Articles - definite / indefinite
(the and a in English)

PART 1

 

The first part of this lesson explains what articles are and how they are used in both Spanish and English.

 

An article is the name given to a word that is usually placed before a noun or noun phrase in order to identify it. The following are the articles we use in English:

 

definite article	the	dog or apple	used before all singular nouns
definite article	the	dogs or apples	used before all plural nouns
indefinite article	a	dog	used before singular nouns beginning with a consonant
indefinite article	an	apple	used before singular nouns beginning with a vowel
indefinite article	some or any	dogs or apples	used before all plural nouns

 

In Spanish articles are used a little differently. The choice of article is dependant on two things; the gender of the noun and whether it is singular or plural. All Spanish nouns take a gender. We must know the gender of a noun in order to decide what article to use with it. For this reason it is very important to learn the gender of all new nouns that you learn. For much more information about nouns and gender take a look at the separate lessons on nouns.

 

Spanish articles

 

article type	article used	noun	gender	singular or plural	translation
definite	el	perro	masculine	singular	the dog
definite	la	vaca	feminine	singular	the cow
definite	los	perros	masculine	plural	the dogs
definite	las	vacas	feminine	plural	the cows
indefinite	un	perro	masculine	singular	a dog
indefinite	una	vaca	feminine	singular	a cow
indefinite	unos	perros	masculine	plural	some or any dogs
indefinite	unas	vacas	feminine	plural	some or any cows

 

PART 2

 

The second part of this lesson looks at how the definite article is used with the prepositions a and de. It then looks at when the definite article is used with certain place names.

 

Using the definite article with the prepositions a and de

 

If either of the prepositions a or de come before the masculine singular article el, the resulting pronunciation sounds odd. For this reason the prepositions and articles are combined together. The resulting pronunciation is much clearer.

 

a el banco	incorrect so becomes	al banco	to the bank
(Yo) cogí a el tren.	incorrect so becomes	(Yo) cogí al tren	I caught the train
de el mercado	incorrect so becomes	del mercado	from / of the bank
de el mar	incorrect so becomes	del mar	from / of the sea

 

Place names

 

In Spanish the names of some countries and cities take a definite article and some don’t. In English no article is used. Each place name in Spanish needs to be learnt individually. The following are some examples of where definite articles are used.

el Brasil	Brasil
el Canadá	Canada
el Ecuador	Ecuador
la Florida	Florida
la Habana	Havana
la India	India
el Japón	Japan
el Paraguay	Paraguay
el Perú	Peru

 

Note: If a geographical location or country name is made up of more than one word then the place name usually takes a definite article. This sometimes occurs in English too.

 

los Estados Unidos	The United States
la Gran Bretaña	Great Britain
la América del norte	North America

 

PART 3

 

Part three of the lesson looks at when the definite article is usually used in Spanish but not in English.

 

In general the definite article is used in Spanish much more than it is in English. If a Spanish sentence contains a noun there is a very high probability that an article of some sort will be used with that noun. In English this is not always the case.

 When the definite article is used in Spanish but not in English

 

1)      When talking about dates, times and meals.

 

Son las tres y veinte.	Its three twenty.
Vamos el martes que viene.	Lets go this Tuesday.
¿A que hora es la cena?	What time is dinner?

 

2)      When talking about colours or parts of the body. Parts of the body are not referred to in a possessive way (my, our and your), like they are in English. Instead the definite article is usually used (el, los, la and las – the).

 

¿A ti te gusta el verde?	Do you like green?
Me duelen los brazos.	My arms hurt. (Literally – the arms they hurt me.)

 

Note: To learn more about the verb doler and how it is used to talk about parts of the body take a look at the separate lesson on Gustar and similar verbs.

 

3)      When referring to certain places where in English the prepositions in or at might be used.

 

en la escuela	at school
en el trabajo	at work
en el hospital	in hospital
en la cama	in bed

 

4)      When talking about people that have a title in their name.

