<p> DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES</p><p>I. DEFINITE ARTICLES</p><p>Using DEFINITE ARTICLES with SPECIFIC THINGS: If something is definite, it is absolute, it is certain. There is no ambiguity whatsoever. </p><p>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. </p><p>Nouns name people, animals, places, things, or ideas. </p><p>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”) </p><p>B. When nouns identify one item, they are singular. a. el amigo (masculine, singular) b. la amiga (feminine, singular)</p><p>C. When nouns identify more than one item, they are plural. a. los amigos (masculine, plural) b. las amigas (feminine, plural)</p><p>Use this chart to help you remember which DEFINITE ARTICLES are masculine, feminine, singular, and plural:</p><p> singular plural masculine el los feminine la las</p><p> el, los, la and las = the</p><p>*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):</p><p>1. La casa es grande. (the article, the noun, and the adjective are all feminine and singular) The house is big. </p><p>We use the definite article “la” because we are talking about one house in particular, not any old house. </p><p>2. Los chicos son altos. (notice that the article, the noun, and the adjective are all masculine and plural) The boys are tall. </p><p>We use the definite article “los” because we are talking about specific boys, not any old boys. </p><p>II. INDEFINITE ARTICLES</p><p>Using INDEFINITE ARTICLES with UNSPECIFIED THINGS: If something is indefinite, it is not clear, or uncertain. </p><p>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. </p><p>Use this chart to help you remember which INDEFINITE ARTICLES are masculine, feminine, singular, and plural:</p><p> singular plural masculine un unos feminine una unas</p><p> un and una = a, an unos and unas = some</p><p>*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):</p><p>1. Ella lleva una falda. (both the article and the noun are feminine and singular) She wears a skirt. </p><p>We use the indefinite article “una” because the girl is not wearing one skirt in particular, she is simply wearing a skirt.</p><p>2. Unos perros son grandes. (the article, the noun, and the adjective are all masculine and plural) Some dogs are big. </p><p>We use the indefinite article “unos” because we are not talking about particular dogs, the dogs we reference could be any dogs. </p>