Day 54: Learn a grammatical rule/concept and explain it.
Gender Pronouns in Spanish
In Spanish, all nouns are either masculine or feminine.
Just like in English, Spanish often gives living creatures different names, depending upon whether they are male or female.
The following Spanish nouns all denote living creatures.
How are all of these masculine nouns alike?
Hint: look at both the beginning and the ending of each line.
How are all of these feminine nouns alike?
“El” and “la” both mean “the.”
Note: These two words (el, la) are called “definite articles.” You will learn more about them in a later lesson.
What do you notice about the last letter of these nouns?
Nouns that end in -o are usually masculine. Nouns that end in -a are usually feminine. Notice the word usually! There are exceptions to these two rules and you will soon be learning them.
One cannot predict the gender of a noun that stands for a non-living thing. Try to predict whether the Spanish words for the following things are masculine or feminine:
You cannot predict the gender of a noun, except in the case of living creatures.
Take a guess. Do you think the Spanish word for “dress” is masculine or feminine? You might expect it to be feminine, since a dress is an article of clothing worn by females.
Actually, the word for “dress” is a masculine word:
Take another guess. Do you think the Spanish word for “necktie” is masculine or feminine? You might expect it to be masculine, since a necktie is an article of clothing worn by males.
Actually, the word for “necktie” is a feminine word:
When you learn a new noun, you should also learn its definite article (el, la). There are several reasons for this:
Because you cannot predict the gender of most nouns.
Because not every noun that ends in -o is masculine, and not every noun that ends in -a is feminine.
Because many nouns end in letters other than o or a.
Because the definite article (el, la) is your clue as to whether a noun is masculine or feminine.
Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a.
Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la).
Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.
Some nouns that end in -a are masculine.
Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine. Notice that eight of the twelve nouns listed above end in -ma.
Note: A few nouns that end in -ma are feminine, such as la cama and la pluma.
Four of the nouns that end in -a are simply exceptions and must be memorized.
A few nouns that end in -o are feminine.
Many nouns that denote living things have both a masculine and a feminine form.
Most nouns that end in -o are masculine.
Most nouns that end in -a are feminine.
Masculine nouns that end in a consonant often have a corresponding feminine form that ends in -a.
Some nouns that refer to people use the same form for both masculine and feminine. These nouns indicate gender by the article (el or la).
Nouns that end in -sión, -ción, -dad, -tad, -tud, -umbre are feminine.
Many nouns that end in -ma are masculine.
A few nouns that end in -o are feminine
Day 55: Write in TG about a tradition/custom in your country.
Una tradición aquí en los Estados que celebramos es el día de la independencia o el 4 de julio. El día de la independencia se celebra el 4 de julio. Este día es el día en que Estados Unidos se convirtió en su propia nación separada de Gran Bretaña en 1776. Tradicionalmente, muchas personas celebran este día con picnics, desfiles y fuegos artificiales.
Day 56: Learn 3 proverbs/sayings.
Literal translation: The world is a handkerchief.
Meaning: It’s a small world.
Literal translation: To what’s done, chest.
Meaning: What’s done is done. You’ve made your bed, now lie in it. When something bad has happened (maybe caused by you!) but it’s too late to change it, you need to just face up to it (in the sense of puffing out your chest and fronting it out).
A falta de pan, buenas son (las) tortas
Literal translation: In the absence of bread, cakes are good.
Meaning: Similar to the English “Half a loaf is better than none,” this means that something is better than nothing, and beggars can’t be choosers!