GENDER OF NOUNS IN SPANISH VII nouns applicable to both genders without modification of the word used

At the beginning of this series on the gender of nouns we have divided these into two types: those that have only one gender, masculine or feminine, and those that can be applied to both genders. Within this last group, all the nouns that we have seen so far experience some change in the word used to name one or another gender. It can be a change in the last letter (such as "niño" and "niña", "hijo" and "hija", "doctor" and "doctora"), in a larger part of the word (as "actor" and "actriz"), or a completely different word (such as "toro" and "vaca", "hombre" and "mujer"). There are, however, some nouns that change gender, that is to say, they can be applied to one gender or another, but they do so, without any change in the word used.

These types of nouns are known in Spanish as "sustantivos comunes en cuanto al genero" (common nouns in terms of gender). Some examples are: atleta (athlete), terapeuta (therapist), guía (guide), estudiante (student), artista (artist). ayudante (assistant), conyuge (spouse), dentista (dentist), dibujante (draftsman).

With this type of nouns it is necessary to change the articles and adjectives according to the gender to which they refer, although the noun itself remains unchanged. If I want to talk, for example, of a female estudent, I have to say "la estudiante", buy if I want to talk of a male studente, I have to saye "el estudiante". That means that I need to change the article, picking between "el" or "la" depending on the genre to which I refer, but the noun remains the same in both cases "estudiante".

"El atleta berciano Saúl Ordóñez se proclama campeón de España en pista cubierta" (The athlete from Berciano Saúl Ordóñez is proclaimed champion of Spain on the indoor track)

"La atleta argentina Fedra Luna estableció nuevo récord sudamericano bajo techo en 3000 metros" (Argentine athlete Fedra Luna sets new South American indoor record in 3000 meters).