There are special nouns in the Spanish vocabulary, that can produce some confusion. In this lesson we are going to explore two groups of these nouns.
el ave – las aves
There is a list of nouns that end in -a, and their gender is undoubtedly feminine, but they require a masculine article.
el agua – the water
el ave – the bird
el alma – the soul
el aula – the classroom
These nouns have two common features – they are relatively short, and they begin with a.
It’s not a gender exception, as el sofá or el día. The gender remains as it should be. This is more like an article exception.
The tricky part is that this happens only when a noun is in singular form.
el ave, un ave
But: las aves, unas aves
el agua, un agua
But: las aguas
el aula, un aula
But: las aulas, unas aulas
The rest of the elements, that can be related to nouns, such as pronouns and adjectives, don’t change.
muchas aves
esta agua
nuestra aula
To be precise, the exception is only true for the articles la and una, but for the undetermined and negative pronouns both options are possible:
alguna aula = algún aula – any classroom
ninguna ave = ningún ave – no bird
The reason is that, these pronouns are derived from the articles un, una, but there is no strict agreement on how to treat them with this type of words.
Maybe at some point in history, the right spelling una ave and la agua, started to sound redundant and ugly, and it turned out to be un ave and el agua.
El agua está fría — The water is cold
El aula es pequeña — The classroom is small
Have a look at more nouns of the kind:
un águila — an eagle
un hacha — an axe
un asa — a handle
un arma – a weapon
el hambre – the hunger
el área – the area
un hada – a fairy
El asa de la sartén está quemada – The frying pan handle is burnt
El arma blanca — The cold weapon
La búsqueda se produce por toda el área – The search is being performed throughout the whole area
El hada convierte la calabaza en una carroza – The fairy turns the pumpkin into a carriage
Try it yourself:
The white eagle flys above the mountains
I have a new axe
The handle is too small
The handles are too small
This tree is the soul of the tribe
There are many weapons in the world
The weapon is destroyed
This weapon is destroyed
I feel the hunger
I feel much hunger
Not all short words that start with a are exceptional. The list presented above is almost complete.
un paraguas, un lavavajillas
There is one more special type of words in Spanish. These are compound nouns. They consist of two parts. The first part is usually derived from a verb. The second one is produced from a noun, and end in -s.
un paraguas – an umbrella
parar – to stop
agua – water
un abrelatas – a can opener
abrir – to open
una lata – a can
un sacacorchos – a corkscrew
sacar – to remove, to take out
un corcho – a cork
Despite the fact that these nouns end in os or as, it’s by default a singular masculine form.
Don’t say: una abrelatas or las abrelatas
In plural these words don’t change.
el abrelatas – los abrelatas
Try it yourself:
Where is the can opener?
Where are the can openers?
Our umbrella is broken
Here you have more of these words:
el cumpleaños – the birthday
un abrebotellas – a bottle opener
un cortaúñas – a nail clipper
un lavavajillas – a dishwasher
un microondas – a microwave oven
un rascacielos – a skyscraper
un rompecabezas – a brain teaser, a puzzle
un chaleco salvavidas – a life vest
el parabrisas – the windshield
el limpiaparabrisas – the windshield wiper
Mi cumpleaños es siempre divertido — My birthday is always fun
Aquel rascacielos es muy alto – That skyscraper is very high
¿Puedes encender el lavavajillas? – Could you turn on the dishwasher?
Try it yourself:
This puzzle is very hard
Daniel has the corkscrew and the bottle opener
This skyscraper is old
These skyscrapers are old
When is your birthday?
The windshield is broken
Ejercicio 1
Fill in the gaps with right articles
1. … aves vuelan al sur
2. … ave es muy grande
3. Manuel tiene … hacha para cortar leña
4. … agua en el mar está fría
5. En nuestra academia hay … aula para conferencias
6. … aulas en nuestra academia están reformadas
7. … asa de este hervidor es muy incómoda
Ejercicio 2
Translate into Spanish
1. The mineral water in this shop is cheap
2. Love is a dangerous weapon
3. My granddad’s axe is very old
4. This classroom is quite light
5. I like the “Red Eagle” movie
6. Birds return here in spring
7. This mug has a broken handle
Ejercicio 3
Fill in the gaps with the right object name
El sacacorchos sirve para sacar corchos
1. … sirve para abrir botellas
2. … sirve para cortarse las uñas
3. … sirve para abrir latas
4. … sirve para salvar vidas
5. … sirve para lavar la vajilla
Ejercicio 4
Translate into Spanish
1. This skyscraper has 48 floors
2. Where is the can opener?
3. Felipe’s birthday is very boring
4. I don’t like cutting my nails with a nail clipper
5. It’s raining. Do you have an umbrella?
6. This ship has only five life vests
7. Hello, I need two windshield wipers
8. Is that puzzle easy for you?
9. My birthday is on May, 3d