Comparative Grammar 1.7. The Articles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

In this comparative grammar lesson of Romance languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, & French, we study the definite and indefinite articles in each language. In Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French, both definite and indefinite articles must agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.

Table of Contents

• 1. Definite Articles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French
  • Definite Articles in Spanish
  • Definite Articles in Portuguese
  • Definite Articles in Italian
    • “Bello”, “Quello”, and “Santo”
  • Definite Articles in French
• 2. Indefinite Articles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French
  • Indefinite Articles in Spanish
  • Indefinite Articles in Portuguese
  • Indefinite Articles in Italian
  • Indefinite Articles in French
• Use of the Definite Article versus English “The”
  • Definite Article Before Seasons of the Year
• Level I – Basic

1. Definite Articles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

The following definite articles are equivalent to “the” in English.

Definite Articles in Spanish

We have four definite articles in Spanish because the definite article must agree with the noun in both gender and number:

el	Before a singular masculine noun	e.g., el hombre (the man)
la	Before a singular feminine noun	e.g., la casa (the house)
los	Before a plural masculine noun	e.g., los hombres (the men)
las	Before a plural feminine noun	e.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:

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

Before a singular feminine noun that starts with “a” or “ha,” the definite article “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, “las” is used, e.g., “las águilas” (the eagles).

Definite Articles in Portuguese

We have four definite articles in Portuguese because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number:

o	Before a singular masculine noun	e.g., o homem (the man)
a	Before a singular feminine noun	e.g., a casa (the house)
os	Before a plural masculine noun	e.g., os homens (the men)
as	Before a plural feminine noun	e.g., as casas (the houses)

Definite Articles in Italian

Below are the definite articles in Italian, equivalent to “the” in English. We have seven definite articles in Italian because the definite article has to agree with the noun in both gender and number. In addition, some nouns that begin with a vowel or certain consonants require different definite articles.

	Singular	Plural
Before a masculine noun that begins with a vowel	l’	gli
Before a masculine noun that begins with “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant	lo
Before any other masculine noun	il	i
Before a feminine noun that begins with a vowel	l’	le
Before any other feminine noun	la

If an adjective precedes the noun, the definite article is adjusted according to the beginning of the adjective. For example, “l’amico” means “the friend,” whereas “il buon amico” means “the good friend.” Notice the change in the definite article from “l’” to “il.”

The article “gli” is used before any plural masculine noun (or preceding adjective) that begins with a vowel, “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant, e.g., “gli amici” (the friends), “gli gnocchi” (the dumplings), “gli studenti” (the students), etc.

The feminine plural article “le” is used before any plural feminine plural noun (or preceding adjective), regardless of whether it begins with a vowel or consonant, e.g., “le ore” (the hours), “le donne” (the women), “le zone” (the zones), etc.

Using the proper article in Italian is more complicated than in English or other Romance languages.

“Bello“, “Quello“, and “Santo“

There are two common adjectives in Italian that undergo similar form-changing contractions to the definite articles: “bello” (beautiful) and “quello” (that), e.g., “quell’amico” (that friend), “begli uccelli” (beautiful birds).

	l’	lo	il	la	i	gli	le
bello	bell’	bello	bel	bella	bei	begli	belle
quello	quell’	quello	quel	quella	quei	quegli	quelle

The adjective “bello” can be placed before or after the noun. Notice that the contraction applies to the adjective “bello” only if it precedes the noun. Otherwise, the contractions do not apply, e.g., “uccelli belli” (beautiful birds).

There will be more detail on “quello” and other demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in Level II, Lesson 4.

Another adjective that changes form, but only in the singular before a proper noun, is “santo” (saint), which has the form:

• “Sant’”: before a proper masculine or feminine noun that starts with a vowel, e.g., “Sant’Antonio” (St. Anthony), “Sant’Anna” (St. Ann).
• “Santo”: before a proper masculine noun that starts with “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant, e.g., “Santo Stefano” (St. Stephen).
• “San”: before any other proper masculine noun, e.g., “San Marco” (St. Mark).
• “Santa”: before any other proper feminine noun, e.g., “Santa Maria” (St. Mary).      

