100 Common Spanish Nouns with el and la

Here are 100 everyday Spanish nouns for people, time, the home, places and nature, each with el or la. Learn these five first: el día (day), la casa (house), la persona (person), el tiempo (time, and weather) and la mano (hand). Two of them, el día and la mano, break the -o/-a rule, so always learn the article.

Words: 100, each with el or la
Topics: people, time, home, town, travel, nature
Variety: Spain Spanish (el piso, el coche, el ordenador)
Level: A1

100 everyday Spanish nouns

Each noun comes with its article. For people (el amigo, el vecino), the feminine usually ends in -a: la amiga, la vecina. The Contos web app uses this pack for flashcard review.

Spanish	English
el tiempo	time
el día	day
la semana	week
el mes	month
el año	year
la mañana	morning
la noche	night
el minuto	minute
el fin de semana	weekend
el cumpleaños	birthday
las vacaciones	holiday
la persona	person
el hombre	man
la mujer	woman
el niño	child
el chico	boy
la chica	girl
el amigo	friend
la familia	family
la madre	mother
el padre	father
el vecino	neighbour
el profesor	teacher
el médico	doctor
la casa	house
el piso	flat
la habitación	room
la puerta	door
la ventana	window
la mesa	table
la silla	chair
la cama	bed
la cocina	kitchen
el jardín	garden
el reloj	clock
la llave	key
la bolsa	bag
el libro	book
la carta	letter
la foto	photo
el mapa	map
el teléfono	phone
el ordenador	computer
el regalo	gift
la cosa	thing
el dinero	money
la ciudad	city
el pueblo	village
la calle	street
la tienda	shop
el parque	park
la escuela	school
la biblioteca	library
el cine	cinema
el hotel	hotel
la estación	station
la oficina	office
el coche	car
el autobús	bus
el tren	train
el avión	aeroplane
la bicicleta	bicycle
el billete	ticket
el viaje	trip
el mar	sea
la playa	beach
el río	river
el lago	lake
la montaña	mountain
el bosque	forest
el árbol	tree
la flor	flower
el cielo	sky
el sol	sun
la estrella	star
el perro	dog
el gato	cat
el pájaro	bird
el nombre	name
la palabra	word
el idioma	language
la pregunta	question
la respuesta	answer
la historia	story
la canción	song
la película	film
el juego	game
la fiesta	party
la idea	idea
el trabajo	work
la vida	life
el mundo	world
el país	country
el lugar	place
la mano	hand
el ojo	eye
la cabeza	head
el corazón	heart
el sueño	dream
el mensaje	message

Is it el or la? The rules and the exceptions

Spanish nouns are masculine or feminine, and the ending is a good guide most of the time. These are the patterns that cover the words in this list.

Ending	Usually	Examples from the list
-o	masculine	el libro, el perro, el mundo, el teléfono
-a	feminine	la casa, la mesa, la playa, la montaña
-ción, -sión	feminine	la canción, la habitación, la estación
-dad	feminine	la ciudad
-ma (from Greek)	masculine	el idioma (also el problema, el tema)
-e or a consonant	learn each one	el coche, la calle, la noche, el árbol, la flor, el reloj

The exceptions in this list are some of the most frequent words in the language: el día and el mapa are masculine, and la mano is feminine. La foto is feminine because it is short for la fotografía, and la moto and la radio work the same way.

Hay una foto vieja de la Plaza Mayor en la pared.

There is an old photo of the Plaza Mayor on the wall. Vieja ends in -a because foto is feminine.

From Don Fermín's Agency, chapter 1 (A2)

Tiene el teléfono en la mano.

She has her phone in her hand. La mano is feminine even though it ends in -o, and Spanish says "the hand" where English says "her hand".

From Robot in the House, chapter 2 (A1)

Making these nouns plural

Add -s after a vowel (las casas, los días) and -es after a consonant (las ciudades, las flores, los árboles). A few spelling changes follow from that rule.

A written accent on the last syllable disappears when -es adds a syllable: la canción, las canciones; el autobús, los autobuses; la estación, las estaciones.
El país keeps its accent, los países, because the stress stays on the í.
El cumpleaños already ends in -s and is the same in the plural: los cumpleaños.
Las vacaciones is almost always plural: me voy de vacaciones, I'm going on holiday.

A masculine plural can cover a mixed group. Los padres means parents, not only fathers, and los niños means children of either sex. Los amigos can be a group of male and female friends.

Common nouns with two meanings

Short, frequent words carry more than one meaning, and a list can only show one. These are the ones in this pack that you will meet in a second sense very early on.

Word	In the list	Also means
el tiempo	time	weather: ¿qué tiempo hace?
la historia	story	history
el sueño	dream	sleepiness: tengo sueño
la carta	letter	menu in a restaurant
el billete	ticket	banknote
el piso	flat	floor of a building: vivo en el tercer piso
el pueblo	village	a people, a nation
la estación	station	season

El piso is the everyday word for a flat in Spain; in much of Latin America a flat is el departamento or el apartamento, and el piso is the floor you stand on. The stories, set mostly in Spain, use it all the time:

Su llave abre tres puertas: el portal, el piso y una puerta más.

Her key opens three doors: the main entrance, the flat, and one more door. El portal is the street door of a block of flats.

From The Extra Key, chapter 1 (A1)

For more nouns grouped by topic, see the food and travel lists.

See these nouns in a real story: tap any word in a Contos chapter to check its meaning and gender.

Read free in your browser

Frequently asked questions

Why is it el día if it ends in -a?

Día is one of a small group of masculine nouns that end in -a, and it simply has to be learnt with its article. El mapa is another. El idioma and el problema are masculine too, like most nouns that end in -ma and come from Greek.

Is it el foto or la foto?

La foto. It is a shortened form of la fotografía and keeps the feminine gender, so adjectives agree in the feminine: una foto vieja. La moto (la motocicleta) works the same way.

What is the plural of autobús?

Autobuses. Nouns ending in a consonant add -es, and the written accent drops because the stress now falls naturally on the u. The same happens with canción, canciones.

How can I tell if a Spanish noun is masculine or feminine?

Words ending in -o are usually masculine and -a, -ción and -dad usually feminine. For words ending in -e or a consonant there is no reliable rule, so learn every noun with its article: el coche, la calle.

The most common Spanish nouns: 100 everyday words with el and la

100 everyday Spanish nouns

Is it el or la? The rules and the exceptions

Making these nouns plural

Common nouns with two meanings

Frequently asked questions

Learn Spanish from stories, not drills

100 everyday Spanish nouns

Is it el or la? The rules and the exceptions

Making these nouns plural

Common nouns with two meanings

Frequently asked questions

Read Spanish in context

More Spanish vocabulary

Learn Spanish from stories, not drills