Masc/Fem Form Questions

[Suavemente]

For example, Spanish television stations use "esta noche" when a show is being broadcasted that night. Do males use esta noche or the gender specific form of este noche? Also are there any exceptions other than a reference to something being feminine gender specific for males using the feminine form?

[poli]

Originally Posted by Suavemente

For example, Spanish television stations use "esta noche" when a show is being broadcasted that night. Do males use esta noche or the gender specific form of este noche? Also are there any exceptions other than a reference to something being feminine gender specific for males using the feminine form?

Noche is a feminine gender noun (la noche=the night esta noche=this night or tonight.)
Día is a masculine gender noun( el dia = the day este dia= this day)
I hope this helps.

[Rusty]

Avoid trying to tie masculine words to a male, and feminine words to a female. This will not help you in the long run. If you're a female, you do have to worry about adjectives (and some nouns) that apply to yourself.

el miembro = member (male or female)
la persona = person (male or female)

If you're a female, you must use feminine endings on the words that apply to you:
estoy cansada = I'm tired (female speaking)
estoy cansado = I'm tired (male speaking)
no estoy segura = I'm not sure (female speaking)
no estoy seguro = I'm not sure (male speaking)

[Suavemente]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Avoid trying to tie masculine words to a male, and feminine words to a female. This will not help you in the long run. If you're a female, you do have to worry about adjectives (and some nouns) that apply to yourself.

el miembro = member (male or female)
la persona = person (male or female)

If you're a female, you must use feminine endings on the words that apply to you:
estoy cansada = I'm tired (female speaking)
estoy cansado = I'm tired (male speaking)
no estoy segura = I'm not sure (female speaking)
no estoy seguro = I'm not sure (male speaking)

so el persona, correct or incorrect?

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Suavemente

so el persona, correct or incorrect?

No, it's la persona, even if the person is male. Nouns in Spanish have a gender. It is best to avoid thinking male and female. They happen to use masculine and feminine to designate the difference, but that is where it ends. A masculine noun is not necessarily a female. A feminine noun may be used for a male (like la persona).

Some nouns do have both a masculine and a feminine form. In those cases only, the gender of the noun will always match the person's gender. It only gets fuzzy when the masculine plural form is used. This could mean all male or a mix of female and male persons. For example:
un científico = a (male) scientist
el científico = the (male) scientist
los científicos = the scientists (could refer to two or more males, or a mix of male and female scientists)
una científica = a (female) scientist
la científica = the (female) scientist
las científicas = the scientists (all of which are female)

Does this answer your question?

Caution: There are nouns that are both masculine and feminine, but have a different meaning. This is when it's good to remember that a noun's gender usually has nothing to do with a male or a female person. For example:
un cura = a priest (un sacerdote)
una cura = a cure

A good dictionary lists gender, and indicates whether the noun has any of the dual gender or dual meaning characteristics.