{"id":97,"date":"2015-09-28T20:21:50","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T20:21:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/spanish1oli\/?post_type=chapter&p=97"},"modified":"2015-10-10T20:44:15","modified_gmt":"2015-10-10T20:44:15","slug":"estructuras-gramaticales-el-numero-gramatical-singular-y-plural","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/umes-spanish\/chapter\/estructuras-gramaticales-el-numero-gramatical-singular-y-plural\/","title":{"raw":"El n\u00famero gramatical: singular y plural","rendered":"El n\u00famero gramatical: singular y plural"},"content":{"raw":"In Spanish, the noun ending reflects the number of people or things to which it refers. Singular nouns are used to talk about only one person or thing, whereas plural nouns refer to two or more people or things. The plural forms of nouns have different endings, as you will see below.\r\n\r\nIf a noun ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by simply adding an -s<\/em>, for example:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Play una mesa<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play dos mesas<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nNouns that end in consonants are made plural by adding -es<\/em>, for example:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Play una pared<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play cuatro paredes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nNouns that end in -z<\/em> are made plural by changing the -z<\/em> to -c<\/em> and then adding -es<\/em>, for example:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Play una luz<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play dos luces<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
\"Play un pez<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play tres peces<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nIt is important to note that while some nouns refer to more than one person (and have thus a plural meaning), their form is singular. These are referred to as collective nouns. Two of the most important and commonly used examples of collective nouns are:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Play la gente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play la familia<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

<\/h3>\r\n

La concordancia de g\u00e9nero y n\u00famero con sustantivos y adjetivos<\/h2>\r\nIn Spanish, adjectives used to modify nouns must agree with the noun in both gender and number. In other words, if the noun you are using is feminine singular, you will have to change the form of the adjective so that it too is feminine singular. Note that while the gender of noun is an inherent property, the gender of an adjective changes according to the noun.\r\n\r\nSome adjectives have two endings, -o<\/em> in the masculine or -a<\/em> in the feminine (e.g. blanco<\/span>\/blanca<\/span>). Others have only one ending, such as -inteligente<\/em>, which does not change, and can be used to modify either masculine or feminine nouns.\r\n\r\nThe plurals of adjectives are formed in the same way that you just learned for nouns. In other words, by adding an -s<\/em> if the word ends in a vowel or by adding -es<\/em> if the word ends in a consonant, for example:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/td>\r\nsingular<\/th>\r\nplural<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
femenino<\/th>\r\n\"Play la ni\u00f1a alta<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play las ni\u00f1as altas<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
masculino<\/th>\r\n\"Play el ni\u00f1o alto<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\r\n\"Play los ni\u00f1os altos<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
femenino<\/th>\r\n\"Play la mujer delgada<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play las mujeres delgadas<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
masculino<\/th>\r\n\"Play el hombre delgado<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play los hombres delgados<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
femenino<\/th>\r\n\"Play la muchacha inteligente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play las muchachas inteligentes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
masculino<\/th>\r\n\"Play el muchacho inteligente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play los muchachos inteligentes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
femenino<\/th>\r\n\"Play una persona joven<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\"Play unas personas j\u00f3venes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nRemember that some nouns which refer to many people or things are actually singular:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Play La familia es grande.<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n\n\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"100\"]\"a Foto: Francisco Antunes CC BY 2.0[\/caption]\r\n\r\n
<\/div><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
\"Play La gente es agradable.<\/a><\/span><\/td>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

<\/h3>\r\n \r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

In Spanish, the noun ending reflects the number of people or things to which it refers. Singular nouns are used to talk about only one person or thing, whereas plural nouns refer to two or more people or things. The plural forms of nouns have different endings, as you will see below.<\/p>\n

If a noun ends in a vowel, the plural is formed by simply adding an –s<\/em>, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Play una mesa<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play dos mesas<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Nouns that end in consonants are made plural by adding –es<\/em>, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Play una pared<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play cuatro paredes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Nouns that end in –z<\/em> are made plural by changing the –z<\/em> to –c<\/em> and then adding –es<\/em>, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Play una luz<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play dos luces<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Play un pez<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play tres peces<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It is important to note that while some nouns refer to more than one person (and have thus a plural meaning), their form is singular. These are referred to as collective nouns. Two of the most important and commonly used examples of collective nouns are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Play la gente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play la familia<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/h3>\n

La concordancia de g\u00e9nero y n\u00famero con sustantivos y adjetivos<\/h2>\n

In Spanish, adjectives used to modify nouns must agree with the noun in both gender and number. In other words, if the noun you are using is feminine singular, you will have to change the form of the adjective so that it too is feminine singular. Note that while the gender of noun is an inherent property, the gender of an adjective changes according to the noun.<\/p>\n

Some adjectives have two endings, –o<\/em> in the masculine or –a<\/em> in the feminine (e.g. blanco<\/span>\/blanca<\/span>). Others have only one ending, such as –inteligente<\/em>, which does not change, and can be used to modify either masculine or feminine nouns.<\/p>\n

The plurals of adjectives are formed in the same way that you just learned for nouns. In other words, by adding an –s<\/em> if the word ends in a vowel or by adding –es<\/em> if the word ends in a consonant, for example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nsingular<\/th>\nplural<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
femenino<\/th>\n\"Play la ni\u00f1a alta<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play las ni\u00f1as altas<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
masculino<\/th>\n\"Play el ni\u00f1o alto<\/em><\/a><\/span> \"illustration<\/td>\n\"Play los ni\u00f1os altos<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
femenino<\/th>\n\"Play la mujer delgada<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play las mujeres delgadas<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
masculino<\/th>\n\"Play el hombre delgado<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play los hombres delgados<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
femenino<\/th>\n\"Play la muchacha inteligente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play las muchachas inteligentes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
masculino<\/th>\n\"Play el muchacho inteligente<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play los muchachos inteligentes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
femenino<\/th>\n\"Play una persona joven<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\"Play unas personas j\u00f3venes<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Remember that some nouns which refer to many people or things are actually singular:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Play La familia es grande.<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n\n
\"a<\/p>\n

Foto: Francisco Antunes CC BY 2.0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Play La gente es agradable.<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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