DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES

I. DEFINITE ARTICLES

Using DEFINITE ARTICLES with SPECIFIC THINGS: If something is definite, it is absolute, it is certain. There is no ambiguity whatsoever.

DEFINITE ARTICLES are used before nouns. In English, we only have one definite article—“the”. In Spanish, there are four. We’ll learn about those in a minute.

Nouns name people, animals, places, things, or ideas.

A. In Spanish, nouns have masculine and feminine gender: a. el chico (masculine nouns usually end in “-o”) b. la chica (feminine nouns usually end in “-a”)

B. When nouns identify one item, they are singular. a. el amigo (masculine, singular) b. la amiga (feminine, singular)

C. When nouns identify more than one item, they are plural. a. los amigos (masculine, plural) b. las amigas (feminine, plural)

Use this chart to help you remember which DEFINITE ARTICLES are masculine, feminine, singular, and plural:

singular plural masculine el los feminine la las

el, los, la and las = the

*Remember: Nouns and articles must always match in GENDER (masculine or feminine) and in NUMBER (singular or plural). Examples of sentences using DEFINITE ARTICLES (specific):

1. La casa es grande. (the article, the noun, and the adjective are all feminine and singular) The house is big.

We use the definite article “la” because we are talking about one house in particular, not any old house.

2. Los chicos son altos. (notice that the article, the noun, and the adjective are all masculine and plural) The boys are tall.

We use the definite article “los” because we are talking about specific boys, not any old boys.

II. INDEFINITE ARTICLES

Using INDEFINITE ARTICLES with UNSPECIFIED THINGS: If something is indefinite, it is not clear, or uncertain.

Like definite articles, INDEFINITE ARTICLES are used before nouns. In English, we have three indefinite articles—“a, an,” and “some”. In Spanish, there are four.

Use this chart to help you remember which INDEFINITE ARTICLES are masculine, feminine, singular, and plural:

singular plural masculine un unos feminine una unas

un and una = a, an unos and unas = some

*Remember: Nouns and adjectives must always match in GENDER (masculine or feminine) and in NUMBER (singular or plural). Examples of sentences using INDEFINITE ARTICLES (unspecified):

1. Ella lleva una falda. (both the article and the noun are feminine and singular) She wears a skirt.

We use the indefinite article “una” because the girl is not wearing one skirt in particular, she is simply wearing a skirt.

2. Unos perros son grandes. (the article, the noun, and the adjective are all masculine and plural) Some dogs are big.

We use the indefinite article “unos” because we are not talking about particular dogs, the dogs we reference could be any dogs.