 

El señor Alvarez estaba aquí.	Mr Avarez was here.
El profesor Caceres me dijo.	Profesor Caceres told me.

 

Note: In English a capital letter is always used with names (proper nouns). This is not always the case in Spanish. Take a look at the lesson on nouns part 1 to learn more.

 

5)      When talking about the things we do and don’t like. (The names of sports and games are used with the definite article generally.)

 

Me gusta el fútbol.	I like football.
A él le encanta el pescado.	He loves fish.
¿No te gusta el ron?	Don’t you like rum?

 

6)      Whenever a noun is used at the start of a sentence.

 

La olla está rebosando.	The saucepan is overflowing.
Los chanchos huelen.	Pigs smell.

 

7)      When referring to abstract nouns. (For more information on noun types take a look at the lesson on nouns part 1.)

 

(Yo) pienso que la felicidad es más importante.	I think happiness is more important.
La fe es una cuestión de opinión	Faith is a question of opinion.

PART 4

 

The fourth part of this lesson looks at how indefinite articles are used in both Spanish and English. Indefinite articles are used in much more of a similar way in both Spanish and English than definite articles are, but there are still some differences.

 

When the indefinite article is not used in Spanish but is usually used in English

 

1)      When saying what we do. What are professions are. (Not when used with adjectives)

 

Soy técnico.	I’m a technician.
Mi primo es camarero.	My cousin is a waiter.
Soy un técnico hábil. (adjective used)	I’m a skillfull technician.

 

2)      With certain words as follows:

 

cierto/a	cien	mil	sin	qué (not que)
a certain	a hundred	a thousand	without	what

 

 

(Yo) conozco cierto hombre.	I know a certain man.
Dame cien gramos por favor.	Give me (I'll have), a hundred grams please.
Ellos gobernaron por mil años.	They ruled for a thousand years.
Él llegó sin guía.	He arrived without a guide.
¡Que sorpresa!	What a surprise.

 

Note: In English the words without  and what can be used without an indefinite article too (without hope – sin esperanza / what time? – ¿A qué hora?).

 

3)      With certain verbs indefinite articles are sometimes not used as follows: (They ARE used with nouns and adjectives togther.)

 

tener

to have

buscar

to look for

 

Él no tiene dinero.	He hasn’t got any money.
Ellos no tienen una casa.	They don't have a house.
(Yo) busco apartamento.	I’m looking for an apartment.

 

(Yo) busco un apartamento limpio. (adjective used)

I’m looking for a clean apartment.

 

PART 5

 

The final part of this lesson looks at the Spanish article lo. This article is used in Spanish in only specific situations. Sometimes in English lo can mean the, but often there is no English equivalent.

 

It is important not to confuse the Spanish article lo with the Spanish direct object pronoun lo meaning him, it or you polite in English. For more information on direct object pronouns take a look at the separate lesson on direct and indirect object pronouns.

 

How lo is used to make a noun

 

In Spanish the article lo is never used with a noun but it can be used to make a noun. In these situation lo means the in English.

 

Lo más importante es no gritar.	The most important thing is not to shout.
Lo malo de él es su aliento.	The bad thing about him is his breath.
Lo único que quiero es sal.	The only thing I want is salt.

 

Using lo que or de lo que

 

The article lo can be used with the words que to mean what, or de and que to mean than in English. Do not use it with qué which also means what!

 

Lo que quiero es más.	What I want is more.
(Yo) hice lo que (tú) me dijiste.	I did what you told me.
Ella tiene más edad de lo que parace.	She's older than she seems.

 

Using lo to form adverbial phrases

 

The article lo can also be used to form some very common adverbial phrases as follows:

 

a lo menos	at least
a lo mejor	maybe
por lo visto	apparently
a lo sumo	at most

 

For more information on adverbs take a look at the separate lessons on adverbs part 1 and part 2.

 

That concludes this lesson on articles. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for this lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your understanding.