Complete Guide to Spanish Nouns: Definition, Types and Examples

A noun is one of the most basic elements of Spanish that you need to know if you want to master it. In this article, we will explore the classification of nouns in Spanish, their uses and how to identify them. 

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What is a noun?

A noun refers to those words that we use to name everything that surrounds us: people, animals, objects, places, ideas or feelings. 

Nouns are the basis of many sentences because they are the names we use to refer to specific or abstract things. Examples of nouns in Spanish:

• People: hombre (man), mujer (woman), estudiante (student), María, Juan. 
• Animals: perro (dog), gato (cat), pájaro (bird), ratón (mouse), mariposa (butterfly)
• Objects: libro (book), mesa (table), lámpara (lamp), silla (chair), lápiz (pencil)
• Places: escuela (school), casa (house), playa (beach), México, Buenos Aires
• Ideas: lógica (logic), justicia (justice), belleza (beauty), razón (reason), ética (ethics)
• Feelings: alegría (happiness), tristeza (sadness), enojo (anger), miedo (fear), desagrado (disgust)

Types of nouns

Now that we have learned what a noun is in Spanish, it is important to know that there are also several types of nouns, each with its own special characteristic. Let's explore the most important ones to understand them better:

Concrete nouns

Concrete nouns are those that we can perceive with our senses. That is, we can see them, touch them, hear them, smell them or taste them, they are objects or beings that exist in a tangible way. Examples of concrete nouns:

• Casa (house)
• Teléfono (phone)
• Árbol (tree)
• Manzana (apple)
• Abeja (bee)

Abstract nouns

Abstract nouns cannot be perceived with our senses; they represent ideas, emotions, or concepts that are intangible. Examples of abstract nouns:

• Amor (love)
• Justicia (justice)
• Felicidad (happiness)
• Bondad (kindness)
• Imaginación (imagination)

Common nouns

Common nouns are used to name people, animals, or things in a general way rather than by specific names. Examples of common nouns:

• Ciudad (city)
• Galleta (cookie)
• Vaca (cow)
• Doctor (doctor)
• Bicicleta (bicycle)

Proper nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that we can count in single units. Examples of countable nouns:

• Colombia
• Everest
• Andrés
• Shakira
• Google

Collective nouns

Collective nouns are those that, although in the singular, refer to a group or category of elements. Examples of collective nouns:

• Manada (pack)
• Orquesta (orchestra)
• Parlamento (parliament)
• Flota (fleet)
• Constelación (constellation)

Countable nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that we can count in individual units. Examples of countable nouns:

• Libro (book)
• Casa (house)
• Lápiz (pencil)
• Pelota (ball)
• Persona (person)

Uncountable nouns (or mass nouns)

Uncountable (or mass) nouns are nouns that cannot be counted individually, such as liquids or substances. Instead, other terms such as ‘un vaso de agua’ (a glass of water) or ‘un kilo de arroz’ (a kilo of rice) are used to refer to specific quantities. Examples of uncountable nouns:

• Agua (water)
• Arena (sand)
• Azúcar (sugar)
• Leche (milk)
• Tiempo (time)

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Singular and plural of nouns

In Spanish, nouns can be in the singular (when we refer to only one thing) or in the plural (when we want to refer to more than one thing).

Regular nouns in the plural

Most Spanish nouns in the singular can be converted to plural by simply adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ to the end of the word. The rule depends on how the singular noun ends. Examples of regular plural nouns:

If it ends in a vowel, we add ‘-s’:

• planta → plantas (plant → plants)
• pato → patos (duck → ducks)
• doctora → doctoras (female doctor → female doctors)
• nube → nubes (cloud → clouds)
• juego → juegos (game → games)

If it ends in a consonant, we add ‘-es’:

• pared → paredes (wall → walls)
• mar → mares (sea → seas)
• color → colores (color → colors)
• hotel → hoteles (hotel → hotels)
• profesor → profesores (male teacher → male teachers)

Irregular nouns in the plural

Some nouns are irregular and therefore do not follow the above rules. Their plural form may change in a special way, either by modifying one or more letters of the original word or by applying other specific rules of the language.

