How to Use Spanish Nouns

Nouns are one of the pillars of communication, regardless of what language you’re speaking. When using Spanish nouns, however, you’ll need to use the correct gender in order to create a proper sentence and determine the correct conjugation of Spanish adjectives. While there are a few concrete rules to follow when using nouns, there are also many exceptions. In this article, we’ll help you understand how to use Spanish nouns, the different types of Spanish nouns, and how to determine gender.

What Are Nouns in Spanish?

Spanish nouns are words that refer to people, places, or things. They give sentences meaning and provide clarification that allows us to communicate. In Spanish, nouns are referred to as los sustantivos and are used in the same manner as in English. Spanish nouns can also refer to abstract concepts and invisible things that exist in the mind. These can include actions, qualities, and ideas, such as el amor or love. They’re usually paired together with an article such as “the” or “a/an” or a determiner. In Spanish, articles are words such as el, la, los, las, una, un. Determiners are words used to modify the noun itself and give clarification about what the noun is referring to. Spanish nouns can also be replaced by Spanish pronouns in a sentence without changing its meaning. Spanish nouns are usually the subject or the object in a sentence, but they’re also commonly used as the object of a preposition.

Spanish Nouns List

Just as in English, there are thousands, if not millions of Spanish nouns available to use in your everyday life. In fact, there are several different subcategories of Spanish nouns that you’ll come to know. Some of the most important types of Spanish nouns to familiarize yourself with include proper nouns vs. common nouns, concrete nouns vs. abstract nouns, animate nouns vs. inanimate nouns, individual nouns vs. collective nouns, countable nouns vs. uncountable nouns, and simple nouns vs. compound nouns.

Proper Spanish Nouns

Proper Spanish nouns are used when referring to individual names to people and always begin with a capital letter. Examples include:

El Marte — Mars El Nilo — The Niles Guatemala — Guatemala

Common Spanish Nouns

Common Spanish nouns are used when referring to nouns in a general sense. No individual names are mentioned. Some examples include:

• La estrella — star
  
• La nube — cloud
• El cohete — rocket

Concrete Spanish Nouns

Concrete Spanish nouns are used to describe nouns that can be touched, seen, tasted, smelled, or heard. They possess a material existence. Some examples include:

• El papá — dad
• La canción — song
• El humo — smoke

Abstract Spanish Nouns

Abstract Spanish nouns are things that cannot be perceived by any of the senses. They include ideas, emotions, and feelings such as the following:

• La tristezaI — sadness
• La fealdad — ugliness
• El olvido — oblivion

Animate Spanish Nouns

Animate Spanish nouns are used to describe all living things. This includes “real” living beings like humans and animals, but also “imaginary” beings such as cartoon characters or other imaginary beings. Some examples include:

• El esposo — husband
• La hada de los dientes — tooth fairy
• El pulpo — octopus

Inanimate Spanish Nouns

Inanimate Spanish nouns are therefore used to refer to anything that lacks life. This does include items in nature such as plants and trees, which is an important distinction from bugs or animals. Some examples include:

• El colchón — mattress
• La galleta — cookie
• El árbol — tree

Individual Spanish Nouns

Individual Spanish nouns are used to refer to objects that are considered a single entity. They can be objects that are part of a category, but the noun itself is singular. Some examples include:

• El aeropuerto — airport
• La lagartijaI — lizard
• El cerebro — brain

Collective Spanish Nouns

Collective Spanish nouns, on the other hand, are used to name a group that’s made of multiple objects or entities. Some examples include:

• El cementerio (conjunto de tumbas) — cemetery (set of graves)
• La constelación (conjunto de estrellas) — constellation (group of stars)
• La arboleda (conjunto de árboles) — arboretum (group of trees)

Countable Spanish Nouns

Countable Spanish nouns are those that you can count using numbers or measure, so you can put a number in front of them. Some examples include:

• El kilo — kilo
• El gato —cat
• La calle — street

Uncountable Spanish Nouns

Uncountable Spanish nouns cannot be measured or included in a numbered group. They usually include things like liquids, spices, abstract nouns, feelings, and even some types of foods. Some examples include:

• La alegría — joy
• El té — tea
• El aceite — oil

Simple Spanish Nouns

Simple Spanish nouns are nouns that are formed using only one word. Some examples include:

• La choza — hut
• El velero — sailboard
• La brisa — breeze

Compound Spanish Nouns

Compound Spanish nouns are made up of two or more words. Some Spanish learners struggle with compound Spanish nouns, but once you break them apart, they become easier to understand. Some examples include:

• Pelirrojo — redhead
• El paraguas — umbrella
• El arcoiris — rainbow

Why Do Spanish Nouns Have Gender?

