Spanish Feminine Nouns with the Masculine Article

In Spanish the definite article is el before singular masculine nouns and la before singular feminine nouns. However, in certain cases, el is used before singular feminine nouns. This is only for feminine nouns which begin with the vowel sound /a/.

Ten feminine nouns which are preceded by el are the following:

agua (water)

águila (eagle)

alba (dawn)

alma (soul)

ancla (anchor)

arpa (harp)

aula (classroom)

ave (bird)

hacha (axe)

hambre (hunger)

Though these feminine nouns combine with el, adjectives which precede the nouns are always feminine. Examples include esta agua (this water) and nuestra aula (our classroom). Feminine nouns which are not stressed on the initial syllable are preceded by la. The word amapola (poppy) is stressed on the third syllable. As a result, the poppy is la amapola.

Spanish singular feminine nouns are preceded by the definite article la. However, feminine singular nouns which are stressed on the initial syllable and begin with the vowel sound /a/ are preceded by the definite article el. However, though they are preceded by el, the adjectives used to modify them are always feminine.