Such variations can be somewhat confusing for beginning learners, as they do not always follow predictable patterns, but it is important that they are learned individually. Examples of irregular nouns in the plural:

• luz → luces (light → lights) 
• pez → peces (fish → fish)
• análisis - análisis (analysis → analyses)
• rincón → rincones (corner → corners)
• cactus - cactus (cactus → cacti)

Compound nouns

Compound nouns are formed by joining two words to create a new noun with a meaning of its own. We can write them as one or two words. Examples of compound nouns:

• Pasatiempo → pasa + tiempo (Hobby: pass + time)
• Paraguas → para + aguas (Umbrella: stop + waters)
• Teléfono móvil → teléfono + móvil (Mobile phone (telephone + mobile)
• Pelirrojo → pelo + rojo (Redhead: hair + red)
• Teatro musical → teatro + musical (Musical theater: theater + musical)

Possession in nouns

In Spanish, we express possession using phrases with ‘de’ or other possessive adjectives. There are no ‘possessive nouns’ as such, but we can indicate who owns something. Examples of compound nouns:

• El libro de mi amigo (my friend's book)
• La casa de Isabella (Isabella's house)
• Sus manos (her hands)
• Mis perros (my dogs)
• Su reloj (her watch)

Quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns

Quantifiers are words that we use to indicate quantity, which varies depending on whether the noun is countable or uncountable. Examples of quantifier nouns with nouns:

Examples for countable nouns:

• Muchos libros (many books)
• Varias sillas (several chairs)
• Tres gatos (three cats)
• Ningún coche (no car)
• Demasiados lápices (too many pencils)

Examples for uncountable nouns:

• Mucha agua (a lot of water)
• Poca azúcar (too little sugar)
• Demasiada leche (too much milk)
• Suficiente dinero (too much money)
• Cierta información (some information)

Gender of nouns

In Spanish, nouns have gender, which means that they are either masculine or feminine. In general, nouns ending in ‘-o’ and nouns ending in ‘-a’ are usually feminine. This is the most common and easiest rule to remember.

However, there are some exceptions. For example, words like ‘mano’ (hand) are feminine even though they end in ‘-o’, and ‘día’ (day) is masculine even though it ends in ‘-a’. In addition, some nouns have the same form for both genders, which can refer to either a man or a woman, for example the word ‘student’.

It is important to learn these exceptions, but don't worry, most nouns do follow the general rules, making it easy to know whether they are masculine or feminine. Examples of noun gender:

Examples of masculine nouns:

• Libro (book)
• Carro (cart)
• Sombrero (hat)
• Hombre (man)
• Sol (sun)

Examples of feminine nouns:

• Montaña (mountain)
• Manzana (apple)
• Mujer (woman)
• Silla (chair)
• Flor (flower)

Examples of exceptions:

• El agua (The water - feminine, but with a masculine article due to its sound)
• El día (The day - masculine)
• La radio (The radio - feminine, even though it ends in "-o")
• El sofá (The sofa - masculine)
• El idioma (The language - masculine)

Noun phrase

A noun phrase is a group of words that are built around a noun. The noun is the core of the phrase and may include other elements such as adjectives, articles or determiners that accompany the noun, but does not contain a main verb. Examples of noun phrases:

• Una casa grande (a big house)
• Mi coche nuevo (my new car)
• Su hermano menor (his younger brother)
• La mesa de madera (the wooden table)
• Algunas flores rojas (some red flowers)

Nominal Sentence

A nominal sentence, on the other hand, is a structure in which a noun occupies the central place in the sentence, but is distinguished by the fact that it usually does not include a conjugated verb or the action of the verb is minimal. It is mainly used to state, describe or emphasize a concept without the need for a verb. Examples of noun phrases:

• El sol brilla intensamente (the sun shines brightly)
• La luna aparece cada noche (the moon appears every night)
• Los estudiantes terminan la tarea (the students finish their homework)
• Su hermana canta en el coro (his sister sings in the choir)
• Las flores se marchitan en invierno (the flowers wither in winter)

Derived nouns

Many nouns in Spanish come from other words, such as verbs or adjectives. These are called derived nouns. Examples of derived nouns:

• Cantante (from “cantar”) → Singer (from “to sing”)
• Lector (from “leer”) → Reader (from “to read”)
• Pintura (from “pintar”) → Painting (from “to paint”)
• Amistad (from “amigo”) → Friendship (from “friend”)
• Caminata (from “caminar”) → Walk (from “to walk”)

Summary

Throughout this guide we were able to explore what nouns are, the types of nouns and examples and how they function in the Spanish language. We know that nouns allow us to name everything around us, from concrete objects to abstract ideas.

We also learned about how they are used depending on whether they are singular or plural, their gender, the quantifiers, or the articles that accompany them.

Now that you have a much better idea of how nouns are fundamental in Spanish, we invite you to keep practicing every day through Promova’s app so that you can master their use in no time.