There are some nouns in Spanish which, despite being feminine, sometimes use the masculine articles “el” and “un”.
- el agua = the water
- un agua = a water
- el águila = the eagle
- un águila = an eagle
This happens to feminine nouns which start with a stressed “a” or “ha”, and they just sound better in the company of the masculine article.
Keep in mind that, even when they are using the masculine article “el” or “un”, these nouns are feminine for everything else. If they are followed by an adjective, this adjective will be in its feminine form.
- un águila muy bonita = a very beautiful eagle
- el alma sincera = the sincere soul
List of affected nouns
Here are some of the nouns for which this phenomenon occurs. Remember, they all have in common that they all begin with “a” (or “ha”) and that “a” sounds stressed.
el agua water
el águila eagle
el alba dawn
el alma soul
el ama de casa housewife
el ancla anchor
el arma weapon
el arpa harp
el asma asthma
el aula classroom
el habla spoken language
el hacha axe
el hambre hunger
We use the masculine articles with these nouns under 2 conditions
There are 2 conditions that need to happen for us to use masculine articles with these nouns:
- The noun has to be singular, not plural.
- No word can be placed between the article and the noun.
El águila es grande y poderosa = The eagle is big and powerful.
Esta es un arma muy moderna = This is a very modern weapon.
If the 2 conditions don’t happen, then we use feminine articles
If the 2 conditions don’t happen, then we revert to the feminine articles.
For example, if the noun is plural:
Las hablas de esta región son muy extrañas = The spoken languages of this region are very strange.
Son unas amas de casa muy simpáticas = They are very friendly housewives
Or if there is any word between article and noun:
Ella tocó la preciosa arpa = She played the very beautiful harp.
El guerrero tiene una gran hacha = The warrior has a big axe.