Definite Articles in French

Below are the definite articles in French, equivalent to “the” in English:

	Singular	Plural
Before a masculine or feminine noun that begins with a vowel or a mute “h”	l’	les
Before a masculine noun that does not begin with a vowel or a mute “h”	le
Before a feminine noun that does not begin with a vowel or a mute “h”	la

If an adjective precedes the noun, the definite article is adjusted according to the beginning of the adjective. For example, “l’ami” means “the friend,” whereas “le bon ami” means “the good friend.” Notice the change in the definite article from “l’” to “le.”

Notice that only a mute “h” takes the definite article “l’” in singular form, e.g., “l’homme” /lom/ (the man), and a liaison is applied in plural form, i.e., “les hommes” /lez-om/ (the men). On the other hand, an aspirated “h” takes the definite article “le” in singular form, e.g., “le héros” /lə e-яo/ (the hero), and a liaison is prohibited in plural form, i.e., “les héros” /le e-яo/ (the heroes), not /lez e-яo/.

2. Indefinite Articles in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French

The following indefinite articles are equivalent to “a” or “an” in English.

Indefinite Articles in Spanish

The indefinite articles in Spanish are “un” (for singular masculine) and “una” (for singular feminine).

un	Before a singular masculine noun	e.g., un hombre (a man)
una	Before a singular feminine noun	e.g., una casa (a house)

The plural forms “unos” and “unas” are used to mean “some.” For example, “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 “unas” is used, e.g., “unas águilas.”

Indefinite Articles in Portuguese

The indefinite articles in Portuguese are “um” (for singular masculine) and “uma” (for singular feminine).

um	Before a singular masculine noun	e.g., um homem (a man)
uma	Before a singular feminine noun	e.g., uma casa (a house)

The plural forms “uns” and “umas” are used to mean “some.” For example, “uns momentos” (some moments), “umas palavras” (some words).

Indefinite Articles in Italian

There are four indefinite articles in Italian; two masculine articles: “un” and “uno,” and two feminine articles: “un’” and “una.” The table below indicates when to use each of these four indefinite articles:

Before a masculine noun that begins with “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant	uno
Before any other masculine noun	un
Before a feminine noun that begins with a vowel	un’
Before any other feminine noun	una

Similar to the definite articles, if an adjective precedes the noun, we adjust the indefinite article according to the beginning of the adjective. For example, “un’amica” means “a (female) friend,” whereas “una buona amica” means “a good (female) friend.” Notice the change in the indefinite article from “un’” to “una.”

The indefinite article “uno” is used before any masculine noun (or preceding adjective) that begins with “z,” “gn,” “ps,” or “s” + consonant, e.g., “uno sport” (a sport), “uno gnocco” (a dumpling), “uno zio” (an uncle), etc. All other masculine nouns use the indefinite article “un,” e.g., “un amico” (a friend), “un ragazzo” (a boy), “un gatto” (a cat), etc.

The article “un’” is used before any feminine noun (or preceding adjective) that begins with a vowel, e.g., “un’amica” (a friend), “un’ora” (an hour), “un’isola” (an island), etc. All other feminine nouns use the indefinite article “una,” e.g., “una casa” (a house), “una zia” (an aunt), “una porta” (a door), etc.

Indefinite Articles in French

The singular definite articles “un” (masculine) and “une” (feminine) in French are equivalent to “a” or “an” in English, whereas “des” is used with plurals and often translated as “some.” The table below summarizes the indefinite articles in French:

	Singular	Plural
Before a masculine noun	un	des
Before a feminine noun	une

Use of the Definite Article versus English “The”

There are cases in which Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French use the definite article when in English, it would be omitted, such as:

1. Abstract concepts or speaking in a general sense, for example:

SP	La ciencia es importante.	Science is important.
PT	A ciência é importante.
IT	La scienza è importante.
FR	La science est importante.
SP	Los animales son inteligentes.	Animals are intelligent.
PT	Os animais são inteligentes.
IT	Gli animali sono intelligenti.
FR	Les animaux sont intelligents.

