Spanish 1.6. The Articles

Level I 1. Alphabet & Pronunciation 1.1. Syllable Stress 2. Similarities to English 2.1. Plural 2.2. Negation 2.3. Punctuation & Written Accents 3. Cardinal Numbers 4. Subject Personal Pronouns 5. Present Indicative Tense I 6. The Articles 7. Prepositions 8. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives 9. Basic Phrases Level II 1. Gender of Nouns & Adjectives 2. Present Indicative Tense II – Irregular Verbs 3. The Verb “To Be”: “Ser” vs. “Estar” 4. Future Tense 5. Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns 6. Demonstrative Adjectives & Pronouns 7. Object Personal Pronouns 7.1. Combining Direct & Indirect Object Personal Pronouns 8. Relative Pronouns 9. Ordinal Numbers I 10. Times & Seasons Level III 1. Verbs Like “Gustar” 2. “Por” vs. “Para” 3. The Verb “To Know”: “Saber” vs. “Conocer” 4. Indefinite Adjectives & Pronouns 5. Present Progressive Tense 6. Present Perfect Tense 7. Special Uses of “Haber” & “Tener” 8. Telling Time & Describing Weather 9. Adverbs 9.1. The Adverbs “Tan,” “Solo,” “También,” “Tampoco,” “Vez,” & “Veces” 9.2. Other Adverbs & Adverbial Phrases 10. Directions Level IV 1. Degrees of Comparison: Comparatives & Superlatives 2. Past Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect 3. Conjunctions 4. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs 5. The Verb “Soler” 6. Time Expressions: Todavía, Aún, Ya, Hace, Acabar, & Desde 7. Present Subjunctive Tense I 8. Personal “a” 9. Future Perfect Tense Level V 1. Irregular Verbs in The Preterite 2. Imperative Mood & Giving Commands 3. Expressions of Pain & Illness 4. Simple Conditional Tense 5. Present Subjunctive Tense II 6. Perfect Subjunctive Tense 7. Imperfect Subjunctive Tense 8. Past & Conditional Progressive Tenses 9. Interjections Level VI 1. Ordinal Numbers II 2. “Would/Should/Could Have …” 3. Pluperfect Indicative Tense 4. Pluperfect Subjunctive Tense 5. Use of “Aunque,” “Si Bien,” and “A Pesar de” 6. Verbs of Change 7. Reflexive Passive, Impersonal, & Accidental “Se” 8. Diminutives & Augmentatives 9. Use of “Vos” in Some Spanish-Speaking Countries 10. Uses of “Ojalá” in Spanish
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The Articles in Spanish are either definite or indefinite. All nouns are either masculine or feminine. There are no neuter nouns in Spanish.

Indefinite Articles

The indefinite articles in Spanish are “un” (for singular masculine) and “una” (for singular feminine). These are equivalent to “a” or “an” in English.

unBefore a singular masculine noune.g., un hombre (a man)
unaBefore a singular feminine noune.g., una casa (a house)

The plural forms “unos” and “unas” are used to mean “some, e.g., “unos momentos” (some moments), “unas palabras” (some words).

Before a singular feminine noun that starts with “a” or “ha,” “un” is used instead of “una,” e.g., “un águila.” The plural is regular, thus we use “unas,” e.g., “unas águilas.”

Definite Articles

Below are the four definite articles (equivalent to “the” in English). We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number.

elBefore a singular masculine noune.g., el hombre (the man)
laBefore a singular feminine noune.g., la casa (the house)
losBefore a plural masculine noune.g., los hombres (the men)
lasBefore a plural feminine noune.g., las casas (the houses)

There are only two contractions in Spanish that involve the singular masculine definite article “el,” and, unlike in English, these contractions are not optional and must be applied:

1.a   + el = ale.g., “Yo voy al restaurante” (I go to the restaurant).
2.de + el = dele.g., “Yo vengo del café” (I come from the café).

Before a singular feminine noun that starts with “a” or “ha,” “el” is used instead of “la.” For instance, both nouns “agua” (water) and “águila” (eagle) are feminine. When singular, we use “el,” i.e., “el agua” (the water), “el águila” (the eagle). However, the plural is regular; thus, we use “las,” e.g., “las águilas” (the eagles).

