Es "la azucar" o "el azucar"?

Question

I'm a bit confused: Is "sugar" "la azucar" or "el azucar"? If both are correct: Does it depend on the context? Are there more words where both articles can be used?

Answer 1

The Spanish word azúcar means "sugar." It is invariably masculine. If you have seen it with the feminine "la," it was likely in the context of a girlfriend referred to as "sweetie," although I have never seen that.

There are words where both versions articles can be used, though. Examples would be the plurals of el águila and el aqua. Both are feminine, but take the masculine el in the singular form. They become las águilas and la agues in the plural. Likewise, some professions like accountant (countable) could take both forms, depending on whether the person is a male or female.

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Answer 2

Both articles can be used with sugar. Which article is preferred often depends on the region you're in. Some other nouns which can change gender that come to mind are...

-el o la labor

-el o la mar

-el o la amor (common in poetry)

Changing a noun's gender from masculine to feminine can make it sound more elegant. For example, in Hemingway's novella "The Old Man and the Sea," he makes a brief comment about how those who love the sea, like seasoned fishermen, call it "la mar." It's almost as if they're treating the sea like a woman, if you can imagine it in that sense.

However, the vast majority of Spanish nouns cannot change gender like the above examples can. These are rare exceptions.