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Masculine and feminine

All nouns in Spanish belong to either the masculine (m.) or the feminine (f.) gender. By‘gender’ we mean a grammatical property which applies to animate and inanimate notions alike: gender does not necessarily have anything to do with biological gender or sex. Pronouns must reflect the gender of the noun for which they stand. Adjectives, articles, possessives and demonstratives must agree in gender with the noun or pronoun to which they relate.

un chico (m.) alto (m.) - a tall boy
La casa (f.) está limpia (f.) - The house is clean.

It is important to remember to make such agreements even when the noun is not overtly present:

¡Está muy rica (f.)! (a comment on a paella (f.)) - It’s quite delicious!
Encantada (f.) de conocerle. (when the speaker is female) - Pleased to meet you.
¿Listas (f. pl.) ya? (speaking to a group of girls) - Ready?