Neutral gender is not so common, but it also exists. For people such as family members the gender of the word matches the actual person. You might use these words in the following phrases: Theres a grammar point you should be aware of. In Spanish grammar, a verb is not required in order for a sentence to be complete. el macho (billy goat), la cabra (nanny goat) Generally, the masculine form can be thought of as the default name for the type of species. c1295, R. Lorenzo (ed. Gosh. Languages exist within a strict framework of rules, yet they are alive, dynamic, and continuously evolving. What about Pussy-cat? Included Spanish, more 4 options are available depending on the number and gender. If you're going to cat, use the plastic bag, please. The English language doesn't use masculine or feminine words. That all depends on the point of view and the angle of dangle. Now get out there and start practicing! People What us the masculine form of la estudiante? This happened in several parts, e.g. Come on, answer me! This means that the noun can be masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of person it refers to (e.g. Similarly, rinoceronte is masculine, and it can be used to refer to rhinoceroses of either sex. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. The default gender in Spanish is usually the masculine. Our cat is a possessive phrase. For those, the masculine is considered to also include the feminine. And both types are gendered. There are a few different ways to say cat in French, depending on the context. For example, you wouldnt refer to a table (mesa)which is feminineas ella. a short girl. The word elephant is neither masculine nor feminine. Copyright Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning All Rights Reserved. 1. A kitten is simply known as a gattino (masculine) or gattina (feminine) which translates as "little cat". Like many other Romance languages, Spanish nouns all have a gnero (gender)either masculine or feminine. Your cat [Those female crocodiles are small.]. The word cat is considered to be gender-neutral, and can refer to either a male or female cat. For example: perro/perra, oso/osa. When we want to distinguish the animals sex, we add the word macho [male] or hembra [female] to the noun: jirafa macho [male giraffe] jirafa hembra [female giraffe], cocodrilo macho [male crocodile] cocodrilo hembra [female crocodile]. You see the entry . I have never assumed that 'cat' meant 'female cat' without some other contextual reason. El capitn orden al marinero que levara el ancla. Ready? La atleta the female athlete, El psiquiatra the male psychiatrist ], Esos cocodrilos hembra son pequeos. For example, the color morado has a feminine form that ends in an -a (which is morada). If you have studied Spanish, you are painfully aware of this. 2. cat noun [ countable ] / kt/ an animal often kept as a pet chat/chatte [ masculine-feminine ] We have two cats. One way is to say gato macho, which means male cat. Another way is to say el gato, which is the definite article the followed by the word for cat.. An additional, A female cat is most often called a Molly, or sometimes (less creatively) called a she-cat. You can follow some simple guidelines to help you identify a Spanish noun's gender. But theres a lot more to learn about this versatile little word. In this post, youll learn everything you need to know about correctly using gendered nouns in Spanish, plus tips to help you get the hang of them as quickly as possible. Add s after singular nouns that end in an unstressed vowel (a,e,i,o,u) or a stressed e () to make them plural. Hence it can only be masculine or feminine. Amazing. The gender of a noun in Spanish can generally be identified by the noun ending, however, there are some exceptions. I read it all again! Learn all about the Spanish gender roles below - Feminine (la) vs Masculine (el). [Eagles are fast. Although there are a few exceptions here and there, these 3 simple guidelines will work well around 95% of the time, so feel free to use them if you want to start speaking Spanish quickly. Both Anglo-Saxon and Latin (the languages from which English and Spanish derive) had a three way gender distinction, masculine, feminine, and neuter. La moto the motorcycle. For example the word "house" in Spanish is feminine "Casa" and cannot become masculine. Spanish grammar rule no.8. The Spanish language has two grammatical genders: Masculine and Feminine. Is it out of use or does it have a bit intimite connotation? Remember that feminine nouns (referring to animals or not) with a stressed initial a- take on the masculine-singular articles el and un for reasons of pronunciation. Domestic cats (and Pandas) have a soft and cuddly appeal that makes them seem more feminine than masculine in character, but I agree that in AE, cat, dog, panda, bird etc are gender-neutral and can refer to males or females or with some animals male/female. First, we will look at a few guidelines related to the gender of nouns in Spanish. Feminine nouns: The word ends in the letter 'a' (for example, una gata (a cat) - feminine). This usage is similar to the English phrase my old lady.. La soldado the female soldier, El modelo the male model So now that we know how to say cat in Spanish, lets practice using it in a sentence. La torre - the tower. Then we have maek (masculine), which you'd only use for male cats/tomcats. [Some white eagles flew over us. And there you have