The Language Heretic´s Micro Class

14 April 2005

Modifying Unusual Noun Gender: Spanish nouns which have their origins in the Greek language often end in -ma, -pa, -ta.  Although you might expect these nouns to be feminine in Spanish (because of the "a" ending), they are not.  They are always masculine gender, except when they refer specifically to a woman. Some examples: el mapa                the map                                                              el programa               the program el tema                 the theme                                                           el teorema                  the theorem el drama              the drama                                                           el diploma                  the diploma el astronauta      the (male) astronaut                     BUT            la astronauta              the (female) astronaut Although not reflective of the Greek endings above of -ma, -pa, -ta, there are some other nouns which end in simply "a" which are also always masculine: el día                    the day                                                                 el cura                         the priest These nouns, just like all other nouns, can be modified by use of adjectives.  As we already know, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.  So, how do we modify these most unusual nouns of Greek and other origins that carry endings which don´t match their genders? Any adjective which precedes these nouns must agree in number and must reflect masculine gender.  So, for example, we say "buenos días", not "buenas días".  Also, if it´s "another day", we would say "otro día", and NOT "otra día". Likewise, we would say "el mapa viejo" (the old map) or  "el drama serio" (the serious drama).  Also, as in the case with "astronauta" where the person referred to could be either masculine or feminine, we find, "el primer astronauta" (the first male astronaut, Alan Shepard, Jr.)  and/or "la primera astronauta" (the first woman astronaut, Sally Ride). The same logic applies to many nouns ending in -ista, in that these take masculine endings on adjectives where the noun is used in a masculine sense and a feminine ending on adjectives where the noun is used in a feminine sense. For example: el artista              the (male) artist                              BUT            la artista                     the (female) artist el periodista       the (male) newspaper reporter   BUT            la periodista              the (female) newspaper reporter 10 False Cognates You Should Know: asistir                         to attend quitar                          to remove, to take away gracioso                     funny desmayo                    faint editor                          publisher ignorar                       to not know something jubilación                  retirement realizar                      to achieve a goal, to complete something apología                    eulogy, defense confección                handiwork

Copyright 2005 L. A. Adams All rights reserved.   The term "The Language Heretic" is a registered trademark of L. A. Adams www.thelanguageheretic.com         The Language Heretic´s Super Crash Course in Spanish Conversation & Culture GET BY in Spanish in One to Three Weeks