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ARTICLES IN SPANISH
ARTICLES IN SPANISH
The definite article
The definite article
The definite article forms of Spanish (corresponding to English ‘the’) are:
The article agrees with its noun in number and gender:
el árbol (m. sg.) ‘the tree’
el policía (m. sg.) ‘the policeman’
la carta (f. sg.) ‘the letter’
la mano (f. sg.) ‘the hand’
los estudiantes (m. pl.) ‘the students’
las muchachas (f. pl.) ‘the girls’
Before singular feminine nouns beginning with stressed a- or ha-, el is used instead of
la:
el agua (f. sg.) ‘water’
el hambre (f. sg.) ‘hunger’
But:
las armas (f. pl.) ‘arms’, ‘weapons’
Practice
Practice
Definite article + que and de
Definite article + que and de
The forms of the definite article are also used with que and with de.
El que, la que, los que and las que form one of the relative pronouns; they also
have the meaning of ‘he, (etc.) who’:
Los que habían perdido el bolígrafo no podían escribir.
Those who had lost their pens could not write.
Este niño es el que viste entrar ayer.
This little boy is the one you saw coming in yesterday.
El que, etc., also has the meaning ‘the fact that’:
El que no hubiera contestación me sorprendió.
The fact that there was no reply surprised me.
El de, la de, los de and las de have the meaning ‘the one(s) belonging to’:
Los de Barcelona se juntaron en el pasillo.
Those from Barcelona gathered in the corridor.
¿Me dejas otra computadora portátil? La de mi hermano no funciona.
Can you lend me another laptop? My brother’s isn’t working.
Principal differences between the use of the definite article in Spanish and English
Principal differences between the use of the definite article in Spanish and English
The Spanish definite article is used:
(a) With abstract nouns:
¿Qué es la verdad? (What is truth?)
(b) With plural nouns used generically:
Las ovejas son animales mansos. (Sheep are gentle creatures.)
(c) With singular nouns which denote a substance (‘mass’ nouns):
Me sienta mal el café. (Coffee doesn’t agree with me.)
Contrast:
Tenemos vino. (We have (some) wine.)
With these may be included names of colours (which have no article after a
preposition):
El negro es un color de mala suerte. (Black is an unlucky colour.)
but:
Una película en blanco y negro. (A black and white film.)
(d) With titles and similar expressions:
El señor Sánchez no está. (Sr. Sánchez isn’t in.)
El Rey Alfonso X. (King Alfonso X.)
En el capítulo once. (In chapter eleven.)
En la página 23. (On page 23.)
(e) With days of the week and seasons:
Llegó el martes pasado. (He/she arrived last Tuesday.)
La primavera es la estación más hermosa del año. (Spring is the most beautiful season of the year.)
(f) With names of countries which are qualified, or which are masculine:
There is a strong tendency today not to use the definite article with names of countries
unless the country is qualified with an adjectival phrase. But formerly names of
countries which were masculine took the definite article, and there is accordingly some
variation in usage in this area. An exception to this general trend is la India ‘India’.
En España (in Spain)
En (el) Perú (in Peru)
but:
En la España de la posguerra (in postwar Spain)
The article is retained in names of countries which have a complex title, though los
Estados Unidos may drop the article (in which case it is treated as singular):
en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos
in the United Arab Emirates
en (los) Estados Unidos
in the United States
Estados Unidos ha declarado que . . .
The United States has said that . . .
(g) With names of languages:
The definite article is used with names of languages except after hablar ‘to speak’, saber
‘to know’ and the preposition en ‘in’:
El japonés es muy difícil.
Japanese is very difficult.
¿Sabes español?
Do you know Spanish?
Traducir al inglés.
Translate into English.
but:
Hablo japonés. (I speak Japanese.)
En ruso. (En Russian.)
After aprender ‘to learn’, entender ‘to understand’ and estudiar ‘to study’, the definite
article is also usually omitted.
The indefinite article
The indefinite article
The indefinite article forms of Spanish (corresponding to English ‘a(n)’ in the singular
and ‘some’ in the plural) are:
As with the definite article, the indefinite article agrees with its noun in number and gender:
un niño (m. sg.) ‘a child’
una mesa (f. sg.) ‘a table’
un problema (m. sg.) ‘a problem’
unos coches (m. pl.) ‘some cars’
unas mujeres (f. pl.) ‘some women’
Un is used instead of una before singular feminine nouns beginning with stressed a- or
ha- in the same way as el is used instead of la.
NOTE: The full form uno may be used before an adjective: it may be thought of as a numeral in such cases and always has the meaning ‘one’. Contrast:
Un valiente rescató a la princesa. (A brave man rescued the princess.)
Entre los muchos soldados que lucharon sólo había uno valiente. (Amongst the many soldiers who fought there was only one brave one.)
Practice
Practice
Principal differences between the use of the indefinite article in Spanish and English
Principal differences between the use of the indefinite article in Spanish and English
The indefinite article is not used:
(a) With nouns following ser which denote a profession, rank, religion or political
affiliation, unless they are qualified by an adjective or adjectival phrase:
Masculine Femenine
Singular un una
Plural unos unas
Elena es profesora. (Elena is a teacher.)
Es general de ejército. (He is an army general.)
but
Es una persona tradicional. (He/she is a traditional person.)
(b) With tal and cierto ‘a certain’, and otro ‘another’:
Nunca he visto tal cosa. (I’ve never seen such a thing.)
Con cierta ironía. (With a certain irony.)
Me trae otra cerveza, por favor. (Bring me another beer, please.)
(c) When a class of noun is implied:
No tenemos coche. (We don’t have a car.)
but:
Tenemos un coche en Francia. (We have a car in France.)
Use of the plural unos, unas
Use of the plural unos, unas
(a) Unos, unas is used as the equivalent of English ‘some’ (also rendered by Spanish
algunos, algunas), especially when ‘some’ is stressed contrastively:
Unas personas se levantaron mientras que otras quedaban sentadas.
Some people stood up while others remained seated.
(b) Unos, unas may have the meaning ‘approximately’:
Unos treinta jóvenes estaban charlando en el pasillo.
About thirty youngsters were chatting in the corridor.
(c) Unos, unas also has the meaning of ‘a pair of’ with nouns which permit such an
interpretation:
Llevaba unas gafas de sol muy de moda.
He/she was wearing a pair of very trendy sunglasses.
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