In Spanish every noun is either masculine or feminine — not just people, but plates, tables and cities too. The gender decides which word you use for the and a:

	Masculine	Feminine
the	el plato	la mesa
a / an	un plato	una mesa
the (plural)	los platos	las mesas
some	unos platos	unas mesas

Plato is a plate, mesa a table; you'll also meet vaso (glass), botella (bottle) and libro (book). Nouns ending in a vowel add -s in the plural: el plato → los platos. Nouns ending in a consonant add -es: el bar → los bares.