Gender and Number of Nouns in Catalan

In Brief

Every Catalan noun has a gender, masculine or feminine, and a number, singular or plural. Endings offer useful clues—nouns in unstressed -a are often feminine, and many plurals add -s—but the safest habit is to learn each noun with its article: el gat, la casa, els gats, les cases.

Overview

A noun is a word for a person, place, object, or idea, such as dona “woman,” ciutat “city,” llibre “book,” or llibertat “freedom.” In Catalan, every noun is grammatically masculine or feminine. This classification does not usually describe any real-world sex: there is nothing naturally feminine about la taula “the table” or masculine about el carrer “the street.”

Number simply tells you whether a noun refers to one item (singular) or more than one (plural). Gender and number matter because words connected to the noun usually agree with it—that is, they change form to match. Compare el gat negre “the black cat,” la gata negra “the black female cat,” els gats negres, and les gates negres.

This is an A1 foundation topic. English speakers need to build a new habit: English nouns generally have no grammatical gender, and English adjectives do not change in the plural. In Catalan, memorizing a bare noun such as casa is less useful than learning the small phrase la casa.

How It Works

The four basic combinations

Catalan combines two genders with two numbers. The definite article—the ordinary word for “the”—makes the pattern visible.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	el gat	els gats
Feminine	la casa	les cases

Before most singular nouns beginning with a vowel or a silent h, el or la becomes l': l'home “the man,” l'amiga “the female friend.” This elision hides the gender, so learn another clue too: un home is masculine and una amiga is feminine. In the plural there is no elision: els homes, les amigues.

Recognizing masculine nouns

Endings are clues, not guarantees. Many masculine nouns end in a consonant:

• el gat — the cat
• el llibre — the book
• el carrer — the street
• el jardí — the garden

Many nouns ending in -e are also masculine, including el pare “the father” and el poble “the town.” Some common endings are strongly associated with masculine nouns, such as -ment in el moment and -isme in el turisme.

Do not turn the clue into an absolute rule. A few very common masculine nouns end in -a, including el dia “the day,” el problema “the problem,” el mapa “the map,” and el planeta “the planet.” Their articles must be learned with them.

Recognizing feminine nouns

An unstressed final -a is the strongest beginner clue for feminine gender:

• la casa — the house
• la dona — the woman
• la porta — the door
• la llengua — the language

Several abstract-noun endings are usually feminine, notably -ció and -sió (la informació, la decisió), -tat and -dat (la ciutat, la veritat), and -esa (la bellesa). Yet feminine nouns do not have to end in -a: la nit “the night,” la mà “the hand,” la dent “the tooth,” and la calor “the heat” are all feminine.

Gender and people or animals

Some nouns for people and animals have separate masculine and feminine forms. A common pattern adds or substitutes -a:

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
el nen	la nena	boy / girl
el gat	la gata	male cat / female cat
l'amic	l'amiga	male friend / female friend
el mestre	la mestra	male / female teacher

Other pairs use a different ending or a different word: l'actor / l'actriu “actor / actress,” el metge / la metgessa “male / female doctor,” and l'home / la dona “man / woman.” These patterns are lexical: do not invent a feminine form unless you have encountered it.

Some words have one form for people of any gender, with the article showing the difference: el periodista / la periodista, un artista / una artista, el cantant / la cantant. Other nouns keep one fixed grammatical gender even when the person referred to is different. For example, la persona is always feminine.

Forming the plural after a vowel

The most common plural ending is -s. Nouns ending in an unstressed vowel other than -a generally simply add it:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
el pare	els pares	father(s)
el taxi	els taxis	taxi(s)
el metro	els metros	metro(s)

Nouns ending in unstressed -a normally change -a to -es:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
la casa	les cases	house(s)
la dona	les dones	woman / women
la llengua	les llengües	language(s)

This change may trigger a spelling adjustment that preserves the original consonant sound:

Singular	Plural	Spelling pattern
la vaca	les vaques	c → qu before e
l'amiga	les amigues	g → gu before e
la plaça	les places	ç → c before e
la platja	les platges	j → g before e

Many established Catalan words ending in a stressed vowel form their plural with -ns: el pa → els pans, el vi → els vins, la mà → les mans, el germà → els germans, el camí → els camins, and la cançó → les cançons. Accents can disappear when the added ending changes what the spelling rules require, as in mà → mans. Some loanwords instead take -s, such as el sofà → els sofàs and el cafè → els cafès, so check unfamiliar words.

Forming the plural after a consonant

Many consonant-final nouns simply add -s:

• el gat → els gats
• la paret → les parets
• la nit → les nits
• el jardí → els jardins (the singular ends in a stressed vowel and takes -ns)

Nouns ending in a sibilant or “hissing” sound often need -os, which creates another syllable:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
el gas	els gasos	gas(es)
el braç	els braços	arm(s)
el peix	els peixos	fish
el calaix	els calaixos	drawer(s)
el despatx	els despatxos	office(s)

Spelling can also show a doubled consonant: el gos → els gossos “dog(s)” and el nas → els nassos “nose(s).” Treat these as word patterns to notice rather than trying to predict every spelling from sound alone.

Agreement around the noun

Once the noun changes, its article and any describing adjective normally change with it. An adjective is a word that describes a noun, such as “new,” “small,” or “interesting.”