Use of the Definite Article in Spanish versus English

There are cases in which Spanish uses the definite article when in English, we would omit it, such as:

1. Abstract concepts or speaking in a general sense, e.g., “La ciencia es importante(Science is important), “Los animales son inteligentes(Animals are intelligent).

2. Languages and nationalities, e.g., “el español” (Spanish), “los alemanes” (Germans). Exceptionally, we drop the definite article in Spanish when the language name is an object of a verb, e.g., “Yo hablo y enseño español” (I speak and teach Spanish), “Me gustaría aprender árabe” (I would like to learn Arabic), or after the preposition “en,” e.g., “escrito en italiano” (written in Italian).

3. Days of the week, e.g., “Yo trabajo el lunes” (I work on Monday), “Yo voy al gimnasio los jueves” (I go to the gym on Thursdays). An exception is when the day name comes after the verb “to be,” e.g., “Hoy es viernes” (Today is Friday).

4. Body parts and clothes are often preceded with the definite instead of the possessive pronoun if the possessor is the same as the subject of the sentence, e.g., “Levanta la mano” (Raise your hand), “Ponte los zapatos” (Put on your shoes).

5. Telling time, e.g., “Son las dos” (It’s two o’clock), “Nos encontramos a la una” (We meet at one o’clock).

6. Before a personal title, such as “señor” (Mr.), “señora” (Mrs.), “doctor” (doctor), “presidente(president), etc., e.g., “el presidente Kennedy,” “la señora Hernández,” “el doctor Davids.” An exception is when addressing the person directly, e.g., “Señor Adams, ¿cómo está?(Mr. Adams, how are you?).

7. Before each noun in the case of multiple nouns. For example, “el padre y la madre” (the father and mother), “los perros y los gatos” (the cats and dogs). Although you can use one definite article in English to refer to all nouns, the grammatically correct way in Spanish is to repeat the definite article for each noun.

In the following cases, we omit the definite article in Spanish:

1. Before the ordinal number describing a king or a queen. For example, “Luis catorce”(Luis the Fourteenth), “Isabel primera” (Elizabeth the First).

2. Although optional, it is common to omit the definite article before the seasons of the year. For example, “en verano” (in the summer), “en invierno” (in winter), “en otoño(in the fall).

Quiz: The Definite and Indefinite Articles in Spanish

Spanish: The Articles

1 / 30

1. a weapon

 

SP: ___ armaf

2 / 30

2. the woman

 

SP: ___ mujer

3 / 30

3. I arrive on Monday.

 

SP: Llego ___ lunes.

4 / 30

4. the boys

 

SP: ___ chicos

5 / 30

5. I would like to learn Arabic.

 

SP: Me gustaría aprender ___ árabe.

6 / 30

6. a sport

 

SP: ___ deportem

7 / 30

7. the house

 

SP: ___ casaf

8 / 30

8. in spring

 

SP: en ___ primavera

9 / 30

9. the hero

 

SP: ___ héroe

10 / 30

10. the uncle

 

SP: ___ tío

11 / 30

11. Written in Italian

 

SP: escrito en ___ italiano

12 / 30

12. Today is Friday.

 

SP: Hoy es ___ viernes.

13 / 30

13. the studentm

 

SP: ___ estudiantem

14 / 30

14. an eagle

 

SP: ___ águilaf

15 / 30

15. some words

 

SP: ___ palabrasf

16 / 30

16. Animals are intelligent.

 

SP: ___ animales son inteligentes.

17 / 30

17. some weapons

 

SP: ___ armasf

18 / 30

18. the sport

 

SP: ___ deportem

19 / 30

19. an uncle

 

SP: ___ tío

20 / 30

20. in summer

 

SP: en ___ verano

21 / 30

21. Spanish is an easy language.

 

SP: ___ español es un idioma fácil.

22 / 30

22. some moments

 

SP: ___ momentosm

23 / 30

23. the water

 

SP: ___ aguaf

24 / 30

24. I go to the gym on Thursdays.

 

SP: Voy al gimnasio ___ jueves.

25 / 30

25. an hour

 

SP: ___ horaf

26 / 30

26. the man

 

SP: ___ hombre

27 / 30

27. the father and mother

 

SP:  ___ padre y ___ madre

28 / 30

28. the girls

 

SP: ___ chicas

29 / 30

29. the studentsm

 

SP: ___ estudiantesm

30 / 30

30. the café

 

SP: ___ cafém

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