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The key rules of this unit in two minutes. Tap the speaker to hear each example.
Every noun is masculine or feminine
Masculine nouns take “el”, feminine nouns take “la”. Words ending in -o are usually masculine, words ending in -a usually feminine. Learn each noun together with its article.
- el hermanothe brother
- la hermanathe sister
Plurals: add -s
Most plurals just add -s (after a consonant: -es). The articles become “los” and “las”. A mixed group, like brothers and sisters, is masculine: los hermanos.
- los hijosthe children, the sons
- las verdurasthe vegetables
Me gusta, me gustan
“Me gusta” means “it pleases me”. So the verb follows the thing you like: gusta for one thing, gustan for several.
- Me gusta el queso.I like cheese.
- Me gustan las verduras.I like vegetables.
Days: lowercase, with “el”
Days of the week are written in lowercase. “On Monday” is simply “el lunes”, with no extra word.
- El sábado no trabajo.On Saturday I don’t work.
- Hoy es lunes.Today is Monday.