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Article / Artículos |
Definite and Indefinite articles – Artículos Definidos y IndefinidosArticles are words that precede the substantive (a noun).
Definite article: used to indicate that a thing is unique in some way.
Example:
- El coche – The car (El / the – refer to a specific car and not to any car)
Indefinite article: used to indicate that a thing is not identified as unique.
Example:
- Un auto – A car (Un/ A – refer to any car)
In Spanish the article must agree in gender and number with the noun, which means that the definite article el, for example, should precede a singular and masculine. Study the chart below:
| Articles | Definite – singular / pluralThe | Indefinite – singular / pluralA / Some |
| Masculine | El | Un |
| Feminine | La | Una |
Examples:
- el libro – the book / los libros – the books
- un coche – a car / unos coches – some cars
- la casa – the house / las casas – the houses
- una niña – a girl / unas niñas – some girls
Neutral article – Artículo Neutro
The neutral article is used with an adjective, when the adjective is being used as a substantive (as a noun).
Example:
Ella hizo lo mejor que pudo. (She did the best she could)
Notes
Before a person’s name is not necessary to use articles.
The article “el y uno” must be used when a noun starts with the vowel “a” or with “ha”. But when the noun is in the plural form this principle is not applied.
Examples:
El agua (the water) – las aguas (the waters)
El arte (the art) – las artes (the arts)