Why is "agua" masculine in singular form and feminine in plural? "El agua" / "Las aguas" ¿Por qué decimos "el agua" si es una palabra femenina?

Question

English ------- Is there any rule that says that feminine nouns that start with "A" are converted to masculine or is it just done for phonetic (ie beauty) reasons? Does this happen in all Spanish speaking countries? ---------- Spanish ------- ¿Hay alguna regla que diga que los sustantivos femeninos que empiecen con "A" son convertidos a masculino, o solo se hace por motivos fonéticos o por belleza?

Answer 1

We say "el" agua for a phonetic reason: The vowel "a" is stressed in the word agua (as well as in área / águila / ansia / arma, etc). It would result in a cacophony.

Plural form of these words need the feminine plural article "las"

Answer 2

The reason why "agua" is treated as masculine in the singular form ("el agua") but remains feminine in the plural ("las aguas") is due to a specific grammatical rule in Spanish.



1. Feminine Nouns Starting with Stressed "A": In Spanish, feminine nouns that start with a stressed "a" or "ha" take the masculine definite article "el" in the singular form. This rule is primarily phonetic, aimed at avoiding the repetition of the "a" sound in "la agua," which can make pronunciation slightly more challenging. However, in the plural form, the rule does not apply, and these nouns retain their feminine gender, thus taking the feminine plural article "las."
2. Examples:
3. Singular: El agua fría (The cold water), el águila majestuosa (the majestic eagle).
4. Plural: Las aguas frías, las águilas majestuosas.
5. Application Across Spanish-Speaking Countries: This rule is consistent across all Spanish-speaking countries. It's a fundamental aspect of Spanish grammar that is taught and applied uniformly.
6. Other Determiners: While the definite article "el" is used with these feminine nouns in the singular, other determiners like indefinite articles ("una" instead of "un") and adjectives still agree in gender with the noun. For example:
7. Una agua fresca might sound unusual, but you'd say "el agua fresca" for "the fresh water," and "esta agua" for "this water," maintaining the feminine agreement in adjectives and other determiners.

This rule is specific to the definite article in the singular form for feminine nouns starting with a stressed "a" sound and does not change the inherent gender of the noun. In all other contexts, the gender of the noun is treated as feminine.