A Quick Guide to Spanish Articles

You know those little words that we put in front of nouns, like el, las, unos, etc.? They’re called ‘articles.’ So strap yourselves in, because you’re about to read an article about Spanish articles... #articleception

We’ll look at definite articles (‘the’), indefinite articles (‘a’), and the useful word lo.

Definite articles in Spanish

First of all, let’s identify the definite articles, which translate as the word ‘the.’ A definite article is an article that identifies a specific thing. It’s like when you’re chatting with your friends about the band you all love. It’s not just a band, it’s the band.

There are only four definite articles; you just choose the one that agrees with your noun in terms of gender and number.

A quick note on gender: sometimes you’ll see el used with a feminine noun. This happens when the noun starts with a stressed a- or -ha. It makes things easier to pronounce! The noun itself is still feminine.

Tricky to say: la agua fría (wrong)

Easier to say: el agua fría (the cold water)

Here are some examples of how the definite article works:

Rules: In general, if you want to say ‘the,’ then use the definite article. Sometimes in Spanish, we use the definite article where we wouldn’t in English. It might feel unnatural at first, but the more you read, the better idea you’ll get.

When we use the Spanish definite article

* Top tip: the word el is special because when it comes after the prepositions a or de, the words combine!

a + el -> al

de + el -> del

When to omit (miss out) the definite article

Indefinite articles in Spanish

The indefinite article is what we use to refer to ‘a,’ ‘an,’ or ‘some.’

Here are some examples of indefinite articles in use.

First of all, note that the pronunciation rule from earlier still applies here:

We use the masculine article with feminine nouns that begin with a stressed a- or -ha. The noun’s still feminine!

Tricky to say: una águila hermosa (wrong)

Easier to say: un águila hermosa (a beautiful eagle)

When to use the Spanish indefinite articles

Sometimes, you can omit the article if no detail about the direct object is given.

But when you qualify the noun by giving more details about him, you have to include the indefinite article.

When to omit the definite article in Spanish

The contexts where you’d omit the article are where you’re talking about an object that there’s only expected to be one of (like you’d only usually carry one umbrella, you’d only have one mother, you’d only search for one wife, etc.). If you wanted to talk about more, then you’d need to specify how many!

             To mean ‘approximately’ before a number

Lo

Definite and indefinite are the main types of articles, but we also have lo. It is a kind of article, but it’s not used with nouns, so it’s not gender-specific. Sometimes we call it a neuter (or neutral) article. It can be used in a few ways.

Quiz

Let’s see if you can pick the right article for each of the following:

       1. _ casa es mía. (The house is mine.)

           a.  El

           b.  La

           c.  Los

       2. He conseguido _ nuevo coche. (I’ve got a new car.)

           a.  el

           b.  un

           c.  unos

       3. Me encanta _ fútbol. (I love soccer.)

           a.  una

           b.  la

           c.  el

       4. Soy _ dentista. (I’m a dentist.)

           a.  un

           b.  una

           c.  [N/A]

       5. Me duele _ garganta. (I have a sore throat/my throat hurts.)

           a.  la

           b.  mi

           c.  una

       6. _ único que sé es que te amo. (The only thing I know is that I love you.)

           a.  el

           c.  la

       7. Necesito _ tijeras para mi proyecto de arte. (I need some scissors for my art project.)

           a.  unas

           b.  unos

           c.  las

Great work!

Even if you’re a beginner, you’d probably seen articles before. But now you know what they actually are, and how to use them!