Before verbs, before tenses, Spanish is built from nouns and the words that dress them. This foundation lesson covers gender, plurals, the articles (el / la / un / una), and how adjectives agree — plus possessives and demonstratives. Get these right and every sentence you write clicks into place.
Work through each screen and answer the questions as you go — some ask you to recognise the right form, some ask you to produce it by typing. Collect ⭐ stars and press Start.
Every Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine — even objects. The ending is your best clue:
Learn these exceptions. Some Greek-origin words ending -ma are masculine: el día, el mapa, el problema, el tema, el clima. And a few in -o are feminine: la mano, la foto, la radio. When a noun surprises you, learn it with its article.
Nouns for people usually have a masculine and a feminine form:
| pattern | example |
|---|---|
| -o → -a | el amigo → la amiga |
| add -a to -or | el profesor → la profesora |
| no change: -ista / -ante / -ente | el/la artista, el/la estudiante |
So: el turista / la turista both stay the same — only the article changes. el estudiante / la estudiante likewise. But el amigo → la amiga and el profesor → la profesora.
Tap each noun, then drop it in the right bin. Watch out for the exceptions!
Four simple rules cover almost every plural:
| the noun ends in… | plural |
|---|---|
| a vowel → add -s | casa → casas |
| a consonant → add -es | ciudad → ciudades, profesor → profesores |
| -z → -ces | luz → luces, lápiz → lápices |
| -ión: drop accent, add -es | canción → canciones, región → regiones |
Why the accent drops: in canción the accent marks the stress on the last syllable. Once you add -es, the stress falls naturally, so the written accent is no longer needed: canciones.
Tap a singular noun on the left, then tap its plural on the right.
Articles must match the noun in gender and number:
| el | masc. sing. |
| la | fem. sing. |
| los | masc. plural |
| las | fem. plural |
| un | masc. sing. |
| una | fem. sing. |
| unos | masc. plural |
| unas | fem. plural |
Careful: the feminine plural of un is unas (not unos). So "some houses" = unas casas, but "some books" = unos libros.
Two contractions are compulsory — you may never write the two words apart:
Spanish uses the where English drops it:
But it drops "a" before an unmodified job after ser: Soy profesor (I'm a teacher) — never soy un profesor.
Adjectives usually go after the noun and must match it in gender and number. The pattern depends on the ending:
| rojo |
| roja |
| rojos |
| rojas |
| verde |
| verdes |
| inteligente |
| inteligentes |
| azul |
| azules |
| fácil |
| fáciles |
Nationalities are special. Even ending in a consonant, they add -a for feminine: español / española / españoles / españolas; francés / francesa / franceses / francesas — and the feminine/plural forms drop the accent (francés → francesa).
Choose the correctly-agreeing form of the adjective in brackets.
Most adjectives follow the noun, but a small set goes before it — and some shorten before a masculine singular noun:
| full form | before masc. sing. |
|---|---|
| bueno | un buen amigo |
| malo | un mal día |
| primero | el primer día |
| tercero | el tercer piso |
grande → gran shortens before any singular noun and its meaning shifts to "great", not "big": una gran ciudad = "a great city" (not a big one). Ordinals primer / segundo / tercer are worth knowing.
Possessive adjectives agree in number (and nuestro/vuestro also in gender):
| meaning | forms |
|---|---|
| my | mi / mis · mi casa, mis libros |
| your (tú) | tu / tus |
| his / her / your(formal) / their | su / sus |
| our | nuestro/a/os/as · nuestra profesora |
| your (vosotros) | vuestro/a/os/as |
Watch su: it covers his, her, your (formal) and their. su casa could be "his house", "her house", "your house" or "their house" — context decides.
Demonstrative adjectives also agree in gender and number:
| este | masc. sing. |
| esta | fem. sing. |
| estos | masc. plural |
| estas | fem. plural |
| ese | masc. sing. |
| esa | fem. sing. |
| esos | masc. plural |
| esas | fem. plural |
Tip: este ("this") has a t — think "t for this, here". ese ("that") is further away. E.g. este libro (this book), esas casas (those houses).
Higher only Higher: aquel / aquella / aquellos / aquellas means "that / those over there" (further still). Also higher: the neuter article lo + a masculine singular adjective makes an abstract noun — lo bueno = "the good thing". You don't need to drill these at Foundation.
Gender: -o usually masc., -a usually fem.; -ción/-sión/-dad/-tad fem. Learn exceptions (el día, el mapa, el problema; la mano, la foto).
Plurals: vowel +s, consonant +es, -z → -ces, -ión drops accent +es (canción → canciones).
Articles: el/la/los/las, un/una/unos/unas; de+el=del, a+el=al; keep "the" for likes/days/languages, drop "a" before a job (Soy profesor).
Adjectives agree: -o = 4 forms, -e/consonant = 2 (but nationalities add -a: francés → francesa). Usually after the noun.
Shortened forms: buen, mal, primer, tercer before masc. sing.; gran = "great" before any singular.
Possessives & demonstratives: mi(s), tu(s), su(s), nuestro/a…; este/ese families.
This is the foundation every other cluster builds on. Press Finish to see your score.
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Next in the spine: The present-tense system — regular verbs, stem-changers and ser vs estar. Then lock this in with the Evaluate confidence quiz.