Pattern	Catalan	English
Masculine singular	el llibre nou	the new book
Feminine singular	la casa nova	the new house
Masculine plural	els llibres nous	the new books
Feminine plural	les cases noves	the new houses

Gender belongs to the noun and does not change merely because there is more than one. Casa is feminine in both la casa and les cases; only its number changes.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
El gat dorm al sofà.	The cat is sleeping on the sofa.	Masculine singular
Els gats dormen al sofà.	The cats are sleeping on the sofa.	Masculine plural in -s
La casa té un balcó petit.	The house has a small balcony.	Feminine noun in -a
Les cases tenen balcons petits.	The houses have small balconies.	-a → -es and full agreement
L'home compra dos pans.	The man buys two loaves of bread.	el home is elided to l'home; pa → pans
Les dones treballen aquí.	The women work here.	dona → dones
La meva amiga viu a Girona.	My female friend lives in Girona.	Feminine singular amiga
Les meves amigues parlen català.	My female friends speak Catalan.	g → gu preserves the sound
El problema és difícil.	The problem is difficult.	Masculine despite final -a
La mà esquerra em fa mal.	My left hand hurts.	mà is feminine
He comprat dos peixos al mercat.	I bought two fish at the market.	peix → peixos
Els periodistes esperen fora.	The journalists are waiting outside.	Same noun form for different genders
Necessitem una taula més gran.	We need a bigger table.	Feminine article with taula
Les places del centre són plenes.	The squares in the center are full.	plaça → places

Common Mistakes

Guessing gender from -a every time

• Wrong: una problema difícil
• Right: un problema difícil
• Why: -a is a useful feminine clue, not a rule without exceptions. Problema is masculine, so both the article and adjective must be masculine.

Using the singular article with a plural noun

• Wrong: la cases blanques
• Right: les cases blanques
• Why: The noun, article, and adjective must all agree in number. Here all three forms are feminine plural.

Adding -s directly to unstressed -a

• Wrong: les donas
• Right: les dones
• Why: Unstressed final -a normally changes to -es in the plural.

Forgetting a spelling change

• Wrong: les amigas
• Right: les amigues
• Why: Amiga forms its plural in -es, and gu keeps the hard g sound before e.

Writing el before a vowel where Catalan elides it

• Wrong: el home alt
• Right: l'home alt
• Why: Singular el normally becomes l' before a vowel or silent h. The plural is els homes alts.

Leaving the adjective unchanged as in English

• Wrong: els llibres interessant
• Right: els llibres interessants
• Why: English adjectives are invariable, but Catalan adjectives normally match the noun's number and, where the adjective has distinct forms, its gender.

Usage Notes

A dictionary normally marks a noun m. (masculine) or f. (feminine) and gives its singular headword. Pay special attention when l' hides the gender: a phrase such as l'artista does not tell you by itself whether the reference is masculine or feminine, while un artista and una artista do.

Plural marking matters in speech as well as writing. Endings such as -os add a clear syllable: peix is one syllable, while peixos has two. Listening for the article is often the quickest way to identify the combination: el/la/l' signals singular, and els/les signals plural.

In traditional generic reference, a masculine plural may denote a group of men or a mixed group: els alumnes can mean male students or students of different genders. When the distinction matters, Catalan can name both forms (els alumnes i les alumnes) or use an appropriate collective noun, such as l'alumnat “the student body.” Choices vary with context, audience, and style.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master every exception at A1, but you will meet several later.

Some nouns do not visibly change in the plural. Their article or the rest of the sentence carries the number contrast: el dilluns / els dilluns “Monday / Mondays,” el llapis / els llapis “pencil(s),” and el temps / els temps “time(s).” Several learned or borrowed words behave similarly, so a dictionary remains useful.

A few nouns change meaning when their grammatical gender changes. For example, el fi means “the aim or purpose,” while la fi means “the end.” These are best learned as two separate vocabulary items, each with its article, rather than as a regular gender transformation.

Gender can also be fixed even when meaning points elsewhere. La persona and la víctima remain grammatically feminine regardless of who is being discussed; agreeing words follow the noun's grammatical gender. Conversely, common-gender nouns such as artista or periodista use the same noun form with different articles.

Finally, plural formation contains patterns beyond the beginner set, including variant forms and spellings in some consonant-final words. When you encounter a surprising plural, record the whole pair—singular with article, then plural with article—instead of memorizing an isolated exception.

Practice Tips

1. Learn four-part mini-patterns. For each new noun, say its singular and plural with an article: el gat, els gats; la casa, les cases. Add an adjective once that feels easy.
2. Sort by ending, then test the exceptions. Make columns for -a → -es, simple +s, -os, and stressed-vowel -ns. Keep a separate short list for el problema, el dia, la mà, and other misleading forms.
3. Listen for agreement chains. In a Catalan clip or short text, underline the article, noun, and adjective in one color. Check whether all three point to the same gender and number.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Definite Articles — choose among el, la, l', els, and les.
• Next step: Indefinite Articles — use un, una, uns, and unes with nouns.
• Next step: Basic Adjectives — make descriptions agree with the noun.
• Next step: Demonstratives — match forms meaning “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those” to the noun.