Title: Definite Articles, el, la, los, las = The
1Definite Articles, el, la, los, las The
In Spanish all nouns have masculine or feminine
gender. el chico la chica el
coche la mesa ? The definite article tells you
the gender of your noun. el, los masculine
la, las feminine ? The gender of nouns must
be learned, but generally nouns that end in o
are masculine (os plural). nouns that end in a
are feminine (as plural). nouns that end in a
ción are feminine. no trick to remember nouns
that end in a consonant. some nouns are both
masc. and fem. el estudiante la estudiante
el modelo la modelo. el policÃa la policÃa ?
Remember there are rule breakers, so you must
memorize vocabulary words with their correct
article. el mapa el programa el poema
2Singular / Plural
- When nouns identify one item they are singular
- la camiseta.
- When they identify more than one item, they are
-
plural - las camisetas.
- To make a noun plural
- Add s if it ends in a vowel. el libro los
libros - Add es if it ends in a consonant. la mujer
las mujeres - A few nouns will always be singular or plural
- La ropa (generally singular).
- Los jeans (always plural).
- Los pantalones (always plural).
- Las vacaciones (always plural).
3Gender Number
- In Spanish, the definite article defines
something (THE book, not just any book), and it
matches the noun it accompanies in gender and
number. - (masculine, singular) el chico the boy
- (masculine, plural) los chicos the boys
- (feminine, singular) la chica the girl
- (feminine, plural) las chicas the girls
4Uses of Definite Articles
- A definite article is used in Spanish whenever
the is used in English (though there are some
exceptions). - Also use a definite article
- With abstract nouns and nouns that refer to
concepts, rather than tangible items. (ex La
ciencia es importante. Science is important). - Titles of people (ex El Presidente Bush vive
el la casa blanca. La Señorita Franks es mi
maestra.) (note the article isnt used when
addressing a person. Ex Hola, Señorita
Franks.) - Before days of the week.
- Before verbs used as subjects of the sentence use
the article el. (Ex El escribir es difÃcil.) - With nouns joined by and. (Ex Necesito el
lapÃz y el papel para clase.)
5Indefinite Articles un, una, unos, unas
un, una, unos, unas a, an, some
A noun may sometimes appear with an indefinite
article (because it is not defined, it could be a
boy...any boy). The indefinite article that
accompanies a noun will also match its gender and
number.
Masculino
singular un chico (a boy) plural unos
chicos (some boys) singular una chica ( a
girl) plural unas chicas (some girls)
Feminina
6- You can tell which indefinite article to use
based on the nouns definite article. - Definite Indefinite
- el un el sombrero un sombrero.
- los unos los jeans unos jeans.
- la una la chaqueta una chaqueta.
- las unas las faldas unas faldas.
7Cómo se dice en español?
a book the books some books the girl a neighbor
(m.) some neighbors (f) a friend some friends the
friend (f.) some houses
un libro los libros unos libros la chica un
vecino (m.) unas vecinas (f) un amigo unas
amigas la amiga (f.) unas casas
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8Cómo se dice en español?
the book the books the house the houses the
neighbor (m.) the neighbors (f.) the boy the
girls the woman the women the students (m.) the
teachers (f) the doctors (f) the family the
dogthe hats
el libro los libros la casa las casas el
vecino las vecinas el chico las chicas la
mujer las mujeres los estudiantes las
maestras las doctoras la familia el perro los
sombreros
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.16.
9Cómo se dice en español?
a book some books a house some houses a hat some
hats a girl some boys a man some men a
woman some cats (m.) some dogs (f.) some shoes a
dress some dresses
un libro unos libros una casa unas casas un
sombrero unos sombreros una chica unos chicos un
hombre unos hombres una mujer unos gatos unas
perras unos zapatos un vestido unos vestidos
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.16.
10Cómo se dice en español?
un libro azul unos libros rojos unas faldas
rojas unas chicas bonitas el chico guapo unos
maestros simpáticos un maestro simpático el
maestro guapo la chica rubia el chico bajo
a blue book some red books some red skirts some
pretty girls the handsome boy some nice
teachers a nice teacher the handsome teacher the
blond girl the short boy