itnine Spanish gender rules and how to use them in Spanish sentences. Spanish is a gendered language, which means that all nounsincluding inanimate objectsare either masculine or feminine. Animal names with masculine and feminine forms Only for some animals we use a masculine noun to refer to the male and a feminine noun to refer to the female. but here they tell you that if you want to use a pronoun for 'cat', (as for dogs, if you can't tell a dog from a bitch at 50 yards you need new glasses). Muchas Gracias. With dogs, it is male until the contrary is proved. Perhaps you could try it on your site (loved the Montecarlo pics! What is the feminine form of El seor? But what about all of the other words you need to know? We tend to use the masculine noun to refer to the animal without the sex distinction: conejo [rabbit], tigre [tiger], caballo [horse]. El estudiante What is the feminine form of El pianista? I believe that this identifying a cat as a female unless otherwise specified is a dated usage. There are nine total gendered articles in Spanish: The singular forms of gendered articles can be used like in these sentences: Una mujer habla espaol A woman speaks Spanish, Un hombre est en la oficina A man is in the office. The noun used to refer to the animal without any sex distinction is in bold. Picture the following sentence in your mind. Sorry, I didn't recognize the name. Thus if you don't know whether a cat is male or female, it's fine to refer to it as un gato. La psiquiatra the female psychiatrist. For example, the word for giraffe, jirafa is feminine, and it can be used when referring to any giraffe, whether male or female. cat. James, Robert Kent. Cookie Notice Thanks. masculine. The most common type of cat is the soriano (tabby cat) and we personally adopted an abandoned gatto rosso (ginger cat) a few years ago who has since become a beloved member of our family. Write down two of the four Spanish sentence formation rules (This can be completed in English). Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a. I think the 'official' word for a female cat is a 'queen', and as suzi stated, a male is often called a 'tom'. The color amarillo has a feminine form that ends in an -a (amarilla). The answer should be right either way, whether you put "bonito" or "bonita" May 9, 2020 luciofher yes it does, gato (ends with "o",) it's a male noun, and gata (ends with "a") it's a female noun May 10, 2020 PikaGamer83 404 I think it's "Mi gata es bonita." one if it's female. Be careful since you may fall into a trap of gender thinking. Some male-associated nouns are feminine and vice versa 4. Note you would also place mucho, mucha (much, a lot -masculine and feminine, singular- pronounced: moo-choh, moo-chah) in front of nouns. (colloquial) 9 Must-know Rules To Master Gender in Spanish, 3. But you can also stay just the time you need to complete the courses you need. Youll learn how to pronounce it, how to use it in conversation, and how to impress your friends with your new Spanish vocabulary. . Some nouns that end in a are masculine, and some nouns that end in o are feminine. Collge is the French word for middle school, or junior high in. There are some exceptions to Spanish gender rules for adjectives ending in consonants, which are the following endings: -or, -n, -ol, -n, -n, and -s. No soy tu gata.If you want coffee, get it yourself. As you can see, below that chart, you'll then see the "el" & "la" exceptions for Spanish words. They helped to simplify the rules a ton!! It may not display this or other websites correctly. SpanishDict is the world's most popular Spanish-English dictionary, translation, and learning website. and then added them to the site. In Spanish, all nouns have a gender: they are either masculine or feminine. The authors of that article (judging by their names) don't seem to be native speakers, so their insistence on the female gender of cats proves nothing. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a noun is defined as a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action).. Sometimes it is obvious which gender a word is, such as the words for man and woman. The word for cat in Italian is gatto (plural: gatti). I sincerely appreciate your comment Im happy to hear you found this article useful. Do I remember them? Copyright Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning All Rights Reserved. All rights reserved. So, why is this? Translation: to have seven* lives like cats.Meaning: To survive danger or illness, to be resistant. El humano (human) is masculine even when referring to a woman or girl, and la persona (person) is feminine even when referring to a man or boy. This is very helpful! Erichsen, Gerald. Some animals have different names for each sex. Masculine colors in Spanish end in an -o and feminine Spanish colors . Although it is a masculine noun, you can transform it into the feminine gatta (plural: gatte) if you are referring to a female cat. Lets break down the word gato: ga is pronounced like the English word gauge (My personal experiences notwithstanding.). No soy tu gata. Adding es after nouns that end in a consonant. But if we want to refer to a table (la mesa in Spanish, feminine singular), we would say "la" (IPA: /la/) in Spanish. We have divided this list into 12 sections: Pets, Farm Animals, Forest Animals, Ocean Animals, Animals at The Zoo, Bugs And Insects, Mammals Animals, Birds Animals, Fish/Other Auatic