Question

How do u use el and la in sentences? I know that el is masculine and la is feminine but how do i use masculine and feminine terms in certain sentences?

Answer 1

El and la are articles used in spanish. If you are going to say that "The dog eats the meat". It would be "él perro come la carna". You look at the ending letter of the word, to determine the article. Let me know if you have any questions.

Answer 2

The words "el" and "la" both mean "the" in Spanish. As you said, "el" is masculine and "la" is feminine. Just like in English, these words are used before a noun. In Spanish and other romantic languages, all nouns are gendered. For example, "zapato" means "shoe" in Spanish and is masculine. So, if I wanted to say "the shoe," I would say, "el zapato." Additionally, "flag" is "bandera" and is feminine. So, to say "the flag," you say, "la bandera."

One way to generally tell if a noun is masculine or feminine is the ending. Most words that end with -o are masculine, and most words that end with -a are feminine. However, this is not a rule that always works, there are many exceptions; additionally, there are some nouns that don't end in -o or -a, like verdad (which is feminine). One example of a word that breaks the rule is problema (along with all Spanish words that end with -ma). Problema ends with -a but is masculine. This means that "the problem" in Spanish is "el problema."