Definite and Indefinite Articles

Definite and Indefinite Articles

• Use of articles with specific and unspecified things

Definite articles

• All nouns in Spanish are masculine or feminine.
• In Spanish, the definite article (the) that accompanies a noun will match its gender and number.

	Definite article	Noun
Singular masculine	El (the)	Chico (boy)
Plural masculine	Los (the)	Chicos (boys)
Singular feminine	La (the)	Chica (girl)
Plural feminine	Las (the)	Chicas (girls)

Definite articles (continued)

• Son para el concurso.
• El matches concurso.
• A los nuevos amigos.
• Los matches amigos.
• The gender of a noun must be learned.
• Usually
• Nouns ending with –o are masculine
• Nouns ending with –a are feminine.

Indefinite articles

• A noun may sometimes appear with an indefinite article (a, an or some).
• The indefinite article that accompanies a noun will also match its gender and number.

	Indefinite article	Noun
Singular masculine	Un (a)	Chico (boy)
Plural masculine	Unos (some)	Chicos (boys)
Singular feminine	Una (a)	Chica (girl)
Plural feminine	Unas (some)	Chicas (girls)

Modelos

• El sombrero es rojo.
• The hat is red
• La blusa es azul.
• The blouse is blue
• Una camisa es buena.
• A shirt is good.
• Un chico es un estudiante.
• A boy is a student.
• Unas camisetas son marrónes.
• Some T-shirts are brown.

Sustantivos y adjetivos plurales

• To make nouns and adjectives plural in Spanish, you will either add -s or –es.
• The last letter of the singular nouns or the correct gender form of the adjective determines what you add to make plural

Add an -es

• If the singular form ends with a vowel that has an accent mark.
• If the singular form ends with any consonant
• por ejemplo:
• rubí rubíes
• azul azules
• pared paredes
• canción canciones

Add an -s

• If the singular form ends with a vowel with no accent mark.
• por ejemplo:
• gato gatos
• chica chicas
• buena buenas
• verde verdes

There are some spelling changes to keep in mind!

• Change a –z to a –c before adding –es
• Por ejemplo:
• Pez peces
• Lápiz lápices
• Most words that have an accent mark will drop the accent mark when plural.
• Por ejemplo:
• Canción canciones
• Sillón sillones