Vocabulary · health · el or la
El or La? Spanish Health Gender.
MediumEvery Spanish noun is masculine or feminine, and the article is part of the word. Pick el or la for each health noun — we'll tell you the rule behind it. Eight nouns a round.
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How to play
- A health noun appears with its article hidden — just the picture, the noun and its English meaning.
- Tap el if the noun is masculine or la if it is feminine.
- The full word appears with the correct article and is read aloud, along with the ending rule that explains it (and whether it's one of the exceptions).
- Get through eight health nouns to finish the round.
Spanish words you'll practice
This free Spanish game drills 12 common words. Want the meanings, examples and pronunciation? Look them up on our Spanish words pages.
Questions
How do I know if a Spanish noun is el or la?
The ending is the best clue: nouns ending in -o are usually masculine (el), and nouns ending in -a, -ción, -sión, -dad, -tad or -umbre are usually feminine (la). Endings like -e or a consonant give you no clue at all, which is why it pays to learn every noun together with its article.
What about words like el problema or la mano?
They're the exceptions, and this game calls them out when they come up. Nouns ending in -ma that came into Spanish from Greek (el problema, el idioma) are masculine, and a handful of -o nouns such as la mano and la foto are feminine.
Why does noun gender matter so much?
Because it spreads: the article, any adjective and often the pronoun all have to agree with it. Learning the noun without its gender means getting the rest of the sentence wrong later.
More Spanish grammar games
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Recall the Spanish, flip the card to check, grade yourself.
See the Spanish word, tap the English meaning before time runs out.
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