Just like in English, Spanish has definite and indefinite articles that come before a noun.
These can either be singular or plural.
Learn about definite and indefinite articles in Spanish with Burt Bessington
TOUR GUIDE: And this 18th Century…
BURT: Hey there! Welcome to Article Answers! Let's find out how you play!
BURT: In English we use the indefinite article ‘a’, we say a boy or a girl.
And we use some for plural when there’s more than one.
But in Spanish the article is either masculine or feminine so we say un niño or una niña, or unos niños or unas niñas.
BURT: For definite articles in English we always use the. In Spanish we use masculine and feminine. We say el niño or la niña and los niños and las niñas for plural!
BURT: And nowww onto the questions!
BURT: Please tell me the English translation, whether it’s masculine or feminine, and if it’s singular or plural.
BURT: Un perro.
MUM: Oh, uh - ‘un’ means ‘a’ so it’s ‘a dog’… Singular and masculine.
BURT: Right first time!
BURT: Unos caballos.
BOY: Unos is, er, some. So that’s, like, 'some horses!' - plural and masculine.
BURT: You got it!
BURT: La manzana.
GIRL: That’s singular and feminine - 'the apple!’
BURT: Confident and correct!
BURT: El coche.
MUM: Er, el coche is 'the car' - singular, masculine!
BURT: Yes! And that’s game over!
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Definite articles
Definite articles refer to a specific noun like ‘the dog’.
Here are some examples of definite articles:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the dog
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the horse
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the apple
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the girl
Definite articles in Spanish such as Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. or Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. mean ‘the’.
The plural of these articles is Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. and Check your connection, refresh the page and try again..
For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the cat
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the cats
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the hen
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - the hens
Indefinite articles
The indefinite article is the word for ‘a’ (or ‘an’) or ’some’.
In Spanish the article is either masculine or feminine depending on the noun.
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. is used for masculine nouns and Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. for feminine.
When there is more than one, you can say Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. or Check your connection, refresh the page and try again., which means 'some'.
Here are some examples:
| Masculine | English | Feminine | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | a dog | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | a giraffe |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | a car | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | an apple |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | a boy | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | a girl |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | some boys | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | some girls |
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