Articles & Gender
கட்டுரைச் சொற்கள் மற்றும் பாலினம்
Every Spanish noun is either masculine or feminine, and the article in front of it — el, la, un, una — is your main clue. For people this lines up with Tamil's உயர்திணை split; for objects, Spanish assigns gender with no logic at all, which Tamil doesn't do.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
el / la / los / las — the definite article
el libro (masc.), la mesa (fem.), los libros / las mesas (plural)
அந்தப் புத்தகம், அந்த மேசை, அந்தப் புத்தகங்கள்/மேசைகள்
el marks masculine singular nouns, la marks feminine singular nouns, and the plural forms los/las keep the same gender split instead of merging into a single form. Watch for a handful of feminine nouns starting with a stressed 'a' sound (el agua, el águila) that take el for pronunciation reasons alone — they're still grammatically feminine (esta agua, not este agua).
un / una / unos / unas — the indefinite article
un bolígrafo (a pen, masc.), una manzana (an apple, fem.), unos libros (some books)
ஒரு பேனா, ஒரு ஆப்பிள், சில புத்தகங்கள்
un/una work like English 'a/an', matching the noun's gender. unos/unas is the plural indefinite, roughly 'some' — Spanish uses it more freely than English drops the word entirely, so don't skip it out of habit when a Spanish sentence calls for it.
Two genders, no logic for objects
el sol (masc., 'the sun'), la luna (fem., 'the moon') — no reason why
தமிழில் உயிரற்ற பொருட்களுக்குப் பால் கிடையாது
Spanish has only masculine and feminine, not three genders. For people and animals, this maps cleanly onto what Tamil's அவன்/அவள் pronoun system already distinguishes — el padre, la madre. But Spanish also assigns gender to every inanimate object, plant, and abstract idea, with no biological or logical basis: la mesa, el libro, la silla. Tamil doesn't gender objects at all, so this is a genuinely new habit — you have to learn each noun's gender along with the word itself, usually by memorizing it with its article.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| el libro | el LEE-broh | புத்தகம்puttakam | the book (masc.) |
| la mesa | lah MEH-sah | மேசைmēsai | the table (fem.) |
| el amigo / la amiga | el ah-MEE-goh | நண்பன் / நண்பிnaṇban / naṇbi | the friend (masc./fem.) |
| la escuela | lah es-KWEH-lah | பள்ளிpaḷḷi | the school (fem.) |
| un bolígrafo | oon boh-LEE-grah-foh | ஒரு பேனாoru pēnā | a pen (masc.) |
| una manzana | OO-nah man-SAH-nah | ஒரு ஆப்பிள்oru āppiḷ | an apple (fem.) |
| unos libros | OO-nohs LEE-brohs | சில புத்தகங்கள்sila puttakaṅgaḷ | some books |
| el sol | el sohl | சூரியன்sūriyaṉ | the sun (masc.) |
| la luna | lah LOO-nah | நிலாnilā | the moon (fem.) |
| la casa | lah KAH-sah | வீடுvīṭu | the house (fem.) |
| el país | el pah-EES | நாடுnāṭu | the country (masc.) |