Spanish Definite and Indefinite Articles

Understanding Articles

You may not have learned this in grammar school, but in English the word “the” is a definite article. That is because it points to a very specific thing.

For example, you may tell someone, “I want the mug,” assuming that they will bring you the mug you have in mind. However, if you tell them, “I want a mug,” you will get whatever mug they choose to hand you!

That is because the words “a” or “an” are indefinite articles.

How to Say “The” in Spanish

Spanish has definite and indefinite articles as well. However, as mentioned before, Spanish speakers must suit the form of the article to the gender of the noun it precedes. Remember el hombre and la mujer?

What you didn’t know then was that the article must also reflect the quantity of the noun—whether or not it is singular or plural.

For example, if there is one man, we speak of el hombre. If there are two or more men, we speak of los hombres.

If there is one woman, we speak of la mujer. If there are two or more women, we speak of las mujeres.

You can see how the Spanish forms of “the” are used in the following table:

Por ejemplo:

How to Say “A” or “An” in Spanish

In Spanish, there are four forms of the indefinite articles “a,” “an,” or “some.”

In the next section we’ll work on Spanish Subject Pronouns - How to talk about You, He, They and We in Spanish