
• -ante / -ente: el/la cantante, estudiante, agente, gerente
• Others: el/la joven, líder, rival, rehén, mártir, huésped, cónyuge

With these nouns, adjectives follow the person’s gender: la piloto cansada, la cantante famosa.

A few nouns have a fixed grammatical gender regardless of the people they refer to. La persona, la víctima, and la gente are always feminine, and adjectives stay feminine too: Tomás es una persona muy tranquila. The always-masculine counterparts include el personaje and el ángel.

👑 Most -o nouns for people change to -a as expected: el amigo / la amiga, el abogado / la abogada, el médico / la médica, el ministro / la ministra.

Some nouns ending in -e or -ente change too: el jefe / la jefa, el monje / la monja, el presidente / la presidenta.

Nouns ending in -or, -ón, -ín, -és, and -án also usually add -a. The written accent disappears when it is no longer needed: el director / la directora, el campeón / la campeona, el bailarín / la bailarina, el francés / la francesa, el capitán / la capitana.

A smaller number of nouns have a separate feminine form: el rey / la reina, el actor / la actriz, el alcalde / la alcaldesa.

🗂️ Sometimes a noun’s gender comes from the category it belongs to rather than its ending.

These groups are masculine:

• Days and months: el lunes, un viernes frío, enero pasado
• Numbers: el uno, un seis, el veinte
• Colors used as nouns: el rojo, el azul, el verde
• Infinitives used as nouns: el comer, el fumar, el saber
• Musical notes: el do, el fa, el la

Letters of the alphabet are feminine, including a: la a, la be, la hache, la omega.

☄️ With some nouns, changing the article changes the meaning. Treat each combination of article and noun as a separate word:

• el capital → financial capital; la capital → a capital city
• el caza → fighter plane; la caza → hunting
• el cólera → cholera; la cólera → anger
• el coma → coma; la coma → comma
• el cometa → comet; la cometa → kite
• el corte → cut; la corte → court
• el cura → priest; la cura → cure
• el disco → disc; la disco → nightclub
• el final → ending; la final → final match
• el frente → front; la frente → forehead
• el guardia → guard or police officer; la guardia → guard duty or female police officer
• el manga → manga comic; la manga → sleeve
• el mañana → tomorrow; the future; la mañana → morning
• el naranja → the color orange; la naranja → orange (fruit)
• el orden → order (arrangement); la orden → command or religious order
• el papa → the Pope; la papa → potato
• el parte → report; la parte → part
• el pendiente → earring; la pendiente → slope

🍏 With many fruit trees, the tree is masculine in -o and its fruit is feminine in -a:

• el manzano / la manzana – apple tree/fruit
• el cerezo / la cereza – cherry
• el ciruelo / la ciruela – plum
• el almendro / la almendra – almond
• el castaño / la castaña – chestnut

Orange splits to three words: el naranjo is the tree, la naranja is the fruit, and el naranja is the color.

The fig pair is inverted: the tree is la higuera and the fruit is el higo.

🦆 These -o / -a pairs may look like masculine and feminine forms of the same noun, but changing the final vowel usually creates a completely different word. Learn each word with its article and meaning:

• el cargo → position or responsibility; la carga → load or cargo
• el caso → case; la casa → house
• el cuento → story; la cuenta → bill or account
• el filo → cutting edge; la fila → line or row
• el foco → focus or spotlight; la foca → seal
• el giro → turn; la gira → tour
• el marco → frame; la marca → mark or brand
• el palo → stick or pole; la pala → shovel
• el pato → duck; la pata → leg or paw
• el paso → step; la pasa → raisin
• el pozo → well; la poza → pool or pond
• el puerto → port; la puerta → door
• el punto → point or dot; la punta → tip or point
• el rayo → ray or lightning bolt; la raya → line or stripe
• el tramo → section or stretch; la trama → storyline

There is one partial exception: in some contexts, la pata can mean a female duck.

🎨 Arte is usually masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural: el arte moderno, but las bellas artes.

A few nouns vary by region or register:

• Radio: la radio dominates in Spain and the Southern Cone. Usage is more mixed in Peru and Bolivia, while el radio is common in countries such as Mexico.
• Sartén: la sartén is standard in Spain and Argentina, but it is masculine in Mexico and varies elsewhere.
• Mar: normally el mar; la mar is also standard in seafaring language and expressions such as alta mar and hacerse a la mar. The plural is los mares.
• Azúcar: Usually el azúcar, but the adjective may be masculine or feminine: el azúcar moreno/morena. La azúcar also occurs regionally; the plural favors los azúcares.
• Calor: el calor is the general standard; la calor survives in regional and expressive speech.