Masc/Fem Form Questions

[Rusty]

Escrito originalmente por 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)

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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.