LOS ARTÍCULOS
Let’s learn a little Spanish grammar now. Did you notice the words el and la before all the nouns? These two words are singular: el and la. The word el is used before masculine nouns and la is used before feminine nouns.
The problem is: how do we tell which words are masculine and which are feminine? In some instances, it’s easy. Obviously, madre (mother), muchacha (girl), and mujer (women) are going to be feminine, while padre (father), muchacho (boy), and hombre (man) are masculine. But why should teatro be masculine while lámpara is feminine? There really is no logical reason for this. Thus, the only way to learn Spanish vocabulary is with the Spanish word for “the”. For instance, you don’t memorize tigre but el tigre, not música but la música, etc.
Here’s a helpful hint: most words that end in –o are masculine (el piano, el libro, el disco), and those ending in –a are almost always feminine (la sopa, la gasolina, la fiesta). With nouns ending in other letters, just memorize the article (the word for “the”) along with the word: el cine, la clase, etc.
Examine the following two lists:
A B
la rosa las rosas
la secretaria las secretarias
la aspirina las aspirinas
el plato los platos
el actor los actoves
el banco los bancos
Rule: The plural of la is .
The plural of el is .
You’re correct if you said that la becomes las and el becomes los in the plural. In other word, there are four words for “the” in Spanish: el, la, los, las.
Definidos
C. Write the Spanish word for “the” before each noun: el if the noun is masculine, la if the noun is feminine.
1. fiesta 2. animal
3. banana 4. mosquito
5. tren 6. restaurante
7. gasolina 8. mujer
9. hombre 10. muchacho
11.______muchacha 12.______profesor
13.______profesora 14.______clase
15.______disco 16.______padre
17.______madre 18.______leche
19.______teatro 20.______aeropuerto
D. Complete each sentence correctly by writing one or more of the adjectives listed at the right.
EXAMPLE: El hotel es grande, popular, famoso.
1. El presidente es ______. a. terrible
2. La flor es ______. b. tropical
3. El tigre es______. c. natural
4. El café es______. d. grande
5. El auto es______. e. importante
6. El actor es ______. f. delicioso
7. El color es______. g. popular
8. El tren es ______. h. famoso
9. El parque es ______. i. rápido
10. El hombre es______. j. americano
Indefinidos
Notice two new little words- un and una. For example, there was una clase, una persona, una pluma. Also mentioned were un lápiz and un diccionario. These are the words for “a” and “an” in Spanish.
Look at these two lists:
A B
la clase una clase
la persona una persona
la pluma una pluma
la doctora una doctora
el lápiz un lápiz
el diccionario un diccionario
If we remember that the words persona, pluma, and doctora are feminine (la persona, la pluma etc.) and the words lápiz and diccionario are masculine (el lápiz, el diccionario), the rule for saying “a” or “an” in Spanish is very simple:
The Spanish word for “a” or “an” before masculine nouns is______.
The Spanish word for “a” or “an” before feminine nouns is______.
OK, let’s see how it works:
el libro the book un libro a book
la lección the lesson una lección a lesson
el cuaderno the notebook un cuaderno a notebook
la mesa the table una mesa a table
el actor the actor un actor an actor
la actriz the actress una actriz an actress
C. Write the correct Spanish word for “the” before each noun.
1.______gatos 2.______hija
3.______hermano 4.______frutas
5.______perros 6.______lámpara
7.______muchachas 8.______discos
9.______nenas 10.______bicicletas
11.______sombrero 12.______flor
13.______padres 14.______animal
15.______autos 16.______hombre
17.______mujer 18.______teatros
19.______fiesta 20.______amigo
B. Now let’s try some on our own. Write the Spanish word for “a” or “an” (that is, un or una) before the following nouns.
1.______alumnas 11. ______pizarra
2.______profesor 12.______diccionario
3.______papel 13.______ventana
4.______libro 14.______puerta
5.______lápiz 15.______lección
6.______pluma 16.______señorita
7.______mesa 17.______tren
8.______cuaderno 18.______café
9.______mujer 19.______bicicleta
10.______regal 20.______perro
C. Now let’s replace the word for “the” with the word for “a” or “an”
EXAMPLE: el profesor un professor
1. la regla ______regla
2. la lección ______lección
3. el profesor ______profesor
4. el alumno ______alumno
5. el cuaderno ______cuaderno
6. la señorita ______señorita
7. el parque ______parque
8. la escuela ______escuela
9. el hijo ______hijo
10. el abuelo ______abuelo