Mismatching word gender in Spanish?

Question

My native language is a genderless language, there is no masculine/feminine words, and so there is no being agreeable in grammar. This causes a lot of confusion for me as a Spanish Learner and no matter how much I try to be agreeable sometimes make mistake in *a/o* or *el/la* or... Spanish teachers tend to say: "You will not be understood if you are not agreeable!". My question is: How does a native Spanish speaker feel if I mistake word genders? Is it considered a mistake? Is it offensive? Will it totally lose meaning?

Answer 1

If you confuse gender when you speak Spanish, don’t worry about it.

Keep going—most people are used to hearing gender errors from Spanish learners.

Besides, people focus on understanding what you’re saying. For example, if you say “la problema,” people will understand that you meant “el problema.”

I encourage you to keep speaking Spanish. As Spanish teachers, we understand the learning process and are very patient in helping students improve their Spanish.

Answer 2

In my experience, if they know that Spanish isn’t your native language they will be patient with you. The occasional error in gender agreement isn’t too big of a deal.

I can’t say what it’s like in Spain, but in most Spanish speaking countries have very accepting cultures. Most people are patient when you make a sincere effort to communicate, even if you make mistakes.

There are some situations in that it maters. Some words may be offensive if you change them incorrectly, but they are very few. Regardless, people will understand you better the fewer mistakes ou make. Mistakes mostly just distract from what you’re trying to say.