So how long have you been studying your "new" language?

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by danny

You make it seem so easy haha! I have a question...
Why is it not, "compro esta LIBRO"
and could I say..."I'm reading un libreta" (estoy lectura un libreta)<-?

In Spanish, nouns have gender: feminine and masculine. Most of the nouns (be careful, not all of them) ending in -o are masculine; the same with nouns ending in -a, which are feminine.

Determiners (and adjectives) must agree with noun in gender and number. So you can't use a feminine determiner with a masculine noun. Or you can't use a plural determiner with a singular noun:

Compro este libro: both este and libro are masculine and singular.
Compro esta libreta: feminine and singular.
Quiero estos lápices: masculine and plural.
Quiero estas camisas: feminine and plural.

There are several kind of determiners, as the articles. So you can say: el, la, los, las and un, una, unos, unas (mas. sing., fem. sing, masc. plural, fem. plural):

Estoy leyendo un libro.
Estoy leyendo una libreta.
Estoy comprando unos zapatos.
Estoy comiendo unas manzanas.

I hope it helps.

[danny]

In Spanish, nouns have gender: feminine and masculine. Most of the nouns (be careful, not all of them) ending in -o are masculine; the same with nouns ending in -a, which are feminine.

I knew of the gender and "o" and "a" but no one ever explained it to me the way you have! I like how you explain things, it is easy for me to understand!
(although, I always wondered how an object can have a gender)
It's like spanish is really two languages, the masculine and the feminine.

There is but one more thing confusing me about this lesson..

o.k, for the "Estoy leyendo un libro." and "Estoy leyendo una libreta.",
I know one is male and one is female, but how do I decide which one to use? Does it depend on who I'm talking to?

thanks

[irmamar]

Well, sometimes we use neuter gender, but not with names (in upper lessons ). Three languages...

Un libro means a book.
Una libreta means a notebook (you can read a notebook if there is something written in it, can't you?)

Gender of nouns has nothing to see with sex, they're not male or female. For instance, "un poeta" is a masculine name applied to a man, though ending with -a. "Una poetisa" means a woman poet, and it is a feminine noun.

Or better: "la gente" is a feminine noun for "people", but there can be men and women":

Hay mucha gente en la calle - There are a lot of people in the street (men and women).

[danny]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Well, sometimes we use neuter gender, but not with names (in upper lessons ). Three languages...

Un libro means a book.
Una libreta means a notebook (you can read a notebook if there is something written in it, can't you?)

Gender of nouns has nothing to see with sex, they're not male or female. For instance, "un poeta" is a masculine name applied to a man, though ending with -a. "Una poetisa" means a woman poet, and it is a feminine noun.

Or better: "la gente" is a feminine noun for "people", but there can be men and women":

Hay mucha gente en la calle - There are a lot of people in the street (men and women).

thanks! and saying "Hay mucho gente en la calle" is incorrect.
but I could say "Hay mucho gente en lo calle" which is correct?
If I am right..... that means I have learned today and I can take a break!

Estoy lo correcto? Por favor?

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Gender of nouns has nothing to see with sex, they're not male or female.

Sometimes they are, so a cow is feminine noun and a bull is masculine noun in Spanish, as you might expect. But inanimate objects have an unpredicatable gender; for example sausage is feminine in Spanish, French and German. The sun is feminine in German, masculine in French and Spanish. Girl is neuter in German. You just have to learn them.

[irmamar]

[

Originally Posted by danny

thanks! and saying "Hay mucho gente en la calle" is incorrect.
but I could say "Hay mucho gente en lo calle" which is correct?
If I am right..... that means I have learned today and I can take a break!

Estoy lo correcto? Por favor?

You'll have to learn the gender of the nouns. If you find a new word in a text, determiner will give you the clue, for if it is feminine, the noun will be feminine. You'll have to look up in a dictionary when the words are isolated.

Hay mucha gente en la calle.

Both gente and calle are feminine nouns, so you'll use a feminine determiner: esta, la, una - calle, gente. You can't say: el calle / mucho gente

Lo is a neuter article and it's not used with nouns, but with adjectives. The masculine article is el (sing.) and los (pl.):

Lo bueno.
Lo malo.
Lo bello.

Originally Posted by Perikles

Sometimes they are, so a cow is feminine noun and a bull is masculine noun in Spanish, as you might expect. But inanimate objects have an unpredicatable gender; for example sausage is feminine in Spanish, French and German. The sun is feminine in German, masculine in French and Spanish. Girl is neuter in German. You just have to learn them.

It's true with some animals, but you can say: una foca hembra o macho, una tortuga hembra o macho, una morsa hembra o macho, un galápago hembra o macho, etc.

And sausage is feminine whet it means "salchicha", but "salchichón" or "chorizo" are masculine.

[danny]

Both gente and calle are feminine nouns

I somehow missed that gente was feminine,

Me voy a lo calle

Me voy a la calle


yo soy leído un libro en la calle

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Gender of nouns has nothing to see with sex, they're not male or female. For instance, "un poeta" is a masculine name applied to a man, though ending with -a.

"Poeta" is a particularly special exception: it's a masculine first declension Latin noun.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by pjt33

"Poeta" is a particularly special exception: it's a masculine first declension Latin noun.

Yes, a very particular special exception, such as: día, mapa, sistema, cura, emblema, idioma, dilema, enigma, poema, teorema, diafragma, fantasma, drama, atleta, guía, centinela, fama, lexema, morfema, espía, camarada, planeta, criptograma, asceta, eremita, nauta, profeta, cometa, papa, papá, vigía, espada, puma, gorila, mañana, maná, rioja, jumilla, champaña, borgoña, naranja, púrpura, guardia, problema, maya, quechua, celta, persa, tema, clima, carcinoma, telegrama, programa, reuma, violinista, pianista, treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa, hipócrita, machista, evangelista, estratega, iconoclasta, suicida, déspota,fascista, extremista, astronauta, etc.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Yes, a very particular special exception, such as: día, mapa, sistema, cura, emblema, idioma, dilema, enigma, poema, teorema, diafragma, fantasma, drama, atleta, guía, centinela, fama, lexema, morfema, espía, camarada, planeta, criptograma, asceta, eremita, nauta, profeta, cometa, papa, papá, vigía, espada, puma, gorila, mañana, maná, rioja, jumilla, champaña, borgoña, naranja, púrpura, guardia, problema, maya, quechua, celta, persa, tema, clima, carcinoma, telegrama, programa, reuma, violinista, pianista, treinta, cuarenta, cincuenta, sesenta, setenta, ochenta, noventa, hipócrita, machista, evangelista, estratega, iconoclasta, suicida, déspota,fascista, extremista, astronauta, etc.

OOoooh - me encanta esta lista. Gracias por esa! Necesito memorizarla.

ADDED LATER: but, wait ... some of these are listed in the Tomisimo dictionary as "NF"........??