Severn Spanish

Articles I

Understanding articles

Articles are words that indicate which noun (or nouns) you are talking about; in other words, they specify certain noun(s). There are two types of articles: definite (in English, “the” is the definite article) and indefinite (“a” and “an” are the indefinite articles).

• Definite articles refer to a specific, definite object: “the chair,” “the apple.”

• Indefinite articles refer to nonspecific objects: “a chair” (implying any chair, not a specific one).

If this difference seems fuzzy, consider the difference between “the book” and “a book.” “The book” refers to a specific book, whereas “a book” could be any book at all.

 

 

Articles in Spanish

Spanish articles fall into the same two categories as English articles: definite and indefinite. However, in Spanish, articles must agree with their nouns in number and gender. This means that if the noun is feminine and plural, the article must be feminine and plural, too.

 

Definite articles

The definite articles in Spanish are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The article must always agree with its noun in both number and gender. Here are the steps for choosing a definite article:

 

 

 

 

These two questions will help you to select the correct article — one that matches the noun in number and gender.

Examples:

mesa — feminine, singular — la mesa (the table)

libros — masculine, plural — los libros (the books)

casas — feminine, plural — las casas (the houses)

hombre — masculine, singular — el hombre (the man)

 

Indefinite articles

The indefinite articles in Spanish are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indefinite articles work in exactly the same way as definite articles. However, if you are trying to decide between a definite and indefinite article, you should add another step onto the process:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ask yourself these three questions when you need to choose the correct article for a noun.

Examples:

silla — feminine, singular — una silla (a chair)

profesores — masculine, plural — unos profesores (some teachers)

camas — feminine plural — unas camas (some beds)

auto — masculine, singular — un auto (a car)

 

Helpful articles

Sometimes a noun’s gender is different from what you might think, based on the normal guidelines. If you come across an unfamiliar noun and are unsure of the gender, looking at the article can help you. If the article is masculine, the noun must (almost always) be masculine. If the article is feminine, the noun must (almost always) be feminine. See if you can determine the gender of these unfamiliar words based on their articles:

el paraguas (the umbrella)

un sacapuntas (a pencil sharpener)

la mano (the hand)

unos fantasmas (some ghosts)

Now see if you are correct! The genders for the nouns are:

el paraguas — masculine

un sacapuntas — masculine

la mano — feminine

unos fantasmas — masculine

 

 

Practice

Try your hand at using the articles in Spanish.