13 Articles

Definite Articles (artículos definidos): the

There are four ways to express the word “the” in Spanish: el-la-los-las. The singular “the” forms el-la must be matched with singular nouns and the plural “the” forms must be matched with plural nouns.

With people

  Masculine   Feminine  
Singular el chico the boy la chica the girl
Plural los chicos the boys las chicas the girls
  Masculine Feminine  
Singular el profesor la profesora the professor
Plural los profesores las profesoras the professors

Things

  Masculine   Feminine  
Singular el libro the book la mesa the table
Plural los libros los books las mesas the tables

Irregular nouns

  Masculine   Feminine  
Singular el día the day la mano the hand
Plural los días the days las manos the hands

Indefinite Articles (artículos indefinidos): a, an, some, a few

There are also four indefinite articles: un-una-unos-unas. The singular forms take on the meaning of “a” or “an”:

  Masculine   Feminine  
Singular un chico a boy una chica a girl
Singular un tío an uncle una tía an aunt

However, the plural forms unos and unas mean “some” or “a few”:

  Masculine   Feminine  
Plural unos chicos some boys unas chicas some girls
Plural unos libros a few books unas mesas a few tables
Plural (irr.) unos días some days unas manos a few hands

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First Year Spanish 1 Copyright © 2019 by Paul Eckhardt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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