Articles in Spanish

Here you'll learn the bare basics on articles in Spanish. We keep it here really simple and provide only the information you need to get started. If you're ready for a more detailed discussion of the subject, you'll find it here.


Definite Article

the
singular plural
masculine él los
feminine la las


If you say "el niño : the child" instead of "un niño : a child" it is because you are talking about a specific child and because both you and your listener know well enough what child you're talking about. "El" is a definite article. 

As you see on the table there are four definite articles in Spanish: el, la, los and las, whereas in English there's only one: "the".

Why?

Because in Spanish the article must match the noun:

  • in gender [masculine / feminine]  and
  • in number [singular / plural]


Have a good look at the table above before doing the following exercise.


Exercise: Choosing the Definite Article

Fill in the missing definite articles. Choose from el, la, los and las. Remember that, as a rule, nouns ending with "o" are masculine and those ending with "a" are feminine.

1. La_casa grande

2. ___sombrero viejo

3. ___ventanas abiertas

4. ___puerta cerrada

5. ___cielo azul

6. ___libros interesantes

7. ___cara limpia

8. ___niño bueno

9. ___sopa caliente

10. ___los amigos buenos

The big house

The old hat

The open windows

The shut door

The blue sky

The interesting books

The clean face

The good boy

The hot soup

The good friends


Indefinite Article

a / an zero article / some / any
singular plural
masculine un unos
feminine una unas


If you're not talking about a specific house, but rather of some house or any house you'll say "una casa : a house". "Una" is an indefinite article.

There are four indefinite articles in Spanish: un, una, unos and unas.

Have a good look at the table above before doing the following exercise.



Exercise: Choosing the Indefinite Article

Fill in the missing indefinite articles. Choose from un, una, unos and unas. 

1. Una casa nueva

2. ____vestidos bonitos

3. ____libro grande

4. ____hombre rico

5. ____solución  rápida

6. ____niña alegre

7. ____ doctores jóvenes

8. ____ bicicletas buenas

9. ____conversación agradable

10. ____caballo fuerte

A new house

Some nice dresses

A big book

A rich man

A fast solution

A cheerful girl

Some young doctors

Some good bicicles

A pleasant conversation

A strong horse




As we've said, this is the absolute minimum you need to know about Spanish articles in order to start building phrases and sentences in Spanish. If you feel ready for more information please open this page.


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