Spanish Nouns of Ambiguous Gender

Nearly all nouns in Spanish can be placed in one of two categories — masculine and feminine. However, there are some words of ambiguous gender that dont fit quite so neatly. Of course, some words, such as names of many occupations, are masculine when they refer to men and feminine when they refer to women, as in el dentista for the male dentist and la dentista for the female dentist. And there are some nouns whose meanings vary with gender., such as el cometa (comet) and la cometa (kite). However, there are also words that, for whatever reason, havent been firmly established as being of one gender or the other. List of Common Gender-Ambiguous Nouns Following are the most common of these words. Where just el or la appears before the word, it is the gender that is viewed most widely as correct, and the gender that should be learned by foreigners. Where both appear, either gender is widely accepted, although the most commonly used gender is listed first. Where no gender is listed, the usage depends on region. la acnà © — acne el anatema — anathema el arte — art — The masculine is used when arte is singular, but the feminine is often used in the plural, as in artes bellas (fine arts). el autoclave — sterilizer el azà ºcar — sugar — Although azà ºcar is a masculine word when standing alone, it is often used with feminine adjectives, as in azà ºcar blanca (white sugar). la babel — bedlam el calor — heat — The feminine form is archaic. la/el chinche — small insect el cochambre — dirt el color — color — The feminine form is archaic. el cutis — complexion la dote — talent la/el dracma — drachma (former unit of Greek currency) la duermevela — brief, light, or interrupted sleep — Compound nouns formed by joining a third-person verb and a noun are nearly always masculine. However, the ending apparently has influenced usage of this word toward the feminine. el enema — enema los herpes — herpes la/el Internet — Internet — The general rule is that nouns imported from other languages are masculine unless theres a reason for making them feminine. In this case, the feminine is often used because the word for a computer network (red) is feminine. el interrogante — question la Janucà ¡ — Hanukkah — Unlike the names of most holidays, Janucà ¡ is usually used without a definite article. el/la lente, los/las lentes — lens, glasses la libido — libido — Some authorities say that libido and mano (hand) are the only Spanish nouns ending in -o, other than shortened forms of longer words (such as foto for fotografà ­a and disco for discoteca, or occupational words, such as la piloto for a female pilot), that are feminine. However, libido  is often treated as masculine. la/el linde — boundary el mar — sea — Mar is usually masculine, but it becomes feminine in some weather and nautical usages (such as en alta mar, on the high seas). el/la maratà ³n — marathon — Dictionaries list maratà ³n as masculine, but feminine usage is almost as common, perhaps because maratà ³n is associated so closely with carrera (competitive race), which is feminine. el/la mimbre — willow la/el pelambre — thick hair el/la prez — esteem, honor la/el pringue — grease radio — radio — When it means radius or radium, radio is invariably masculine. When it means radio, it is feminine in some areas (such as Spain), masculine in others (such as Mexico). el reuma — rheumatism sartà ©n — frying pan — The word is masculine in Spain, feminine in much of Latin America. la testuz — forehead of an animal la tilde — tilde, accent mark el tizne — soot, stain el tortà ­colis — stiff neck la treponema — type of bacteria — Like some other words of limited medical usage, this word is feminine according to dictionaries but usually masculine in actual use. el trà ­pode — tripod la/el vodka — vodka la/el web — web page, web site, World Wide Web — This word may have entered the language as a shorter form of la pà ¡gina web (web page), or it may be feminine because red (another word for the Web, or a computer network in general) is feminine. el yoga — yoga — Dictionaries list the word as masculine, but the ending has led to some feminine usage. Key Takeaways A few dozen Spanish nouns are of ambiguous gender, meaning they can be either masculine or feminine without any difference in meaning.The nouns of ambiguous gender are distinguished from nouns of variable gender, whose genders vary with meaning or whether the noun refers to a male or female.A disproportionate number of the gender-ambiguous nouns are words with primarily scientific, technical, or medical usage.