Why do we sometimes use the masculine article el [the] before feminine nouns in Spanish? Aren't we supposed to always use the feminine article la [the] before them and use the masculine article only before masculine nouns?

A Spanish learner reached out to ask me a question recently:

"Is agua a masculine or a feminine word?
I have learnt it as el agua, but now I have just read agua fría. I am confused."

¡Buena pregunta!

Agua [water]is definitely a feminine noun. That is why we use the feminine form of the adjective frío: fría.

Then, why are we using the masculine form of the article before agua?

The short answer is that we don’t use la, the feminine form of the article, because pronouncing la (ending in an a) before agua (beginning with a stressed a) is supposed to be awkward. By using el, the masculine form of the article, we avoid the problem.

But let me explain everything in detail:

Spanish nouns have a gender

Spanish nouns are divided into two grammatical categories: masculine and feminine. This means that, even when nouns refer to items that have no biological sex, they belong to one of these two groups.

For example, the noun libro [book] belongs in the masculine group, while the noun revista [magazine] belongs in the feminine group.

And the word vino [wine] is a masculine noun, but the word agua [water] is a feminine noun.

Except when a word refers to a person or an animal, such as caballo [horse], which is a masculine noun, and yegua [mare], which is a feminine noun, there is not much to think about why a noun is considered masculine or feminine.

If you want to learn more about this division, visit this article about the gender of Spanish nouns.

The most important implication of nouns having a gender is that the adjectives that are related to a particular noun must adopt the form that coincides with that gender.

Spanish adjectives have a gender too

Gender is assigned also to the different forms of Spanish adjectives.

Almost all nouns and adjectives have different forms to express number. This is, whether we are referring to a single item (singular) or several items (plural).

• coche - coches [car - cars]
• grande - grandes [big]

Most nouns have then one form to express singular and one to express plural: coche - coches [car - cars], libro - libros [book - books], revista - revistas [magazine - magazines] ...

And many adjectives have also only one form to express singular and one to express plural: grande - grandes [big], verde - verdes [green], naranja - naranjas [orange]...

However, many adjectives have two singular forms and two plural forms in order to express also masculine and feminine:

• nuevo [new] [masculine - singular]
• nueva [new] [feminine - singular]
• nuevos [new] [masculine - plural]
• nuevas [new] [feminine plural]

• frío [cold] [masculine - singular]
• fría [cold] [feminine - singular]
• fríos [cold] [masculine - plural]
• frías [cold] [feminine plural]

The gender of Spanish adjectives must agree with the gender of the nouns they describe

This means that we have to choose the form of the adjective that agrees in gender with the noun.

If we are referring to a book as new, since libro [book] is a masculine noun, we must use the masculine form of the adjective: nuevo [new].

However, if we are referring to a magazine as new, since revista [magazine] is a feminine noun, we must use the feminine form of the adjective: nueva [new].

So we would say:
• libro nuevo [new book]
• libros nuevos [new books]
• revista nueva [new magazine]
• revistas nuevas [new magazines]

Remember that we normally place the adjective after the noun in Spanish sentences.

Determiners also have a gender

Yes, in Spanish, when we want to use an adjective, we put it after the noun it refers to.

There is a group of words, however, that we normally use before nouns: determiners.

*Some grammarians consider determiners a subgroup of adjectives and some don’t. We won’t discuss that here.

Determiners are words such as este [this], mi [my] or cada [each]:
• este libro [this book]
• mi libro [my book]
• cada libro [each book]

Among determiners are also a group of words called articles: el, la, lo, los, las [the].

• el [the] [masculine - singular]
• la [the] [feminine - singular]
• lo [the] [neutral]
• los [the] [masculine - plural]
• las [the] [feminine - plural]

Since they also must agree with the gender of the noun they refer to, we use masculine articles with masculine nouns and feminine articles with feminine nouns:
• el libro [the book]
• la revista [the magazine]
• los libros [the books]
• las revistas [the magazines]

*I explain why there is a neutral article, even if there are no neutral nouns in Spanish, and how to use it in this article.

Feminine nouns that use the masculine article

However, there are some cases when we use the masculine-singular article with feminine-singular nouns. This occurs when we need an article before a feminine noun that starts with a stressed a (this includes feminine nouns starting with ha).

The words antorcha [torch] and harina [flour] are feminine nouns that start with an a sound, but the stress is not in that sound, so we use the feminine adjective:
• la antorcha [the torch]
• la harina [the flour]

The words agua [water] and hacha [axe] are feminine nouns start with an a sound that is also stressed. In this case, we use the masculine - singular article, even if these nouns are feminine:
• el agua [the water]
• el hacha [the axe]

The reason, as I have already explained, is that it is considered awkward or difficult to pronounce the feminine article, ending in a, before a word starting in a stressed a (or ha.

Other adjectives or determiners that refer to the Spanish feminine noun

If there are other adjectives or determiners in the sentence that refer to the same feminine noun that starts with a stressed a, we use the masculine article right before the noun, but we use the the feminine form of the other adjectives or determiners:
• el agua fría [the cold water]
• todo el agua limpia [al the clean water]

However, if a different determiner or adjective is used between the article and the noun, we use the feminine form of the article:
• la misma agua [the same water]
• la preciada agua [the valued water]

This is because the article’s a and the noun’s are are now separated.

This doesn’t apply to plural nouns

Since the feminine article las [the] ends with an s and not with an a, there is no problem in using it before feminine-plural nouns that start with a stressed a:

• las armas [the weapons]
• las hachas [the axes]

I hope that this explanation is helpful.

If you have any question related to the Spanish language, don’t hesitate to let me know. I will answer it with pleasure.