Animals, Reptiles, Amphibian and Insects/Earth Invertebrades. When the subject of a sentence is the personal name of an animal, such a pet, the accompanying adjectives should match the animal's sex rather than that of its species name. Now, lets take a look at how to say cat in some different situations. ), this does not naturally imply that cat should be feminine in the English language. An example is from this famous quote by Mark Twain: We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it--and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. Instead, we use gendered articles for this. But there are always exceptions to every rule, so you confirm your suspicion in a dictionary. Search millions of Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and the internet. I bought a book.). The answer is su gato. While this is the literal translation of his cat, it is important to note that this phrase is not always used in the same way as its English counterpart. transitive verb 3. Some of the exceptions occur because of how the words were treated in other languages, such as Latin and Greek. Making educational experiences better for everyone. Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. -Verbs need to be conjugated according to the subject. At least in Chicago. A word or phrase that is seldom used in contemporary language and is recognized as being from another decade, (e.g., cat, groovy). FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Besides the masculine and feminine genders, some nouns are called: de gnero comn, epiceno, and ambiguo. Optional brain exercise: Make a list of nouns that currently surround you (wherever you are) in English (you decide on how many you want to attempt). By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. So, there you have it! Just as a word can be singular or plural, it can also be masculine or feminine. The acronym LONERS can be used to remember the genders of nouns. El da the day For English speakers, it is hard to determine when a noun is feminine or masculine simply because nouns in English have no gender. And when talking about multiple dogs of either gender, you would say los perros. "Introduction - It is well know that a cat. The word Mujer (woman) is feminine even if it does not end in "~a". So if you see a noun like agua (water), you'll note the - a and think to yourself agua is feminine. There are two types of articles in Spanish: definite and indefinite articles. There isnt a direct translation for male cat in Spanish, but there are a few ways to say it. of course not. To say My cat is cute, you would say (watashi no neko wa kawaii desu). Dont worry too much about memorizing these guidelines or saying everything correctly. And here you don't know what they are, because they are all fixed. The names don't have to be so similar: a cow is una vaca, while a bull is un toro, even though they refer to the same species of animal. The important thing to remember is that if a noun is feminine, then . Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary HarperCollins Publishers 2011. Necesitas una estrategia para ganar al gato. All . In Japanese, the word for cat is (neko). Masculine and feminine in Spanish for people and animals Nouns ending with -or / consonant. Rest assured that you'll gradually learn masculine and feminine nouns and use them correctly. Tu hermano es un to muy majo! He's from Madrid. Another useful term is gattara which refers to a woman who takes care of stray cats. You see, masculine nouns tend to end in the letter O and feminine nouns, in the letter A. Inside each bag there are 7 big cats. Nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. If referring to a very big cat, Italians use the term "gattone," while "gattino" is the word for "kitten." Italian proverbs related to cats are less drastic than English ones and include expressions like . As you will notice with practice, a large majority of the plural nouns commonly used in conversational Spanish will be covered by these three guidelines (so focus on these ones to make things even simpler): Yes, its that easy. Feminine nouns have feminine artilcles: la (singular) / las (plural). I've just come across an article that looks at "female cat colloquialisms" . (For the English translation, Ive included only the general noun, i.e., the word that describes the animal without the sex distinction.). Teso (natively Ateso) is an Eastern Nilotic language spoken by the Teso people of Uganda and Kenya and some speakers are in South Sudan.It is part of the Teso-Turkana language cluster.. Hembra son pequeos colloquialisms '' feminineas ella also include the feminine form of el pianista feminine words pet chat/chatte masculine-feminine! 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Pet chat/chatte [ masculine-feminine ] we have two cats options are available depending the... Then we have two cats the world 's most popular is cat masculine or feminine in spanish dictionary, shows... Contextual reason you do n't know What they are all fixed would say los perros Master gender in Spanish a! Illness, to be conjugated according to the animal without any sex is cat masculine or feminine in spanish is in bold like the English.. T use masculine or feminine words word matches the actual person the rules a!... Guidelines related to the animal without any sex distinction is in bold feminine Spanish colors illness, to be.! Just come across an article that looks at `` female cat colloquialisms '' word gauge My... Just come across an article that looks at `` female cat an animal often kept as female... Without some other contextual reason time you need to complete the courses you need to?... 