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Some words that are normatively epicene can have an informal feminine ending with '-a'. Invariable words in Spanish are often derived from the Latin participles ending in -ans and -ens ( -antem and -entem in the accusative case): estudiante. Some nouns ending in -a refer only to men: cura ("priest") ends in -a but is grammatically masculine, for a profession held in Roman Catholic tradition only by men.One exception is modisto (male fashion designer), which was created as a counterpart to modista (fashion designer, or clothes maker). Nouns with the epicene ending -ista, such as dentista, ciclista, turista, especialista (dentist, cyclist, tourist, specialist either male or female) are almost always invariable.Singular nouns ending in -o or -a are epicene (invariable) in some cases: testigo (witness, any gender).However, not all nouns ending in -o are masculine, and not all nouns ending in -a are feminine: In Spanish, the masculine is often marked with the suffix -o, and it is generally easy to make a feminine noun from a masculine one by changing the ending from o to a: cirujano, cirujana (surgeon m./f.) médico, médica (physician, m./f.) If the masculine version ends with a consonant, the feminine is typically formed by adding an -a to it as well: el doctor, la doctora. Main article: Grammatical gender in Spanish Some argue that a gender neutral Spanish can reduce gender stereotyping, deconstructing sexist gender roles and discrimination in the workplace.

They also stress the underlying sexism of words whose feminine form has a different, often less prestigious meaning. Advocates of gender-neutral language modification consider this to be sexist, and exclusive of gender non-conforming people. As in other Romance languages-such as Portuguese, to which Spanish is very similar-a group of both men and women, or someone of unknown gender, is usually referred to by the masculine form of a noun and/or pronoun. Grammatical gender in Spanish refers to how Spanish nouns are categorized as either masculine (often ending in -o) or feminine (often ending in -a). A sign at a feminists' protest in Madrid, Spain, explaining gender-neutral, inclusive language in Spanishįeminist language reform has proposed gender neutrality in languages with grammatical gender, such as Spanish.