Definite and Indefinite Articles Definite articles refer to nouns that are specific. In English, we only have one definite article: the. Spanish has four different definite articles to help us know if there is more than one thing being described, and if that thing or those things are masculine or feminine. The Spanish definite articles are el, la, los and las. If you have one masculine item, (like libro), we use el libro to say “the book.” If we have more than one book, we have to use the plural masculine article los to say “the books” (los libros). The same is true for feminine nouns. We use la to talk about one feminine noun la silla (the chair), and las if there is more than one: las sillas (the chairs). Examples: el libro the book los libros the books la silla the chair las sillas the chairs Indefinite Articles Indefinite articles refer to nouns that are not specific. In English, we have three indefinite articles: a, an, and some. Spanish has four indefinite articles to help us know if there is more than one non-specific thing being described and if that thing or those things are masculine or feminine. The Spanish indefinite articles are un, una, unos, and unas. If you have one masculine item, (like libro), we use un libro to say “a book.” If we have more than one book, we have to use the plural masculine article unos to say “some books” (unos libros). The same is true for feminine nouns. We use una to talk about one feminine noun- una silla (a chair) - and unas if there is more than one- unas sillas (some chairs). Examples: un libro a book, one book unos libros some books una clase a class, one class unas clases some classes © 2012 Middlebury Interactive Languages. All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only. No portion of these materials may be reproduced or redistributed in any form without the express permission of Middlebury Interactive Languages. Definite and Indefinite Articles Let’s look at a few more examples of definite and indefinite articles. la mochila las mochilas una mochila unas mochilas the backpack the backpacks a backpack, one backpack some backpacks el cuaderno los cuadernos un cuaderno unos cuadernos the notebook the notebooks a notebook, one notebook some notebooks Definite and Indefinite Articles © 2012 Middlebury Interactive Languages. Page 2