When learning Spanish, you'll find out that the nouns all have specific genders, unlike English. While this is a different concept, it really isn't difficult at all. Like with cognates, noun gender rules are very easy to memorize when you notice the patterns, and also with cognates, there are very few exceptions.
Feminine Gender: Words ending with "ion", "d", "z", and "a"
Masculine Gender: Words ending with "o", "e", "l", "r", "s", and "u"
The most notable exceptions are words ending with "ma", which are often masculine in gender because of their Greek origin, where they retained their original gender, as well as certain words ending with "ta" and "pa". These exceptions are easy to remember as they're all cognates. And as you may know, before a masculine noun, you use "el" or "los" for "the" and "un" for "a" or "an", and before a feminine noun you use "la" or "las" for "the" and "una" for "a" or "an". Adjectives are also modified in their spelling based on the gender of the noun they're paired with, and some nouns are gender neutral, depending on the gender of the person, which the vast majority of the nouns ending with "sta" fall into. This can be confusing for any native English speaker, but when you recognize the rules and patterns, it isn't very hard at all.
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