Articles
For a more detailed discussion on this topic, see our Spanish Grammar Section: Articles.
THE INDEFINITE ARTICLES: Gender
Model Question and Answer: Choose the correct indefinite article (un or una) before the noun. Q: _____ puerta (door) |
Useful Grammar For This Quiz
All nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine. There are no neuter nouns. Nouns which end in -o are generally masculine.
libro - (book)
maestro - (teacher)
Nouns which end in -a are generally feminine.
mesa - (table)
hermana - (sister)
The gender of nouns which do not end in either -o or -a must be memorized.
The indefinite articles in Spanish are un and una. With masculine nouns un is used.
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| singular | un (a, an) | una (a, an) |
un libro - (book)
un maestro - (teacher)
With feminine nouns una is used.
una mesa - (table)
una hermana - (sister)
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THE DEFINITE ARTICLES
Model Question and Answer: Choose the correct definite article. Question: _____ libro (book) |
Useful Grammar For This Quiz
The definite articles in Spanish are el, la, los, and las. El is the definite article used before singular masculine nouns.
el libro - (the book)
el maestro - (the teacher)
La is the definite article used before singular feminine nouns.
la mesa - (the table)
la muchacha - (the girl)
The plural form of el is los. Los is thus the definite article used before plural masculine nouns.
los libros - (the books)
los maestros - (the teachers)
The plural form of la is las. Las is thus the definite article used before plural feminine nouns.
las mesas - (the tables)
las muchachas - (the girls)
Presented in column or tabular form, the definite articles in Spanish appear as follows:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| singular | el - (the) | la - (the) |
| plural | los - (the) | las - (the) |
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Indefinite Articles - Use with predicate Nouns
Model Question and Answer: Supply the correct form. Q: Ella es _____ americana guapa. |
Useful Grammar For This Quiz
Use with predicate nouns: We learned previously (See Grammar Section: "Present Tense SER") that the indefinite article is not used in Spanish before a predicate noun, especially one indicating nationality or profession. However, if the predicate noun is modified by an adjective, an indefinite article is used.
COMPARE:
El es médico.
He is a doctor.
El es un médico famoso.
He is a famous doctor.
COMPARE:
Ella es cubana.
She is Cuban.
Ella es una cubana muy simpática.
She is very nice Cuban woman.
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Exceptions
We learned earlier that most nouns which end in -o are masculine and most nouns which end in -a are feminine. The following are exceptions to this rule:
la mano
el día, el mapa, el tranvía.
Furthermore, certain words of Greek origin which terminate in -ma are also masculine rather than feminine:
el clima, el problema, el idioma, el drama, el programa.
Finally, for reasons of euphony the article el instead of la is used in the singular before all feminine words beginning with a- or ha-.
el agua, el alma, el hambre, el aula, etc.
In the plural the normal feminine article las is used.
las aguas, las almas, etc.
