Español — Special-gender nouns
Some Spanish nouns break the usual gender rules: certain feminine nouns take el/un in the singular, a few accept either gender, and some change meaning depending on the gender.
How it works
A set of feminine nouns takes the masculine articles el and un in the singular when they start with a stressed a- or ha-: el agua, el hacha, el águila. They remain feminine (el agua fría) and the plural returns to las (las aguas). A few nouns allow either gender with the same meaning, such as el mar and la mar. Others change meaning with gender: el capital (money) versus la capital (capital city).
Examples
| Form | Gender | Meaning / use |
|---|---|---|
| el agua (fría) | femenino | water (feminine, but el in the singular) |
| el hacha | femenino | axe |
| el águila | femenino | eagle |
| las aguas | femenino (plural) | waters — plural takes las again |
| el mar / la mar | ambiguo | sea — either gender, same meaning |
| el capital / la capital | según el género | capital (money) / capital city |
| el orden / la orden | según el género | order (sequence) / order, command |
Good to know
These nouns do not become masculine: the adjective stays feminine — say el agua fría, not el agua frío. The el/un swap happens only in the singular right before the stressed vowel; if a word comes between, la returns (la misma agua), and the plural is always las aguas.