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This lesson will help you understand the articles
in Spanish (definite and indefinite articles), and enables you to use real
examples shown below. If you have any question let us know by clicking on the “Contact
us” button, this lesson is very important since it covers a very widely used
element in Spanish which is the definite and indefinite article.
Spanish Definite Articles
Unlike English, which has only one definite
article, which is “the", Spanish has 4 definite articles:
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Spanish
Definite Articles
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Singular
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Plural
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Masculine
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el
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los
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Feminine
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la
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las
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El Hombre (the man), Los Chicos (the boys)
La Mujer (the woman),
Las Chicas (the girls)
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El libro es rojo (the
book is red)
La casa es grande
(the house is big)
Los amigos de mi padre
(the friends of my father)
Las chicas altas (the
tall girls)
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Generally
you can use the Spanish definite articles the same way you use it in English,
however there are some exceptions when definite articles are used in Spanish
but not in English and vice versa, here are some examples:
Spanish
is the language of Spain = el español es
la lengua de España.
I’m going to school
on Monday = Voy a la escuela el lunes.
President Juan Carlos lives in Madrid
= el presidente Juan Carlos vive
en Madrid.
Napoleon segundo = Napoleon the
second
The exceptions are not very common, and they
can be learnt with practice, so no worries!
Spanish Indefinite Articles
While we have (a / an / some) in English as
indefinite articles, we also have un/ una. unos/ unas in Spanish. In general,
whenever un or una are used in Spanish, you need to use "a"
or "an" to say the equivalent in English.
Un libro = a
book
Una casa = a
house
Unos books = some friends
Unas casas = some houses
The table below shows when they should be
used according to the gender and number:
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Spanish
Indefinite Articles
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Singular
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Plural
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Masculine
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un
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unos
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Feminine
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una
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unas
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Sometimes Spanish seems to avoids using the
indefinite articles in many places while English does like in occupations,
affiliation, religion, before otro (other), after con (with) and sin (without),
usually after tener (have)/ llevar (wear)...etc here are some
examples:
Soy professor = I'm a professor
¿Eres musulmán? = Are you a
Muslim?
Es artista = he is an artist
Compré otro coche = I bought another
car
Escribo con lápiz = I write with a
pencil
Trabajo sin descanso = I work without a
break
No tengo carro = I don't have a
car
Ella lleva camisa gris = She wears a
gray shirt
¿Tienes hija? = Do you have a daughter?
I hope you benefited from this lesson (the
Spanish articles), please check our other lessons to take advantage of the other
useful information they may contain.
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Spanish Articles 