Non-specific article a/an in Spanish
Now that we know few nouns in Spanish of the things we have in class, it is very important always determine the noun always with an article a/an, the with a possessive adjective (my, your, his/her…) or other words that we will see further on.
In today’s post we are going to see the indeterminate article a/an or what is the same as the non-specific article a/an. Of course we are sure that you understand what do we try to explain, but let’s see it more clear seeing the determinate article as well (specific article):
A book ⇒ is a non-specific book. It can be any. Indeterminate article a/an
The book ⇒ it is a specific book. We know the book we are talking about. Determinate article
◊ Is very clear in English, as there is no gender for words and the article does not change in plural or singular. This is a very important thing!! From here on, the noun will always be determined as we have explained above.
As seen previously, the nouns have gender themselves and it will not change. It belongs to them, but, whatever adjective or article that comes along with them will have the same gender (masculine/feminine) and quantity (singular/plural) as the noun. So, basically, the noun leads all the other words that come along with it.
Let’s see first the indeterminate articles a/an.
|
A/AN |
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
|
SINGULAR |
UN |
UNA |
|
PLURAL |
UNOS |
UNAS |
As we said previously the noun leads the gender (masculine/feminine) and the quantity (singular/plural) of the article.
Therefore:
LIBRO ⇒ ENDS IN O ⇒ MASCULINE
DO NOT HAVE S ⇒ IT IS SINGULAR
⇒ UN LIBRO (A book)
MALETAS ⇒ ENDS IN A ⇒ FEMININE
DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ UNAS MALETAS (FEW bags)
MESAS ⇒ ENDS IN A ⇒ FEMININE
DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ UNAS MESAS (FEW tables)
PAPELES ⇒ ENDS IN E ⇒ MASCULINE
DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ UNOS PAPELES (FEW papers)
Specific article The in Spanish
Once we have seen the indeterminate articles a/an, it is time to see the determinate article/specific article -The-. It is the same as the non-specific article a/an, in terms of gender and quantity (plural/singular).
Again, we repeat that the nouns have gender themselves, and it will not change. It belongs to them; whatever adjective or article that comes along with them will have the same gender (masculine/feminine) and quantity (singular/plural) as the noun. So basically, the noun leads all the other words that come along with it.
let’s see the noun with the determinate article as well (specific article):
The book ⇒ it is a specific book.
We know the book we are talking about.
Determinate article
So, here it comes the determinate articles table with feminine/masculine and singulars/plurals:
|
THE |
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
|
SINGULAR |
EL |
LA |
|
PLURAL |
LOS |
LAS |
♦ Note that the determinate article masculine, singular EL (The), is the same word but with a little difference as the 3rd person personal pronoun ÉL (He), but with an accent mark in it. This accent completely changes the grammar function of the word but it is pronounced exactly the same way. There is no difference in its pronunciation. So, the accent mark just sets the difference in between the article The and the pronoun He. It is especially important to remember to write with an accent when writing. Do not forget!!!
As we said previously the noun leads the gender (masculine/feminine) and the quantity (singular/plural) of the article.
Therefore:
LIBRO ⇒ ENDS IN O ⇒ MASCULINE
DO NOT HAVE S ⇒ IT IS SINGULAR
⇒ EL LIBRO (The book)
MALETAS ⇒ ENDS IN A ⇒ FEMININE
DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ LAS MALETAS (The bags)
MESAS ⇒ ENDS IN A ⇒ FEMININE
⇒ DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ LAS MESAS (The tables)
PAPELES ⇒ ENDS IN E ⇒ MASCULINE
DO HAVE S ⇒ IT IS PLURAL
⇒ LOS PAPELES (The papers)
Determinate Vs indeterminate article determinant. The Vs A/An
Once we have seen the gender, the singular vs plural, the determinate article and the indeterminate ones it’s time to use it all together.
Remember again, it is very important to always determine the noun always with an article a/an or the , with a possessive adjective (my, your, his/her…) or other words that we will see further on.
We are gonna see the indeterminate and determinate articles table again all together.
Let’s see first the indeterminate articles a/an.
|
A/AN |
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
|
SINGULAR |
UN |
UNA |
|
PLURAL |
UNOS |
UNAS |
The determinate articles table with feminine/masculine and singulars/plurals:
|
THE |
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
|
SINGULAR |
EL |
LA |
|
PLURAL |
LOS |
LAS |
Let’s see some examples of all what we have seen in the post:
The book – El libro
A table – Una mesa
The phones – Los teléfonos
The students – Los estudiantes
A doctor – Un doctor
Few notebooks – Unas libretas
The laptops – Los ordenadores
