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Whether a noun is singular or plural generally depends on the referent of the noun, with singular nouns typically referring to one being and plural nouns to multiple. In this way, nouns differ from other Spanish words that show number contrast (i.e., adjectives, determiners, and verbs), which vary in number to agree with nouns. [27]
The usually-masculine form el is used instead of la before feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a (or rarely, au) sound (as well as, in principle, ai although such words are almost never found in practice):
In Spanish, adjectives agree with what they refer to in terms of both plurality (singular/plural) and grammatical gender (masculine/feminine). For example, taza (cup) is feminine, so "the red cup" is la taza roj a , but vaso (glass) is masculine, so "the red glass" is el vaso roj o .
Every Spanish noun has a specific gender, either masculine or feminine, in the context of a sentence. Generally, nouns referring to males or male animals are masculine, while those referring to females are feminine. [1] [2] In terms of importance, the masculine gender is the default or unmarked, while the feminine gender is marked or distinct. [2]
In languages with only masculine and feminine genders, the dummy pronoun may be the masculine third person singular, as in the French for "it's raining": il pleut (where il means "he", or "it" when referring to masculine nouns); although some languages use the feminine, as in the equivalent Welsh sentence: mae hi'n bwrw glaw (where the dummy ...
before masculine singular nouns; also used in place of una in certain environments (same rules apply to veintiuno ("twenty-one")) Apocopic forms are used even when the word does not come immediately before the noun: algún fresco pan ("some fresh bread"), el primer gran árbol ("the first big tree"), ningún otro hombre ("no other man"), etc.
The three genders of Latin were simplified into two (masculine and feminine), with neuter disappearing in all but demonstratives, pronouns, and articles; unlike the other two, the neuter refers to abstract ideas or concepts, when there is no noun being referred to, and is modified by the masculine singular of an adjective, such as lo bueno ...
Articles, possessives and other determinants also decline for number and (only in the singular) for gender, with plural determinants being the same for both genders. This normally produces three forms: one for masculine singular nouns, one for feminine singular nouns, and another for plural nouns of either gender: Definite article: le, la, les