2. Languages and nationalities, for example:

SP	Los alemanes	Germans
PT	os alemães
IT	i tedeschi
FR	les allemands
SP	El italiano	Italian
PT	o italiano
IT	l’italiano
FR	l’italien

Exceptionally, we drop the definite article when the language name is an object of some verbs or after the preposition “in,”  for example:

SP	Hablo inglés.	I speak English.
PT	Falo inglês.
IT	Parlo inglese.
FR	Je parle anglais.
SP	escrito en italiano	written in Italian
PT	escrito em italiano
IT	scritto in italiano
FR	écrit en italien

3. Days of the week when referring to a repeated action or habit on the same day of every week, for example:

SP	Voy al gimnasio los jueves.	I go to the gym on Thursdays.
PT	Vou à academia às quintas-feiras.
IT	Vado in palestra il giovedì.
FR	Je vais à la gym le jeudi.

If we do not refer to a repeated action, we do not use the definite article in Italian and French, for example:

SP	Llego el lunes.	I arrive on Monday.
PT	Chego na segunda-feira.
IT	Arrivo lunedì.
FR	J’arrive lundi.

4. Body parts and clothes, for example:

SP	Se lava la mano.	He washes his hand.
PT	Ele lava a mão.
IT	Si lava la mano.
FR	Il se lave la main.
SP	Me cepillo el cabello.	I brush my hair.
PT	Escovo o cabelo.
IT	Mi spazzolo i capelli.
FR	Je me brosse les cheveux.

5. Telling time in Spanish and Italian, for example:

SP	Son las dos en punto.	It’s two o’clock.
PT	São duas horas.
IT	Sono le due.
FR	Il est deux heures.
SP	Nos reunimos pasada la una de la tarde.	We meet after one o’clock.
PT	Nos encontramos depois de uma da tarde.
IT	Ci incontriamo dopo l’una.
FR	Nous nous retrouvons après une heure.

6. Before a personal title, such as “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “doctor,” “professor,” etc. In French, some titles like “Mr.” and “Mrs.” are not preceded by a definite article. For example:

SP	el profesor Kennedy	Professor Kennedy
PT	o professor Kennedy
IT	il professor Kennedy
FR	le professeur Kennedy
SP	la señora María	Mrs. Maria
PT	a señora Maria
IT	la signora Maria
FR	Madame Maria
SP	el doctor Marco	Dr. Marco
PT	o doutor Marco
IT	il dottor Marco
FR	le docteur Marco

An exception is when addressing the person directly. In this case, we do not use a definite article. For example:

SP	Señor Flavio, ¿cómo está?	Mr. Flavio, how are you?
PT	Senhor Flávio, como está?
IT	Signor Flavio, come sta?
FR	Monsieur Flavio, comment allez-vous?

Notice that in Italian we drop the final “e” in titles like “professore,” “signore,” and “dottore” when followed by a masculine proper name. This is common in Italian with many profession titles.

7. Before each noun in the case of multiple nouns, for example:

SP	el padre y la madre	the father and mother
PT	o pai e a mãe
IT	il padre e la madre
FR	le père et la mère
SP	los perros y los gatos	the dogs and cats
PT	os cães e os gatos
IT	i cani e i gatti
FR	les chiens et les chats

Although you can use one definite article in English to refer to all nouns, the grammatically correct way in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French is to repeat the definite article for each noun.

Definite Article Before Seasons of the Year

Like in English, it is common to omit the definite article before the seasons of the year, especially in Spanish, Italian, and French, for example:

SP	en verano	in summer
PT	no verão
IT	in estate
FR	en été
SP	en invierno	in winter
PT	no inverno
IT	in inverno
FR	en hiver
SP	en otoño	in autumn
PT	no outono
IT	in autunno
FR	en automne
SP	en primavera	in spring
PT	na primavera
IT	in primavera
FR	au printemps

Notice that we maintain the definite article in “au printemps” (in spring) in French, and in most cases in Portuguese.

Next: Interrogative Pronouns & Adjectives

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