Spanish Grammar and Writing Topics: Atricles

Beginning Grammar

Los artículos

Articles are words that accompany and introduce nouns. Some examples in English would be: the book, a book; and similarly in Spanish: el libro, un libro. Like, in English, there can be definidos o determinados (the book, el libro) when they refer to something known or present, or indefinidos o indeterminados when they refer to a more general characteristic of the object (a book, un libro).

Although in English, there is only one definite article: the. In Spanish, you will have to choose between four definite articles: el, la, los and las, depending on the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural). Similarly, as in English you have (a / an and some / any), in Spanish you would find: un, una, unos y unas.

artículos definidos artículos indefinidos

	masculino	femenino	masculino	femenino
singular	el	la	un	una
plural	los	las	unos	unas

Feminine nouns that start with a stressed a/ha, take the definite article el. The noun and its adjectives remain feminine. In the plural, the feminine article las is used. Similarly, they take un, but only in the singular. This rule does not concern all other adjectives as shown in these examples:

El águila blanca	Las águilas blancas	Un águila blanca	Unas águilas blancas	Esta águila blanca	Mucha águila blanca
El agua pura	Las aguas puras	Un agua pura	Unas aguas puras	Esta agua pura	Mucha agua pura

You noticed that the adjective blanca and pura were always feminine, stressing that the nouns are indeed feminine. Águila and agua are stressed on the beginning syllable (águila, agua), so the articles they take are el and un in singular, but las and unas in plural. They also take ningún, in singular, but all other determinants are feminine (ningunas, esta, mucha, etc...)

When the feminine nouns begin with a/ha but the stress falls in a different syllable, they work as any other feminine noun and, of course, take feminine articles.

La arena blanca	Las arenas blancas	Una arena blanca	Unas arenas blancas	Esta arena blanca	Mucha arena blanca
La harina pura	Las harinas puras	Una harina pura	Unas harinas puras	Esta harina pura	Mucha harina pura

Contractions

The prepositions a and de and the masculine article determinate article el are usually combined into one word: a + el = al and de + el = del. However, they don’t combine with the or indefinite article or the feminine form of the definite.

Vamos al cine	Vamos a un cine	Vamos a la escuela	Vamos a una escuela
Venimos del cine	Venimos de un cine	Venimos de la escuela	Venimos de una escuela

Uses of the definite article

Sometimes the usage of the definite article in Spanish grammar is the same as the usage of the in English, but not always. The following list outlines when to use the definite article in Spanish and a comparison of how the same idea would be expressed in English:

el/los/la/las

with a noun the refers to a specific person or thing
El cuaderno de María es azul	María’s notebook is blue
with nouns that refer to something general (gustar + article is a good scenario for this)
Me gusta la fruta	I like fruit
With days of the week
El viernes no trabajo No trabajo los viernes but:Hoy es miércoles (no article after the verb ser)	I don’t work this Friday I don’t work on Fridays
with instruments, games and sports after the verbs jugar and tocar
Ella toca el piano Juego a las cartas con mis amigos Estos niños juegan al fútbol (although in Mexico you can hear juegan fútbol)	She plays the piano I play cards with my friends These kids are playing soccer
with a reflexive verb to talk about parts of the body, instead of a possessive determiner
Me lavo las manos Me duele la cabeza	I wash my hands My head hurts
To say time
Es la una de la tarde Son las tres y media	It is one pm It is thee thirty
In titles (but not when talking directly to the person)
Ahí va el señor López ¡Hola, señor López!	Here goes Mr. López Hello, Mr. López!
to refer to a family using their last name in plural
Somos amigos de los López	We are Friends with the Lopez’s
with the names of mountains, rivers, lakes, seas and oceans
El Misisipí es un río americano El mar Mediterráneo es muy bello	Mississippi is an American river The Mediterranean sea is beutiful
With the names of letters and percentages
No puede pronunciar la “rr” Ganó el 10% de los puntos	He can’t pronounce his “rr”s She gained 10% of the points

Uses of the indefinite article

These are un/una/unos/unas.

No Article

We generally don’t use an article in Spanish:

with the verb ser + profession (unless you add and adjective)
Mi papa es medico Mi papá es un médico famoso	My dad is a doctor My dad is a famous doctor
with the verb ser + nationality or religious faith
Soy peruano Soy cristiano
with unspecified quantities
¿Tienes dinero?	Do you have any money?

before names for individual people, organisations and places (cities, countries, regions), except when the definite article is part of the name i.e. the United Kingdom

Example: Lorena trabaja en Oxfam en Grecia.

but not: La Loren trabaja en la Oxfam en la Grecia.

But: Fátima vive en los Estados Árabes Unidos.

with ordinal numbers in titles

Example: Alfonso X era conocido como Alfonso X «el Sabio».

with languages or school subjects, except when the form the subject of the sentence

Example: Hablo japonés y ruso.

But: El chino es un idioma precioso.

before the names of months
Example:Febrero tiene 28 días.
for seasons or means of transportation when used with the preposition en Example: en verano ir en coche
before otro, medioExample: Quiero otro café. Nos encontramos a medio día.
after llevar, tenerExample: llevar gafas tener coche

Indefinite Articles

The masculine indefinite articles are un (singular) unos (plural). The feminine indefinite articles are una (singular) and unas (plural). We use the indefinite articles, similarly to the English indefinite articles a/an, in the following situations:

to mention something that is not specifically defined
Example: María es una amiga de Laura. one of several friends
to mention an approximate quantity in plural
Example: Estamos a unos 15 kilómetros de la costa.
to describe specific characteristics of a person using a noun or adjective
Example: Este niño es un ángel. Su hermano es un travieso.

with the impersonal form of the verb haber: hay.Ejemplo: En el museo hay una exposición de las pinturas negras de Goya. Junto a la chimenea había una mecedora.

Spanish Writing and Grammar Lab

Beginning Grammar