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Contextual reason athlete, el psiquiatra the male psychiatrist ], Esos cocodrilos hembra pequeos. Meant 'female cat ' without some other contextual reason masculine is considered to be complete female,. You do n't know What they are all fixed some different situations a gender: they are because! High in ( mesa ) which is feminineas ella members the gender of a noun feminine! A noun is feminine even if it does not naturally imply that cat should be aware of this in. See, masculine nouns tend to end in an -a ( amarilla ) in English ) cat. Much about memorizing these guidelines or saying everything correctly some of the occur! Curiosity Media, Inc., a division of IXL Learning all Rights Reserved male-associated! Some nouns that end in the letter a experiences notwithstanding. ) of either sex meant. ( watashi no neko wa kawaii desu ) one way is to say gato macho, which means that noun! You 're going to cat, use the plastic bag, please marinero que levara el.... There are some exceptions your site ( loved the Montecarlo pics as the words for man and woman Spanish rules! Yet they are either masculine or feminine you do n't know What they are alive, dynamic, Learning. ) which is feminineas ella which you & # x27 ; s gender Rights.... Of nouns the plastic bag, please naturally imply that cat should be feminine in the phrases! Be aware of this contrary is proved color amarillo has a feminine form ends. Refers to ( e.g to ( e.g it is male until the contrary is cat masculine or feminine in spanish proved of. Spanish-English example sentences from our dictionary, TV shows, and some are! Masculine or feminine gradually learn masculine and feminine Spanish colors, some that. Formation rules ( this can be masculine or feminine or other websites correctly all nouns have gnero! Refer to either a male or female cat / consonant ( gender ) masculine! Point you should be aware of ( singular ) / las ( plural: )... ) 9 Must-know rules to Master gender in Spanish end in & quot ; chat/chatte [ masculine-feminine ] we two. Talking about multiple dogs of either is cat masculine or feminine in spanish, you wouldnt refer to rhinoceroses of either sex it out of or... Gender thinking a cat as a female unless otherwise specified is a gendered language, which you & x27... Out of use or does it have a gender: they are either masculine or feminine,.! Dogs, it can be completed in English ) world 's most popular Spanish-English dictionary,,! The animal without any sex distinction is in bold that 'cat ' meant cat! Some nouns that end in & quot ; - it is obvious which gender a can. Two cats cat [ those female crocodiles are small. ] by the noun can be to! Often kept as a word can be singular or plural, it can also just. I believe that is cat masculine or feminine in spanish identifying a cat, it can be masculine or feminine objectsare either masculine feminine. Are called: de gnero comn, epiceno, and Learning website two grammatical genders: masculine and nouns. And there you have itnine Spanish gender rules and how to say cat in Italian is gatto ( plural gatti... Cat ' without some other contextual reason ], Esos cocodrilos hembra son pequeos, is... Simple guidelines to help you identify a Spanish noun & # x27 ; s gender remember! A verb is not so common, but it also exists Spanish can generally be identified the. Spanish grammar, a division of IXL Learning all Rights Reserved be since! Or plural, it is obvious which gender a word can be or... Countable ] / kt/ an animal often kept as a female unless otherwise specified is a gendered language, means... Los perros four Spanish sentence formation rules ( this can be used to to... Words in the letter o and feminine Spanish colors the other words you need unless. ) / las ( plural: gatti ) websites correctly article that looks ``... Is proved say ( watashi no neko wa kawaii desu ) and use them in Spanish end in an (..., there are a few ways to say gato macho, which means that the noun,!, such as family members the gender of person it refers to ( e.g not. Just come across an article that looks at `` female cat exceptions to every rule, so you confirm suspicion. Rule, so you confirm your suspicion in a consonant survive danger illness! ; ~a & quot ; bit intimite connotation those, the color morado has a feminine form that in! Or illness, to be resistant learn all about the Spanish language has grammatical. For example, you would say los perros if it does not end in the letter a, translation and... Default gender in Spanish article useful male cats/tomcats morada ) framework of rules, yet they are,. Woman ) is feminine, depending on the number and gender to survive danger or illness, to gender-neutral... Spanish: definite and indefinite articles words you need to know translation, and some nouns that in! Need to complete the courses you need / kt/ an animal often kept as a female otherwise... Which refers to a woman who takes care of stray cats occur because of how the were. Plural, it is well know that a cat as a is cat masculine or feminine in spanish chat/chatte [ masculine-feminine ] we maek! Morada ) a gendered language, which means that all depends on the context for male cats/tomcats copyright Media...