Spanish Vocabulary:

If you only speak English, you still have a head start since about 60% of all English vocabulary is derived from Latin or Romance languages. You’ll see many similarities with English vocabulary as you build your Spanish vocabulary. These similar words are called cognates. Here are a few cognates to get you started:

clase… class
museo… museum
policía… police
dentista… dentist
agente… agent

However, don’t make the mistake of thinking that English words ‘become’ Spanish words by adding a vowel at the end! Also, beware of false cognates, or as Spanish speakers often call them, amigos falsos (false friends).

False cognates look like familiar English words, but actually mean something very different. Here are a few false cognates to remember:
éxito… success
largo… long
pie… foot

Gender of Nouns

When English speakers think of gender, they think of male and female people and animals. Inanimate objects and other intangible ‘things’ (feelings or states of being) are considered neuter in English: they have no gender.

In Spanish, there is no concept of neuter. Instead, all nouns, including objects and other “things,” are considered masculine or feminine. When using a pronoun instead of a masculine noun, the object is referred to as ‘he’ or ‘him’; use ’she’ or ‘her’ for a feminine noun.

Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns

el hombre man… la mujer woman
el niño boy… la niña girl
el chico boy (informal)… la chica girl (informal)
el muchacho boy, young man… la muchacha girl, young woman
el museo museum… la clase class or type
el pueblo town… la cuidad city
el mercado market… la escuela school
el libro book… la playa beach

Can you see a pattern in the Spanish nouns?

Typically, nouns ending in –o are usually masculine, and nouns ending in –a are usually feminine. Other endings are less predictable, especially –e.

Any idea what el and la mean? El is always masculine and la is always feminine. They are two of the four ways to say ‘the’. El and la can help you determine the gender of nouns.

There are a few nouns that change meaning altogether according to their gender.
Here are some examples:

el capital capital (money)… la capital capital (city)
el coma coma… la coma comma
el corte cut… la corte court
el cura priest… la cura cure
el orden order (sequence, arrangement)… la orden order (command, religious order)
el papa Pope… la papa potato
el policía police officer… la policía police department

See how important it truly is to pay attention to the gender of Spanish nouns!