All Spanish nouns are either masculine or feminine and mixing them up can lead to major miscommunications when speaking and writing. To help you practice differentiating between feminine and masculine nouns, download Tandem and connect with a native Spanish speaker today. This will help you gain the confidence you need to avoid saying that you have cholera (el cólera) when you’re trying to tell someone you’re angry (la cólera). It’s also important to pay attention to Spanish accents to ensure the proper usage of nouns.

Feminine Spanish Nouns

Feminine nouns in Spanish almost always end in -a… but not all nouns that end in -a are feminine. There are some exceptions to every rule in Spanish, so it’s important to make note when you come across them. A feminine Spanish noun list with variable endings is as follows:

Feminine nouns in Spanish that end in -a

• La mesa — table
• La manzana — apple
• La aventura — adventure

Feminine nouns in Spanish that end in -ción, -sión, or -zón

• La estación — season
• La reservación — reservation
• La pasión — passion
• La razón — reason

Feminine nouns in Spanish that end in -dad, - tad, -tud

• La cuidad — city
• La felicidad — happiness
• La amistad — friendship
• La juventud — youth

Feminine nouns in Spanish that end in -ed or -itis

• La pared — wall
• La conjunctivitis — conjunctivitis

Feminine nouns in Spanish that end in -iz

• La actriz — actress
• La matriz — matrix

This is not a complete list. Feminine nouns in Spanish may also end in -ez, -sis, -umbre, and more. Since there are so many exceptions, it’s important to practice and continue building your vocabulary. Feminine nouns may also be used when naming a mountain. For example, las montañas Rocosas. Certain letters in the Spanish alphabet are also considered feminine, such as G, O, and Ñ.

Masculine Nouns in Spanish

Masculine nouns in Spanish almost always end in an -o, but like feminine nouns, this is not a fixed rule. A masculine Spanish noun list with variable endings is as follows:

Masculine nouns in Spanish that end in -o

• El carro — car
• El libro — book
• El vino — wine

Masculine nouns in Spanish that end in -or

• El amor — love
• El pastor — pastor
• El cazador — hunter

Masculine nouns in Spanish that end in -aje and -an

• El traje — suit
• El pan — bread

This is not a complete list of all of the masculine Spanish nouns. Many nouns that end with an accented vowel are also considered masculine. Masculine nouns may also be used when naming a river, lake, or ocean. For example, el lago Titicaca or el océano Atlántico. Numbers, colors, days of the week, and directional points are also masculine, such as el cinco, el rojo, el martes, el norte.

Do Adjectives Go After Nouns in Spanish?

Yes, many commonly used Spanish adjectives go after nouns in a sentence. This is especially true in regard to descriptive Spanish adjectives. They must adhere to the noun adjective agreement in Spanish, meaning that the adjective matches both the gender and the number of the noun being described. However, this is not always the case. Some adjectives need to be placed before the noun and others change meaning depending on where they’re used.

What Adjectives Come Before the Noun in Spanish?

Outside of descriptive terms, Spanish adjectives go before the noun. Spanish possessive adjectives, adjectives of appreciation, adjectives that convey emotion, and reinforcing adjectives are also placed before the noun in Spanish.

While learning Spanish nouns can be overwhelming, doing so is great way to continue building your vocabulary and enhance your journey towards fluency. To help you practice using Spanish nouns in a sentence while learning new and exciting words, download Tandem today. Tandem is a worldwide community with millions of like-minded individuals interested in language exchange. Through our unique language learning experience, you’ll match with Spanish speakers, practice using Spanish nouns, and improve your ability to speak in complex sentences. At Tandem, we work to help users foster a deeper understanding of language while improving fluency and building long-lasting friendships. To join our community and work on your language skills, sign up for Tandem today.