In another blog post on Spanish nouns that can be masculine or feminine depending on meaning we look at final.
You can listen to the pronunciation of final in the audio clip below:
La final is feminine when it is the deciding match – the final – of a sports contest or competition. Una final is often preceded by las semifinales (the semifinals) and los cuartos de final (the quarter-finals):
A las dos y media de la tarde dará comienzo la final del torneo.
The tournament final will begin at 2.30pm.
Los dos equipos se enfrentan este fin de semana en la final de la Copa.
The two teams meet in the Cup final this weekend.
Otherwise, el final is masculine.
El final can denote the end of something such as an activity, period of time or road:
el período que transcurre entre el final de la guerra y mediados de siglo
the period between the end of the war and the middle of the century
Ya se acercaba el final del verano.
The end of the summer was already approaching.
Al final de la avenida dobló hacia la derecha.
At the end of the avenue he turned right.
hacia el final del capítulo segundo
towards the end of the second chapter
El final can also be the ending of something such as a book, film or crisis:
Para mí, la historia necesita un final diferente.
In my opinion the story needs a different ending.
La crisis puede tener un final feliz.
The crisis may have a happy ending.
Remember to make any articles and adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify:
una final olímpica
an Olympic final
Fue un final inesperado.
It was an unexpected ending.
Next week we’ll be looking at another Spanish noun whose gender varies according to meaning, so please join us!
